Andrew "cilantro = soap" C.'s Profile

We were starving, had forgotten about Spud Point (http://www.yelp.com/bi...), and saw a parking spot at The Tides Wharf while driving by on Hwy 1.

We both ordered off the Specials white board with the g/f ordering the Angel Hair Pasta with Prawns ScampI Style and I got Petrale Sole Meunière with butter, parsley, lemon, garlic.

Moist, chewy sourdough was provided while we waited (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). I like bread a bit crustier, but the g/f enjoyed this.

The pasta dish came with 5 large prawns with the sauce from some chopped tomatos and the scampi sauce (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). The prawns were nicely cooked, but overall the dish was bland and the pasta somewhat dry with not enough sauce.

This was eventually addressed, but it took awhile because it was next to impossible to get our server's attention, even with her handling the table next to us. We grabbed who I think was the manager to ask for more of the sauce, which was basically the scampi butter with a few chopped tomatoes.

The Petrale Sole came with green beans, some rice, and coated with *a lot* of minced garlic in the lemon butter sauce (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). I was excited by all the garlic, but it turned out to be pretty mild. They must get their garlic from the same suppliers as Whole Foods, whose garlic always disappoints in it's potency.

My garlic cravings aside, this was well prepared fish with a moist and delicately flavored flesh that I enjoyed. The sides were lackluster in comparison with standard rice and overcooked green beans.

Food was decent, but our service was eh and really took our experience down a notch.

Your standard "chalkboard crêperie" type of place a la Squat & Gobble or Crêpes on Cole in SF with savory & sweet crêpes, sandwiches, and other cafe fare written up on a large chalkboard menu.

My last visit, I got the Tuscany which is a chicken pesto crepe (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) which turned out to be pretty sauce heavy and somewhat oily.

Crêpes are the over-stuffed variety and would make a Ti Couz fan faint. You do get a lot of food with the salad and potatoes.

Decent omelettes, salads & sandwiches. Not a destination, but will fill you up for a decent price, if you're in the area.

*** CASH ONLY ***

In addition to Banh Mi, Pho, steam tray items and other Vietnamese dishes, Saigon Deli Sandwich also has a handful of taqueria items (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). Tacos & banh mi? A magical, cheap lunch combo (at least for me)!!

Depending on the filling, banh mi range from $2.50-$3. I got the #1 Combo (ham, pork sausage (cha lua), headcheese, & pate) for $2.75 and ordered Pastor, Lengua, and Tripas tacos ($1 / each!).

The banh mi had pickled diakon & carrot, a cucumber spear and sliced jalepenos plus a generous portion of the meats, (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). The baguette had been hollowed and was nicely toasted. Meats were fresh and flavorful. The jalepenos were packing heat. With a little more pickled veggies, this would have been perfect! 4.5 stars

The tacos come with grilled jalepeno and onion along with a lime wedge and whole radish. Each is topped with the same salsa, chopped onions and cilantro on double yellow corn tortillas (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).

Lengua - Tender with more connective tissue than most places so a bit chewy in spots. 4 stars
Al Pastor - Tender and juicy. Could have used more flavor from a stronger marinade. 3.5 stars.
Tripas - This was a special listed on a paper in the front window. For the uninitiated, it's small intestine, not tripe (stomach) (see tubes here http://www.yelp.com/bi...). These had a rich flavor, but were overcooked and very rubbery. 2.5 stars

The service was friendly. One of the Vietnamese ladies and the taco chef both came to my table at different times to ask how everything was and if I needed anything else.

Bon Appétit took over the management of the Adobe cafeterias from Guckenheimer this year and I think the food quality and taste has definitely improved.

Still have the same variety of salads, soups, sandwiches, grilled items, pizza, and a la minute station (cooked to order. i.e. http://www.yelp.com/bi...).

They even call out the suppliers of many of the proteins and vegetables like many "local" & "sustainable" restaurants do.

One thing I do miss is how Guckenheimer included calorie information in their menu descriptions.

Employees or escorted visitors only.

Been back a few times and in between then and now Taylor's has transformed to Gott's because of some legal wrangling with the current owners of the chain and the original owners of the St. Helena branch.

Not the only change. Burgers have been consistently better than my first review. Coincidentally, today we got the same order of Ahi Burger, Western Bacon Blue Ring, Sweet Potato Fries, and Onion Rings (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).

I like the toasted egg buns they use for their burgers (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). It definitely holds up well, especially to the juicy, messy Ahi Tuna Burger. Didn't take a pic of it, but it has been more consistently seared rare and the wasabi mayo is growing on me.

I've taken to specifically requesting Med-Rare on the burger (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). I don't know if it's my request or just better cooks, but I haven't gotten anything horribly over-cooked yet like I did on my first visit, though I do have to say the juiciness of their meat patties can vary significantly with this last one cooked right, but not very juicy.

The sweet potato fries have transformed recently to thinner, almost shoe-string type  which, while OK, we're less than enamored of vs. their prior, thicker versions.

Ahi Tuna Burger: 4.5 stars
Other Burgers: 3.5 stars

Sides: 4 stars

Pagarung Thai is off the main streets of Montclair Village connected to Safeway's upper parking lot. I've only been here for lunch where it seems more take-out from people working near-by and always just a couple of tables occupied.

Lunch dishes are in the $7-8 range and they have a combo for ~$11 where you can select two items. All the lunch items come with rice (choice of white or brown rice) and a salad.

My last visit I got the combo with Tom Kha Gai and Yellow Curry with Chicken (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and you can see from the picture that they are generous with the chicken in both the soup and curry with meat enough to stick out of the surface in both bowls.

The broth in the Tom Kha Gai was mildly spicy and had nice lemony flavors. A few mushrooms and onions, but mainly the chicken, which frankly for the soup could have been better with less and more broth and other ingredients.

The yellow curry was also flavorful and mild-to-medium spicy level. This had a better balance of ingredients with potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Service is always friendly and attentive.

3.5 stars for the food. Rounding up for the service.

Need to come back for dinner when they have a more varied selection of dishes

I don't know the Chicago burbs too well, but Parkers' seems a little upscale for the area. Maybe the vendors I've visited out here have kept the good stuff to themselves when they take us out for dinner?

Our server was a bit of a character. After I presented the Yelp 10% Check-in offer, he talked about rave reviews he's gotten (on Open Table, iirc) and stressed his name a couple of times (which, despite the temptation, I won't provide here). Still he botched my drink order for a Manhattan twice and was the only staff member running around with his shirt un-tucked. Despite his suck-up to the guests intentions, I found his behavior and demeanor off-putting.

Anyway, ignoring our server, the food was pretty solid.

The clam chowder (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) had a briney, lightly creamy broth and a couple of shell on Manila clams along with some shucked clam meat.

For my main, I had the Bouillabaisse ($26) which comes in a covered cast iron Dutch oven with a serving bowl (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and another bowl for the shells and discards (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and some Rouille on the side. The copious amounts of seafood was all nicely cooked, though the tomato-ey broth needed something more. It was a big serving and could have easily fed two.

My colleagues had a burger and the surf & turf (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and both thought the food was above average.

When we left @ 8:30 Thursday, there was one party of 2 remaining in the restaurant.

Food: 4 stars
Service: 2 stars

We had some errands to run in Marin and stopped by The Boathouse for brunch. It was chosen over the better Yelp'd Salt and Pepper across the street (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) for it's Bay view deck and a porchetta special listed in the window which I was informed was dinner only when we went inside :(

I opt'd for the Burger ($14) with Swiss cheese ($1) & bacon ($1.5) with fries (choice of salad) which came with ripe tomatoes, spring mix type of greens and a slice of onion (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). The brioche bun was toasted and a good burger vehicle, but the meat patty was under-seasoned and although cooked to the requested Med-Rare, the patty was not juicy at all (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)

The fries were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside with a sprinkle of parm on them which we really liked.

The g/f had the Shrimp Cobb Salad. I don't know if you'd  call this deconstructed (http://www.yelp.com/bi...), but it did allow me to easily harvest all the bacon easily since she's a pescetarian ;-) A nicely dressed mix of shrimp, butter lettuce, tomatoes, and egg. She was happier with her salad than I was with my burger.

Decent service. A small, but nice alternative to the Sam's down the block.

Burger: 3.5 stars
Fries: 4.5 stars
Cobb Salad: 4 stars

OB's is a small one man show with a Cajun themed menu, four 2-tops and a communal table for maybe 12. Small kitchenette area in the back equipped with just an electric griddle and a couple of plug in hot-plates on metal tables.

This was my third time by and the first time I found it open during the hours posted on the door. So as the saying goes YMMV when attempting a visit and be prepared to alter plans to one of the other Old Oakland options.

I walked in to the register in back by the kitchen around 11:30AM
Me: "Do I order here?"
OB: "You know what you want?"
Me: "No. Can I see a menu?" (there isn't a wall menu)
OB: "They're by the door."

I retrieve a menu and make a selection
Me: "I'll have the Fat Daddy Po'Boy"
OB: "No. It's not time."

Seeing the confused look on my face he walks around out of the kitchen and points to the spot on the menu that says Lunch is Noon-3PM "It's not time." he says again in his deep voice.

As he's walking back to the kitchen and I'm scanning for a new item I hear him say something softly, almost under his breath like "OK, fine." and he goes back to monitoring the food that's already on the stove and ignores me.

As I'd read a few of 1-star reviews on my Yelp app, I was slightly afraid to inquire if my order was in or if I should choose something from the Breakfast menu so crossed my fingers that I heard him right and was actually going to get some lunch food before noon and took a seat, diligently studying the menu, in case he came back to ask what new menu item I wanted.

10-15 minutes later a gigantic sandwich appeared in front of me (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) along with a basket with 6-7 bottles of hot sauces. The Fat Daddy ($14) is cornmeal crusted catfish with bacon on top of some lettuce & tomato slices. The amount of lettuce is like a small salad and like a salad it had some dressing (Italian?) on it.

The sandwich was very good with nicely fried, moist catfish and perfectly ripe tomatoes. To make it more manageable, I took out a lot of the lettuce and ate it on the side (my mom would be proud). My only issue would be the amount of dressing on the lettuce. It was dripping all over and left a small pool on the plate.

All in all, a nice meal, if a little pricey. I was surprised to see OB pull up a POS application on his laptop and process my payment. Definitely more than meets the eye in this cafe, and dare I say that OB can be a bit of a softy?

We already had lunch plans further down the coast so just wanted to check out The Restaurant at Ventana.

It definitely is a destination in Big Sur.

Inside by the bar there is a cool copper fireplace (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and out on the patio / deck, there are expansive views of the hills and the Pacific Ocean (http://www.yelp.com/bi... http://www.yelp.com/bi...)

The bartender was a character and she chatted with us about their pumpkin infused booze (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and her experiments with orange zest sugar (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). I got a special with both items (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) which was very good, while the g/f stuck with a glass of red wine.

We'll definitely eat here our next trip south. If the food matches the views and atmosphere, I can see upping this to a 5-star place.