Mason W.'s Profile

This has got to be the place with the biggest selection of American flags in the whole Bay Area. We also found many foreign flags and California state flags. Nice selection of flag stickers too. Judy was quite nice to me and my young daughter. Definitely recommend for any flag needs, including season flags.

Workday dim sum was quite disappointing. I met a former colleague of mine who also is a dim sum fan and we both felt many of the dishes were not prepared with the skill or care needed.  Can't recommend the lunch dim sum. Sorry.

We actually intended to enjoy sushi at Higuma in Redwood City for a Mother's Day dinner, but we forgot Higuma closes on Sundays. Our Plan B was to try Shiki Bistro.

Like many of the other Yelp reviews, we noticed and appreciated the modern decor, which was stylish, but still comfortable and not too formal. Unlike some of the other reviews, we had an overall good experience with the food and service.

My wife and I are pretty particular about where and how we enjoy sushi. We consistently focus on nigiri sushi, so we always care about the rice quality: the taste, temperature, texture, stickiness; as well as the fish quality: the taste, temperature, texture, knife cut, freshness, size and shape. We also enjoy sashimi. We've enjoyed sushi and sashimi all around the Bay Area, as well as at some top sushi bars in New York City, Tokyo, and elsewhere in the world.

Tonight's hamachi sashimi and our variety of nigiri sushi at Shiki Bistro was between very good and excellent. The sashimi and sushi pieces were of generous size, but not too big like at some places. The rice was perfect. The temperature contrast between the rice and fish was perfectly subtle. Nothing was served with a distracting chill.

For the nigiri, we enjoyed hotate, tai, aji, saba, unagi, and escolar (butterfish). These were so good, we had a second round of the hotate, aji, and escolar.

We also enjoyed a hamachi-kama. It was grilled to the point that the outside had an attractive and tasty crust, but the meat was borderline dry, which was a bit disappointing, since hamachi is such an oily and flavorful fish to begin with. It was tasty, but just missed the mark.

Spicy tuna and soft shell crab hand rolls were good.

I'm noticing that a lot of other Yelp reviews here talk about the many Americanized sushi rolls or the extensive menu of non-sushi food items. Since such food items are popular, it's fair to rate the restaurant on them, but I just want to clarify that the notably great nigiri sushi seems to be neglected by much of the customer base.

Service was good and seemed efficient. My bottom-less soft drink was frequently refilled. We were seated promptly without a reservation, although that does not appear to be a recommended approach. We did not detect any of the service problems that other reviewers experienced a couple months ago. Perhaps the service kinks have been worked out.

The only little glitch we experienced was that there were so many families already there, the restaurant had run out of baby high-chairs. I saw at least 5 other babies in high-chairs, so it's hard to fault the restaurant for not having one more for us. They gave us a booster seat at first, and after 20 minutes, a high chair became available and they promptly set it up for us.

Prices seemed comparable to Higuma. We felt the sushi and sashimi was actually better than Higuma. Easily the best sushi in the Belmont-San Carlos-Redwood City area. Way better than Ozuma down the street.

So, based on our one dinner, 4 out of 5 stars. We had a good time, great sushi, and we plan to go again. Perhaps after further exploring the sushi menu and getting great service again, I may adjust the rating higher, but not yet.

This place is a Crepevine copycat, but in the most important way, it failed during our first and only meal there. The setting is nice and service was attentive. Unfortunately, the food was off. The pancakes seemed to lack buttermilk flavor and the heavy dusting of powdered sugar seemed to be a deceptive move. The savory crepe was too thick. The breakfast potatoes were distinctly undercooked. I ordered my scrambled eggs to be served runny, but they arrived fully cooked, and it was clear the original egg mixture had been watered down. None of this was acceptable for $10 per plate before tax and tip. We won't be back.

While certainly not Mexican Food Nirvana, there is good food at Picante's. I tend to stick with the tacos and the Sopa Azteca, which offer a lot of good flavors. Service is prompt. Work day lunch time, it gets fairly busy, and other reviewers here are correct in that there are a lot of kids around, so beware of the Romper Room effect. I enjoy Picante's every so often, although not as often as I hit taco trucks for a burrito.

Just average tacos (we tried carne asada, al pastor, and fish), not anywhere near as good as Naranjos in Redwood City. Mid-afternoon, plenty of other customers around, but lots of tables left very messy from past customers - there's no excuse for allowing such a widespread mess to persist in a restaurant. I'm giving a second star only for two reasons: extensive salsa bar, pretty good free tortilla chips, and convenient location near the movie theater and other popular San Mateo downtown venues. I would definitely try other taquerias in the neighborhood before trying Tres Amigos again.

A friend wanted to reminisce years past of chomping on burgers at Bill's Place, so we agreed to meet there for dinner. We brought our own initial expectations based on the Yelp reviews, knowing it was a long time burger diner joint. Overall, it was just OK.

Milkshakes were tasty but much bigger than we needed - we should have shared one shake for two people.

Burgers were also tasty, but certainly nothing special about them. The meat was cooked to the correct degree of doneness (medium well and well done, as ordered), but the rest of the ingredients were average. Very average produce, average bun, average bacon, you get the idea. There are many other burger joints throughout the city which serve higher quality ingredients, especially better buns, that add up to a better burger, and for the same price as Bill's Place.

Onion rings, cole slaw, and regular fries were all passable, but again, nothing special.

We sat at the counter and watch the cooks. These guys aren't slackers, they work hard, but they aren't the most consistent cooks either. When they got slammed with an order from a large group table of 15 diners, they struggled to get the food out all at once, resulting in some food not being prepared as carefully as orders for other tables.

Parking for this neighborhood on a Saturday night is nearly impossible. It took 20 minutes to find a spot two blocks away.

I can imagine locals within walking distance and long time regulars keeping this place going for years to come, but I can't recommend it as a burger destination.

My long time Berkeley friend brought me here. I had heard of the place but perhaps surprisingly I had never tried it, even though I grew up in Berkeley and am a sushi enthusiast. My initial impression walking in was that it would be a relatively mediocre sushi experience, given its location and appearances.

The sushi turned out to be unexpectedly good. I focused on nigiri pieces while my friend ordered a bunch of rolls. The flavors and freshness struck me, especially the shiro maguro nigiri with the minced garlic garnish. The Dr. Choi roll was quite good. The toasted unagi nigiri was especially good.

If I try to be especially picky, I could criticize the rice for being ever so slightly on the overly sticky side, but it was hardly in the realm of bad sushi rice.

Service was good. Prices were nominal for a sushi bar, although my friend treated me, which may affect my perception.  I noticed at least one regular who came in and ordered a bowl of ramen in Japanese.

My rating of 4 stars is based on a one-time lunch experience. It was a Wednesday just before the Thanksgiving holiday, getting into the early afternoon.  The place was less than half full of customers, but still lively enough. I must withhold the 5th star as the venue could have been decorated and lit better, the sushi chefs could have been more conversational and dressed a bit more professionally, and there could have been a few more apparently serious sushi eaters already there.

I do plan to return to try more of the menu.

I've eaten food from this large truck twice and both times I've been quite impressed.  First meal:  Fried red snapper was very good - crunchy, well seasoned, moist, hot and delicious.  The baked beans were surprisingly meaty, although a bit sweet for my taste.  The green salad was just average.  Second meal:  I had the ribs in mild sauce - very tender, fairly smokey, and good sauce (next time I'll try it without sauce).  The greens were surprisingly tasty, in fact, some of the best mean greens I've ever had; not sure exactly what seasoning they're using, but it works.  Potato salad was good.  There is a bit of a wait between order and pick up, as you'd expect since the fried food is fried to order, and it always takes time for any BBQ joint to carve up and plate food.  

I will definitely be trying more menu items.  So far, I find the BBQ ribs better than Everett & Jones (San Pablo Avenue).

I very rarely give five stars for food places, so four stars means I recommend it and I'll be going back.

Good pasta (fettucini with tomato-rosemary sauce and lamb meat), good risotto with shrimp, good bread, good bread dip (olive oil, chiffoned parsley, faint hint of anchovies), good wine, good service, good atmosphere (lively but not loud or trendy).  Very nice dinner with my wife on a Friday night. Should have tried this place long ago since it's fairly close to home. A satisfying hearty Italian meal. Definitely worth a return visit.