Thai House - Santa Rosa

525 Fourth St, Santa Rosa CA 95401
(707) 526-3939
Parking: street parking or nearby parking lots
Last Visited: February 1, 2007

Food: 2 to 3 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

Thai House is located on the second floor, so when you are walking on the street, look for a staircase and a sign – both are a bit obstructed from view by the other nearby restaurants, but be on the lookout and you’ll see it.

Thai House has been in downtown Santa Rosa for quite some time. They’re especially known for their seating and regulars also receive special treatment. The seats are interesting. The main dining area has regular tables and chairs. In the rear, there is a raised area with short tables, creating floor seating. They provide thick cushions, both flat (for you to sit on) and triangular ones (for leaning) that are covered in gold fabric. It definitely creates an authentic feel. The area with the raised seating is decorated with dark walls, dark carpet, and outlines of Thai figures. Guests are required to take off their shoes before entering this section. The tables are situated such that two long tables are on the sides of the room and smaller tables are located at the very rear just behind the small set of stairs.

It’s been about six or seven years since my last visit. Having visited many of the Thai restaurants in Sonoma County, when I compare Thai House with the rest, I found the ambience at Thai House nice, but better food can be found in the area. This recent visit confirmed my previous observations.

This evening, we had a large party of over ten people. The Christmas decorations were still present with Christmas lights on the railing along with a garland of green synthetic material. Upon my arrival, the staff pointed out where to go (my view of the table was blocked by the wall dividing the room with regular tables and chairs and the room with the raised floor. It would have been better service for the waitstaff to actually walk us to the location considering it wasn’t very far away and would have added a personal touch. When we ordered, the waitress stayed at the corner of the table and looked at us as we each stated what we wanted. Surprisingly, the acoustics aren’t bad when everyone is quiet. The wait staff typically wear authentic Thai clothing too.

- Satay – Five skewers of grilled chicken (beef also an available choice) are served with a small cucumber salad and a small dish of peanut sauce. The chicken had noticeable grill marks and were placed on a bed of lettuce. Presentation was nice. The cucumber salad had a nice flavor and there were small pieces of red onion. The peanut sauce was thick and had good flavor also. The chicken was dense and lacked flavor. It took a bit of effort to remove the chicken from the skewer which seemed to indicate that the meat was overcooked. Fair. $6.95

- Yellow Curry – You can select chicken, beef, or tofu curry. I selected chicken. The curry made with coconut milk is smooth and creamy. Chicken breast is cut in pieces and cooked with potatoes, red and green bell peppers, and the curry sauce. All is served in a shallow oval dish. Good flavor, though the portions are small. The curry is served medium, so if you like spicy, be sure to ask for increased heat. I liked how there weren’t too many vegetables stuffed in as filler, but it wasn’t outstanding. $9.95

- Pad Thai – Rice noodles are cooked with your choice of chicken or tofu. I selected tofu. The tofu comes in small cubes and along with the rice noodles, there are bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, and on the side, you’ll see shredded lettuce topped with a wedge of tomato. These side vegetables aren’t particularly traditional, but you often see it as decoration. I found this dish to be okay. The noodles were a little too al dente for me – not quite the way rice noodles should be, so just okay as a dish overall. Flavor was good, although there was also an excess of chopped peanuts. $7.95

- Rice – The quantity of rice was good since the bowl tended to be bigger, but not perfect rice quality and texture. Okay. $1

- Thai Iced Tea – This was a large tea and the flavor was good, but the complaint I have is that at bottom of my cup, there was a small pile of tea leaves, and unfortunately, it wasn’t leaves, but very fine powder which basically ruined the overall drink when I was finishing it off. Good tea, but presentation with fine tea at the bottom isn’t acceptable for a sweet drink. $2

When our fellow dining companion asked for peanut sauce, he was not told he would be charged extra for it, which seems like something you should inform the customer of or just provide it for free. They also add 18% gratuity for large parties.

I felt most dishes could have been served hotter in temperature, and the curry could be hotter in flavor, but considering the large group, it may have cooled down during transport. The food was placed on carts and brought into the room. The seats are not comfortable, especially if you sit on the railing side (as opposed to the wall side) since there is no place to lean. Sitting across from someone at the table also ends up in either very uncomfortable Indian style seating with legs asleep at the end of the meal or a friendly get to know the person across from you all out footsie war. Worse yet, it could be feet in your lap for dinner. Check out the Thai House for atmosphere, but food and service are fair to okay.

Sushi Sam's Edomata - Japanese, San Mateo

218 E. Third Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401

(650) 344-0888

Parking: street parking, nearby parking lot

Hours: Tues-Sat 11:30 am - 2 pm, 5 pm - 10 pm

http://www.sushisams.com/

Last Visited: February 4, 2012

Food: 4 to 5 star omakase (sushi tasting menu), 3 stars everything else
Atmosphere: 2 to 3 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars (one specific guy), 2 stars everyone else
Price: $$ to $$$$

We received several recommendations about Sushi Sam's from friends, so perhaps my expectations were a little higher going in. This post covers two visits - one in February 2012 and one from July 2011.  The two food experiences were vastly different.  In summary, order the omakase if you go here.  I got hammered by a few friends after my 3 star food rating because they said I had ordered the wrong thing (why would a place ever not serve the right thing, I don't have the answer for, but the omakase is good).

There are three main areas for dining - the bar, the area next to the kitchen, and a raised area on the right side when you enter the restaurant.  It's frequently crowded, loud, and casual.   

Upon our arrival during my first visit, the service was very fast and friendly.  We were seated in the area next to the kitchen.  Multiple people were checking on us frequently and filling our tea throughout the meal.  However, the atmosphere is a little worn - a fresh coat of paint along the divider of the room would do wonders.  The laminate tables seem more like they belong in a cafe.  I also found it odd that they were selling canvas bags and other items with their logo by posting them on the wall.  It seemed to reduce the ambiance of the restaurant. 

- Geso Tempura - Deep Fried Calamari legs - While I expected for the size of the calamari to be like that served in an Italian restaurant, I never expected them to be like this.  They're more like octopus in size - huge!  Just when you're hoping for some delicate tempura batter to coat small calamari, you get these gigantic pieces that are still tender, but not quite so delicate, however, I've never ordered geso tempura before, so I didn't know what to expect.  The tempura batter quickly became soggy, so it wasn't the best that I've had either.  Just okay.  $5.95

- Shrimp Tempura with Vegetables  - This dish was fairly typcial of what you find at other Japanese restaurants when ordering tempura.  It wasn't spectacular, but it was alright.  I have mentioned this before in other reviews, but I really dislike being served tempura broccoli - it just doesn't seem fitting, and here, they had broccoli.  Two shrimp also seems skimpy to me - at $9 and the reasonable cost of shrimp, another piece would make this a great value.  $8.95 a la carte

- Sushi Set B - Tuna, Hamachi, Unagi, Salmon,Kani, Ebi, Tako, California Roll and Tekka - Presentation on a plastic raised plate made this dish seem less elegant than it could have been.  Why not use ceramic plates?  With two pieces of each item and a full tekka and full California roll, the price was reasonable, but it just didn't seem special because of the way it was served.  The fish was fresh and the cuts tended to be larger than many places.  Just okay though. $37

I was a bit disappointed by my first visit because of all the people whom had raved about how awesome Sushi Sam's is.  The sushi is okay and the portions are fairly generous, but the soggy calamari and the plain presentation left fair impressions.  The service during the first visit was better than that of the second, but again, I can't emphasize it enough, don't bother with the other stuff.  Get the omakase and be happy.

During my second visit, after being almost berated by dear foodie friends, I took their advice and ordered the omakase.  I was seated at the sushi bar (which gets pretty noisy, so if you're looking for a quieter evening, avoid this area), and while our order was taken within five minutes of our arrival, service this evening was pretty bad.  The sushi chefs were swamped, so it took about 20 minutes to get our first dish (this is raw stuff mind you, so that's a long time), and our tea cups were frequently low with no waitstaff in sight, so you couldn't flag them down if you wanted to.

Omakase (8 pieces) - price varies from $31 to $36 per person.

All of the pieces of sushi melted in your mouth and each had very distinct flavoring.  Presentation of the omakase sushi was also elegant and beautiful, while the pieces from the previous visit were lacking distinction in comparison.

- Butterfish and Blue shrimp - I loved how the blue shrimp had an incredibly fresh taste where there was almost a crunch to the texture.  The fried shrimp heads were also an unexpected surprise.  Super crunchy, you just eat the whole thing.

- Yellowtail (wild) and Arctic char - The yellowtail had a brush of soy sauce on top.  I like how the fish is sufficiently larger than the amount of rice.

- Horse mackerel and Fatty tuna (lightly torced on top) - The tuna had a strong lemon juice accent on it.  It seemed slightly thicker than lemon juice, but it was intense. 

- Sea urchin and White salmon

The white salmon had a sesame oil drizzle on top along with a lot of very finely cut scallions - it has the flavoring of seaweed salad, but without the seaweed.  The sea urchin was rich and yummy.

 

Dessert accompanies the omakase.  The choices included the special of the day shown below - yuzu souffle pudding with blueberries, green tea tiramisu with raspberries shown below, green tea ice cream and a custard.  Both desserts I tried were good, but I think I liked the green tea tiramisu better than the special.

The yuzu souffle is a little reminiscent of a cheesecake pudding, but with citrus flavoring.  The texture is light and fluffy with little dollops of stiff whipped cream on top.  Candied orange rind added a nice pop of color to it too. 

The green tea tiramisu is also super light with green tea sponge cake layers along with green tea powder sprinkled on top of the dessert.  Cut raspberry pieces accent the presentation. 

One of the members of the waitstaff is pretty awesome. When he did get to us, he was extremely apologetic about our tea being low. He also was happy to check back on how our first dish was as well as whether we were satisfied with the dessert. If only all of the servers were that good. The other one gave us an excuse when we asked for ginger and wasabi since it never came upon our arrival.

What I haven't figured out yet is why the sushi chefs speak both Cantonese and Japanese.  I think there may be an interesting story there, but they're so busy that they don't have time to chat.

Overall, the second food experience was by far much better than the first.  The second service experience was quite a bit worse than the first.  Order the omakase and you'll be satisfied.   One other tip - go early to avoid the crowds.  Even our 5:30pm arrival was on the late side, but it allowed us to sit in one of the few remaining spots for the first round of service.  The line was out the door for the rest of our time there.   

Ristorante La Toscana - Italian, San Rafael

3751 Redwood Hwy, San Rafael CA 94903
(415) 492-9100
Parking: in parking lot
Hours: Mon-Sat 11:30am to 10pm, Sun 11am to 9:30pm
http://www.ristorantelatoscana.com/

Last Visited: August 13, 2006

Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$$

Enter Ristorante La Toscana and you’ll find the bar to your immediate left and the dining room to your right. It’s a bit dark inside the foyer, but it reminds me of classic Italian restaurants. The restaurant is known for its classic Tuscan style dinners and has been around since 1985. For many years, I heard that they serve good food, but I hadn’t actually had the chance to try it until now.

The main dining area is separated by a wood wait station. The walls are sponged in light orange and cream and the floors are carpeted with a dark flowered carpet. The ceiling is high and there is a skylight. The chandeliers are rather old in style, but I suppose it adds to the feeling of classic Italian dining – you could say it takes you back about a decade or two ago. The tables are covered with white tablecloths and large white paper sits under each place setting. You can tell that the place is a bit on the older side. There are large plants placed around the edges of the room. The chairs are somewhat old looking with the rose colored plastic seat and wood back. However, it still has a charm about it.

The staff primarily consisted of the owner who hosted this evening, a middle aged male server, and many young women, all appropriately dressed in black with the exception of the young lady hostess.

The menu consists of very classic Italian dishes – pasta, veal, prime rib, rack of lamb. The dishes are fairly priced, and quite a bargain when you see the portions. Looking around, I noticed that during this dinner service, most of the patrons were fairly senior. There were few tables of younger people – whether adults or children.

- Minestrone Soup – The minestrone contained vegetables in a tomato based soup, but the soup had an almost creamy color. There were pieces of zucchini, kidney beans, bacon, and much more. It was a hearty and rich bowl of soup that is sure to fill your stomach. Very good. Cup $4, Bowl $5.50

- Gnocchi della Casa with choice of sauce – These house made gnocchi were delicious. Fluffy pillows indeed. I selected Bolognese sauce - the meat was tender and the tomatoes had cooked down until thick. They use lots of herbs in this sauce, so I did find myself picking some larger pieces of herbs out, but overall, it was delicious. The portion is quite generous, or perhaps it’s just very filling. Other sauces available include tomato and basil, pesto, and panna. Parmesan cheese was served on the side and available for me to add. See additional comments below. $12

- Rack of Lamb – Four bones worth of lamb are served in a creamy brown sauce with Swiss chard on the side and also a side of potato wedges that were baked. The potato wedges, skin still on them, were delicious – crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Very yummy. The Swiss chard was cooked until tender and lightly seasoned. The cream sauce for the lamb was flavored just right, and the lamb was truly cooked to medium – pink in the middle. I was quite impressed. Very good. They also offer this dish for two at double the price. I don’t know why that’s offered, but maybe that would be a good question to ask next time. $22

The only thing about my food that was surprising was the gnocchi leftovers. Although they made for a terrific meal the following day, I was disappointed to find a piece of metal from the scrubber used to clean pans and pots. Fortunately, I had detected it in my mouth since I was on alert detecting those large herb pieces. I called Ristorante La Toscana and told them of my finding, and they assured me they would change out all of the scrubbers. He mentioned that I could tell the maitre d’ the next time I came in and they would treat me to dinner. However, he didn’t take down my name or anything like that.
Overall, I had a good dining experience. I would say the service was a little odd though. With the results of my calling to alert them of the scrubber, as well as the actual service received, I dropped the four star service rating down to three. During my actual visit, the service was good right until we had finished the meal. Then it seemed as though we waited for ten minutes before the bus person came to clear our table. Another ten minutes floated by as we waited for our server to come back with the check. This pretty much put a damper to the service part of the experience, but by watching what was happening at the tables around me, I leave their service at three stars. One table was unhappy about something and was given a free cup of soup. Another table had received their check when one of the guests decided to have coffee, and the server was kind enough to take the check back and redo it. Both of these responses led to holding their service rating to three stars. Unfortunately, the thing that also dropped the rating was the lack of being genuine when it comes to sincerity. l just didn’t feel that our server was being real. The falseness behind her general style of service was so high that you could feel it – and that just isn’t good.

Try out La Toscana for good classic Italian food. Keep an eye on the food itself and look forward to large quantities.

Gi Kee Seafood Restaurant - Chinese, Hong Kong

2F, CFS4, UC Wong Nai Chung Complex, 2 Yuk Yau St, Happy Valley, Hong Kong

Ph: 2574 9937

Hours: 5.30pm-12.30am

Last Visited: November 2010

Food: 4 stars

Atmosphere: 2 stars

Service: 3 to 4 stars

Price: $ to $$$$

Unless you are told about this place, it's super easy to miss it.  Gi Kee is located in a food court in a giant food shopping center.  The lower floors contain grocery stalls for fresh fish, fresh meats, and vegetables.  It's a bit reminiscent of a farmer's market, but more permanent. 

From the sign advertising the restaurant near the elevator below, one might think that you're going to a large restaurant, but then you arrive and see the signs on the wall and the common dining area.  It's noisier than a food court you would find at a mall, but picture that and you will have an accurate picture.  Be wary of where you sit because certain tables are designated for certain restaurants.  If you don't tell them which restaurant you're looking for, you'll be directed to another restaurant's table.

Our first visit was for lunch and we came during rush hour without knowing it.  The place was completely packed with a number of local construction workers.  Each day, Gi Kee offers a limited number of terrific values including fresh fish for under $10US.  It even comes with rice.  For that price, you know a lot of people are excited to go there.  There are other specials available, but I was pretty much set on trying their crab which came highly recommended by a family friend.

Our style of dress and the fact that we don't dress like locals do really made us stand out from the other diners, but that didn't deter us.  We ordered a much more expensive meal than what many order during lunch, so all of these cues informed the wait staff know that we weren't regulars.  The gals were really nice - you kind of feel like mom is there to help you through the process of ordering, suggesting dishes, and making sure that nobody shares your table.  Most of the time, there just isn't enough space, so tables are shared by all patrons.  They were super friendly and I really appreciated their looking out for us.  Don't worry if you're not Chinese.  The menu has English available and there are other tourists there, though not many.

Since we weren't sure we would have time to return for another visit, the two of us ordered three dishes. 

- Deep Fried Garlic Crab - The flavor was incredible.  If you like fried garlic with red peppers and spices, this is something you'll love.  The crab meat that has touched the batter is slightly crispy and the flavor packs a punch.  It was amazingly fresh tasting since it was still alive and they showed it to us for approval before cooking it.  The only thing I didn't like is that if you're accustomed to dungeness crab which is often served in the US, you'll find the meat in the Hong Kong crab to be too hard to get at since the crab is more the size of blue crab. 

- Braised Tofu with Vegetables - Fairly standard in flavor, I appreciated the hot temperature of the tofu and the tender mushrooms that it was served with.  The greens were also really fresh.

- Sauteed Clams with Garlic Sauce - While I didn't notice any particular difference with other clams that I've had, I did note that these were very fresh.  There was an abundance of clams too and thus the slightly higher cost was very acceptable. 

The three dishes together were about $100USD.  The tofu and clams were fairly reasonably priced, but the live crab was priced by weight, so that was our most expensive dish.

Our second visit was for dinner and we brought family to enjoy the meal with us.  Our mission this evening was to try some of their regular seafood dishes and also to sample more of their flavors.  Dinner service is much less hectic.  We arrived early, around 5:30pm, and found that there were many places to sit.    

Gi Kee's atmosphere definitely fits with Hong Kong family style service - They put plastic around the table and instead of placing shells and bones on a plate, you just place it on the plastic.  It's certainly not fancy, but the food is good.  -  

- Braised Fish Fillet with Broccoli - Fresh fish fillets are braised with yellow chives and carrots and served over broccoli florets.  It tastes like home, but has the wok air of a restaurant.  Super delicious and flaky, the fish is succulent and good. 

- Minced Pork with Preserved Vegetable and String Beans - Another great homestyle dish, this has a lot of flavor.  There's a bit of sweetness from the preserved vegetables and you can tell their access to the farmer's market downstairs pays off when you taste these crunchy green beans. 

- Preserved Red Bean Curd Roasted Chicken -  Similar to deep-fried Chinese style chicken, this dish is seasoned with preserved red bean curd which almost makes the skin a little crispier and more flavorful than usual.  To get the skin crispy, the chicken is air-dried, and then deep-fried.  The meat is juicy too.

- Braised Eggplant in a Clay Pot - The temperature of the braised bean curd is so hot that it makes the eggplant super tender while keeping each piece intact.  Sauteed bell peppers, onions, and carrots accompany the eggplant. 

- Steamed Scallops and Tofu with Black Bean Sauce - Super succulent scallops and fresh preserved black beans are placed on top of tofu and steamed until the scallops are just cooked. 

Gi Kee has the full range of offerings from simple homestyle dishes with fresh seafood to more decadent dishes like their crab which would be much more challenging to make at home even if you have a deep fryer.  The flavors range from simple to rich.                                                   

If you don't mind the setting, you can really enjoy some fabulous food that matches up with the best restaurants in Hong Kong.  I really enjoyed the experiences for both lunch and dinner - lunch is amusing, especially if you like people watching and can handle the hustle and bustle. 

Another good thing is that if someone can't eat shellfish or seafood in general, they do offer other options as well. 

Now if only I could find some place in the San Francisco Bay Area that can cook up a dungeness crab this way....