Broccoli & Chocolate

restaurants * food events * news

Archives for March 2011

Review: New Kapadokia

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Update: New Kapadokia is now closed.

Atmosphere: 4/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Would like to
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New Kapadokia Redwood CityMy friends were going to a Star Trek Convention in Burlingame a few weeks ago (don’t judge) and I asked if they wanted to meet for dinner afterward*. I was feeling like trying something a bit different… I didn’t want your regular steakhouse or Japanese place or taco shop.

A Yelp search found New Kapadokia at 2399 Broadway in Redwood City: Turkish cuisine. Turkish food is sorta like Mediterranean cuisine, and though I wasn’t 100% sure it would be a great experience, I was sure that I wanted to try it. So I dragged the gang out to this cute (and previously unknown) area of Redwood City and out to New Kapadokia.

First impression: super cute. Small but not too small, cozy restaurant on a corner. Tablecloths. Wall hangings. Mute colors. Judging from the website and the Yelp reviews, I honestly expected a pretty serious hole in the wall. This place has class, no holes in these walls.

Inside New Kapadokia, Redwood City

Inside New Kapadokia, Redwood City

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New Bar: Dark Horse Lounge

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Shameless plug for my baby sis’s new bar Dark Horse Lounge in Hayward, NOW OPEN!!

Formerly the Whiskey River Saloon at Hesperian and Winton, Jenny has transformed this old-west style bar to a more contemporary version of your local watering hole. With a new coat of paint, some new light fixtures and a hell of a lot of scrubbing, the Dark Horse Lounge is ready to serve you a drink starting today!

dark horse lounge

They’re not serving food other than small nibbles at the moment, but come by for a cold beer, a cocktail or just to say hi to the pretty lady behind the counter (unless my dad is bartending… he’s not quite as pretty as Jenny). I’ll be stopping by today and I’ll keep everyone posted about any Grand Opening events or upcoming specials!

Yeay for opening a business, see you at the Dark Horse Lounge!!!

Dark Horse Lounge on Urbanspoon

Review: Lettuce

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Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Yes!
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Lettuce RestaurantI wish someone would just make a restaurant with affordable, healthy, delicious salads, soups and sandwiches. Lettuce: you have read my mind (or, my previously typed words). Order at the counter, fresh, made-to-order salads with sandwiches, homemade soups and daily pasta dishes? Sign me up.

I’ve really been looking for Lettuce all my life. Failed attempts include Fresh Choice, Sweet Tomatoes and other salad-based restaurants. Those places aren’t doing it right; Lettuce is…. 

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broccoliandchocolate.com

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Finally! I bought broccoliandchocolate.com. No more wordpress in my URL, thank you very much. Exciting!

Additionally, I wanted to point out that you can receive an email when I post a review by subscribing to this blog! Type your email address into the field below the big Foodbuzz advertisement on the right and push the “Sign me up!” button. It’s an easy way to never miss a post and it makes me happy to have a tiny list of people who care! Yeay!

Lastly, B&C is now on Twitter!!! I think it’s a great way to network and pretty much just one more way I can type for the whole internet to see… find me at @brocandchoc!

Review: Family House of Fish & Poultry

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Atmosphere: 1/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value:2/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Boyfriend likes it… so, yes.
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Family House ExteriorDude. Family House of Fish & Poultry. Let’s not even begin to think this place has its own website. Or that you’ve ever heard of it, even if you’re a Hayward local. Since we went to FH a few weeks ago, I’ve been asking friends if they’ve ever been there. Not one of them even knew the place existed.

Family House is located centrally and prominently on Mission Boulevard in Hayward just south of Carlos Bee. Anyone who knows the least bit about Hayward could easily find it. Yet no one knows about it. It’s the quintessential example of an Overlooked Establishment…. 

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Review: Buon Appetito — Revisted

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Atmosphere: 5/5   ♦   Service: 4/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value: 3/5
Times Visited:  A Few* ♦   Will I Return?:  Yes, please
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Buon AppetitoHello again, Buon Appetito. My first review of Buon Appetito in Hayward followed my first visit about this time last year. Since then we’ve been back a couple times and I wanted to report on the growth of this place for those who haven’t been in a while.

Last time I commented on the new addition of the bar area to the main restaurant. They have now added a third space as they attempt to take over that entire tiny shopping strip. Sandwiching the bar area is a second seating area that could probably seat another 50 people easily. I didn’t ask who their interior decorator is, but it’s clear that they spared no expense — the place looks fabulous.

Buon Appetito

The newest dining room at Buon Appetito, Hayward

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I Love Food, but…

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…I don’t really love to cook. There, I typed it. I’m a food blogger who doesn’t love to cook. Will you still read my blog?

It’s not that I hate to cook, I just typically find it tedious and I’m really not that great at it. What I really like to do is eat. You may have noticed this. I love food. Love, love, love. I just really want someone else to make it for me. Is that so wrong?

The real problem: Boyfriend is out of town for four days. Between the existence of cereal and restaurants, I have managed not to have to face the stove as yet. But this will surely change before he returns. I exert a small whimper.

If there’s one thing I dislike more than cooking, it’s cooking alone and for myself. I swear, anything I touch tastes worse than if I hadn’t personally supervised its creation. Maybe I should just cook blindfolded. Things would at least turn out more interesting…

You really notice how much tasks are delegated in a relationship when your significant other isn’t around. K is in charge of the cooking, the laundry (generally), and typically anything technical or mechanical. The flash on my camera wasn’t working yesterday and I had to figure it out by myself when I would have normally handed it to him. Another whimper.

I could continue to tell you about how, since he’s been gone, I’ve needed things off the top shelf, how I embarrassed myself struggling with my tripod, and how I laughed out loud at a song that came on the radio that reminded me of an inside joke we have, but instead, I’m going to go eat some cereal. Sigh.