Mar 19

New Panda Restaurant – Long Beach, CA

711 E Anaheim St

Long Beach, CA 90813

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Located on busy Anaheim Street in a strip mall in Long Beach, New Panda Restaurant serves up Chinese fast food to the masses. There were barely anyone inside prior to the lunch rush, so I found myself able to select from the many options. Today, I decided to order the two-item combo with fried rice, broccoli beef, and spicy orange chicken. The combo also came with the choice of an egg roll or soda, so I opted for the soda. The sheer quantity of food received for a very reasonable price was a great value. The broccoli was fresh, but the beef was fairly bland and tough. The spicy orange chicken had a mild spice and lots of savory flavors, but the breading was quite thick and hard. The fried rice tasted fresh and was simply seasoned. Overall, the meal tasted OK, but was not spectacular. Due to the price and proximity to the hotel, I would probably order from this restaurant again in the future if I stayed at that hotel again. Although I would not go out-of-the-way to visit the restaurant, if you are in the area, you cannot get a better value.

Mar 12

Iron Horse Tavern – SMF

6900 Airport Blvd

Sacramento, CA 95837

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Since I have never tried the location in downtown, I decided to take the opportunity to try out Iron Horse Tavern at the airport. I was quickly seated near the window and provided with a menu. Since my flight was so early in the morning, only the breakfast menu was available. After a quick review of the menu, I was ready to order.

Today, I ordered two eggs over hard with breakfast potatoes, toast, and bacon. The eggs were cooked just right, but the bacon tasted more crunchy instead of crispy. The potatoes were OK with the ketchup, but it was nothing special. The standard toast went well with the grape jelly too.

Overall, breakfast at Iron Horse Tavern was nothing special. The food was a bit overpriced, but is in line with airport food. Given another opportunity, I may give Iron Horse Tavern a try again for their regular menu, but I would probably go somewhere else for breakfast.

Mar 05

The Waffle Experience

4391 Gateway Park Blvd #650

Sacramento, CA 95834

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Located in an unassuming strip mall in Natomas,The Waffle Experience serves up creative brunch delights to the North Natomas community. In order to avoid the morning rush, we decided to arrive closer to the afternoon, which worked out perfectly. After placing my name down, we were seated within 15 minutes. The hostess provided menus while a server later came by for drink orders.

After reviewing the menu, we decided to order Praise the Lard, Benedict Arnold, and Just a Waffle. As you can tell, The Waffle Experience excels at naming their dishes, but they need to work on their food. Praise the Lard consisted of a large chunk of pork belly and egg atop a waffle with light syrup. The pork belly was nicely glazed and had enough fat on it, but it could have been more tender. The eggs added a nice touch, but the waffle was disappointing. Although the waffle was stuffed with lardon, the waffle itself was extremely hard and dense. The waffle was quite a challenge to eat even when cut into pieces. The Benedict Arnold tasted quite bland, and you can barely taste the hollandaise. The Canadian bacon was mostly fat, and the dish just didn’t look appetizing. The eggs added a nice texture, but again, the waffle was so hard. The Just a Waffle was supposed to be a nice sweet finish. There was just enough syrup on the plate for the two small waffles. Unfortunately, the waffles were just as dense as the other two dishes. Eating the waffles became more of a chore instead of enjoyment.

Overall, The Waffle Experience started with promise, but ended in failure. Menu choices looked creative, but the end results were quite disappointing. How can a restaurant with waffle in the name cook up almost inedible waffles? Service also started pretty good since the server was attentive, but at the end of the meal, we were ignored and not checked on. We had to flag down a different server to get our check. Given another opportunity, we would not return here. Bacon and Butter is a whole lot better.

Feb 26

Ike’s Love & Sandwiches

212 F St

Davis, CA 95616

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

With high praise and plenty of menu choices, we decided to go to Davis to grab some of Ike’s sandwiches. Upon arriving, I was greeted by an employee who answered my questions and described the menu. All of their menu choices offer flexible customization. After some review of the menu, I placed the order.

Today, we decided to order the Matt Cain on Dutch Crunch and The Little Mermaid on French Bread. Both sandwiches came nicely wrapped and bagged. When we got home, we dug into the sandwiches. The Matt Cain came with turkey, roast beef, salami, lettuce, Godfather sauce, and provolone. The sandwich had an adequate amount of meat inside, and the sauce added some flavor. However, after eating half the sandwich, the flavor became a bit bland. The Little Mermaid comes with chicken with and orange glaze and pepper jack cheese along with veggies. Unfortunately, this sandwich was quite soggy by the time we ate it. There really wasn’t much flavor at all in this sandwich and just tasted like bread and chicken. The sandwich became quite unappetizing by the time we got to the 2nd half.

Overall, Ike’s does serve up a large variety of menu options with creative names, but some of the flavors seem to be lacking. You may have better luck eating the sandwich immediately after ordering if you have a lot of veggies on the sandwich. Ike’s may be worth going to once in a while just to try out different menu items, but we were not impressed with this visit.

Feb 19

Bacon & Butter

5913 Broadway

Sacramento, CA 95820

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located at an unassuming corner of Broadway and 59th Street, Bacon & Butter serves up brunch fare with an emphasis on bacon. After multiple attempts at coming to this restaurant and failing due to the long wait, we decided to come in the last hour of their operating hours, and we scored a 15 minute wait time, which only lasted 5 minutes. A hostess quickly sat our group at a booth and provided us with menus. Soon, a server came by and took our drink orders.

Today, we decided to order the grilled cheese benedict, biscuit bacon & gravy, pork butt hash, chicken & waffles, and side of flapjack. The grilled cheese benedict was loaded with cheese on soft fluffy bread topped with bacon, more cheese, egg, and hollandaise sauce. The combination of all the simple flavors came together amazingly and each bite tasted so unhealthy, yet yummy. The biscuit bacon & gravy came with large warm biscuits smothered in bacon gravy with strips of bacon in between biscuits topped with eggs. The gravy was the best part of the dish because of how the bacon is so infused in the gravy. The biscuits did get a bit heavy after eating more of the dish though. The pork butt hash was plated beautifully and came with tender pork butt, country potatoes, and various vegetables. The pork was tender and flavorful, which went well with the egg and potatoes. The chicken & waffles came with large fluffy waffles with a large dollop of butter to go with the syrup. The chicken was juicy and the batter was nice and thin yet crispy. The lardon was crispy and flavorful, which went well with the sweet syrup. The flapjack was a nice fluffy side with more butter, apples, pears, and syrup. The combination of pancake, fruit, and syrup made the dish taste like apple pie.

Overall, Bacon & Butter serves up delicious artery-clogging concoctions at reasonable prices. Service was pretty good considering how busy the restaurant was. While waiting for our food, we constantly saw food coming out of the kitchen at a fast pace. If you are looking for a great brunch spot, Bacon & Butter fits the bill. If you love bacon, you must give Bacon & Butter a try.

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