Sep 13

2-D Wok – Reno, NV

2303 S Virginia St

Reno, NV 89502

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Located in a strip mall down Virginia in Reno, 2-D Wok serves up a variety of Taiwanese cuisines in a modern setting. Upon entering and waiting at the door, we were greeted by the one server they had in the restaurant and were subsequently seated neat the window. The server provided us with menus and got our drink order. While reviewing the menu, I noticed the table in front of us used a restaurant.com certificate, and that caused me to pull out my phone and found a $10 certificate for $4 with a minimum $20 purchase. Of course, I jumped on this opportunity to save $6. When we arrived, over 50% of the restaurant was occupied, but we were the only ones left by the end of the meal.

Today, we decided to order the potstickers, oil spice and everything nice chicken, and the Taiwanese bento with grilled fish. The order of potstickers came with a garlic chili oil sauce for dipping. Even after dipping all six pieces into the sauce, we found that the sauce was not spicy at all. The potstickers seemed to have been steamed or boiled, and then pan seared for a short period of time. By looking at the wrapping and filling, the potstickers do seem handmade by the restaurant and consisted of pork and cabbage. There was not a lot of filling in each pot sticker. The oil spice and everything nice chicken came battered and fried, but was not crispy at all. Each bite of chicken was quite soggy with the supposed spicy tangy sauce. The sauce tasted like lemon vinegar, but did not taste spicy.  The chicken did have more flavor when eaten with cabbage and cilantro, but the chicken itself did not even taste fresh. After eating a few pieces, you really realize that the chicken was also quite salty. The Taiwanese bento box came with many items such as the garlic fried fish, sweet potato fries, stir fried vegetables, tofu, half an egg, and soup. The soup was quite light and resembled minestrone, but included tofu, tomato, onion, and baby corn. The soup was simple, light, and tasted good. The fish was mostly seasoned with black pepper, and you can’t really taste any garlic at all. With that said, the fish was grilled properly and tasted great. The half of an egg was chewy at parts and was flavored with soy sauce. The stir fried vegetables included cabbage, carrots, and broccoli. The vegetables went well with the fish by making the meal taste healthier. I did not care for the tofu much since it was quite firm and lacked flavor. The sweet potato fries were quite large and went well with the sweet dipping seasoning. The fries tasted fresh as well.

Overall, 2-D Wok serves up decent food, but was quite disappointing. Parts of the meal were good, which included the fish and the potstickers. The chicken was extremely disappointing. Compared to some other Taiwanese food restaurants I’ve been to, 2-D Wok does not seem to be very authentic. There may be dishes on the menu that resemble traditional dishes like the Beef Noodle Soup and Beef Wrap, but the descriptions seem less authentic. Also, they don’t even offer the sale of the green onion pancake. Unfortunately. 2-D Wok charges a premium for their food, which may explain why they needed to use restaurant.com to lure in more customers. If you want to eat Taiwanese food in Reno and are in the area, you can give this place a shot, but make sure you have the restaurant.com certificate ready since you definitely do not get what you pay for.

Sep 09

Top Deck Restaurant – Reno, NV

Cal Neva

1 E 1st St

Reno, NV 89501

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Located on the 2nd floor of the Cal Neva Club Casino in Reno, the Top Deck Restaurant serves up a large variety of inexpensive food. A large sign outside the casino showcases the restaurant’s top menu items: steak & eggs, steak with fries & soup, and prime rib with fries and soup all for under $5.99. Pulled in by the great deals, we entered the dated casino and entered the restaurant where a hostess brought us to a table. Menus were provided and drink orders were taken. A few minutes later, a different server asked us for drink orders again and actually brought the drinks. This felt odd because we were asked for drinks once already. The server later returned to take our order after an extended amount of time.

Today, we ordered the steak & eggs, prime rib with chicken noodle soup and fries, and the El Gordo burrito. The size of the steak was quite small, probably around 6 to 8 ounces and cooked medium rare as requested. The steak was actually seasoned well and was tender; each bite tasted juicy. The scrambled eggs tasted like they came out of the carton and had no texture at all, which also tasted bland. The hash browns were unusually dense and chewy. Even with extra ketchup, the hash browns were fairly hard to eat and continued to not taste fresh. The wheat toast came with a hefty amount of butter, which made the toast really good. The chicken soup that came with the prime rib was extremely hot and included an ample amount of tender chicken. The included herbs added flavor to the bland flavor that resembles soup coming out of a can. The prime rib was small and looked around 10 ounces, but almost half of the slab was fat. Of the remaining meat portion, the meat was tender, but had no flavor at all. Even when dipped in the au jus, you could really only taste plain meat. The meal did come with a generous amount of fries, which were cooked properly and went well with ketchup. The El Gordo burrito comes in weighing 2 pounds served with a side of chips and salsa. I ordered the burrito without beans since I was already eating a lot of carbs anyways. The burrito came filled with seasoned rice, beef, cheese, and tomatoes. It was quite a challenge to eat the burrito, especially after clearing the plate from the steak and eggs. The meat in the burrito resembled chopped up prime rib, but like the prime rib meal, the meat in the burrito was equally as bland as the meal. In addition, the beef was dry, and there was not enough cheese in the burrito to add moisture to the burrito. The salsa helped a bit, but consisted of mostly liquid tomatoes and very little heat. Having ate half of the burrito, I was unable to finish the other half at the time.

Overall, Top Deck Restaurant serves up decent food at amazing prices. If you decide to come here, stick to what tastes good and just order the steak and eggs. After eating two other bland items from the menu, I can only approve of the steak and eggs. Service was hit or miss as our server was friendly, but the assistant servers and replacement server did not seem that friendly. If you are in the mood for steak at a budget, give Top Deck a try, but don’t order the eggs scrambled. Even if the sides don’t come out properly, at least you ate a good steak.

Sep 06

Savory Fried Chicken

9174 Franklin Blvd

Elk Grove, CA 95758

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Having tried Filipino fried chicken before from Jollibee, we were hoping to have a similarly tasty experience at an actual restaurant as well. Unlike Jollibee, Savory Fried Chicken serves up chicken as half of a whole chicken instead of in pieces. When we entered the restaurant, there was one other couple at a table, but they did not seem busy at all. When we got up to the counter to order, we reviewed the menu and staff answered questions. Various traditional Filipino items were available on the menu, and we intended to try as much as we can eat.

Today, we decided to order the fried half-chicken combo with four pieces of lumpia and steamed rice, four pieces of longanisa, and the pork adobo rice dish. The half-chicken seemed smaller than half of an actual chicken and came with an attached drumstick and wing. After cutting up the chicken, we did not find a lot of meat on the chicken, which resembled more of the size of a Cornish hen rather than half of a cooked rotisserie chicken. The meat was tender and juicy and the skin remained crispy throughout. The chicken tasted savory in each bite, and went well with the provided gravy. The lumpia was quite disappointing due to the size and the filling. There was not a lot of meat in the lumpia and did not have a lot of flavor on its own. The lumpia tasted better when dipped in the sweet and sour sauce. We did like how the lumpia stayed crispy throughout, but I think it was due to the thicker layer of wrapper. The rice that accompanied the meal was mushy and not cooked properly. The longanisa sausages came sliced in half with grill-marks across the flat sides and topped with a thick glaze that resembled honey barbecue sauce mixed with egg roll sauce. The meat tasted sweet and tasty, filled with flavor. The pork adobo came simply presented in a bowl and a side of rice. There were quite a few chunks of meat swimming in the simple soy-sauce based sauce. The sauce was very watery and went well to flavor the rice. The pork was usually tender, but there were pieces that were harder than others. There was not a lot of flavor from the meat itself, where much of the flavor came from the sauce instead.

Overall, Savory Fried Chicken was more of a disappointment, but the food tasted decent. The chicken and longanisa do not seem like that great of a value considering the amount of food received. Having not tried out too much Filipino food, this experience was good overall. If you never tried Filipino food, then Savory Fried Chicken would be a good option, but I do not feel that their food was that spectacular. If the chicken was bigger and prices a bit lower, then I may have a more favorable opinion of the restaurant.

Sep 02

Heat Shabu Baru

2416 18th St

Sacramento, CA 95818

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Having tried Chinese hot pot before, we decided to now try Japanese hot pot as well. Heat Shabu Baru provides that Japanese hot pot experience by providing various menu options including all-you-can-eat and ordering meat by the plate options. Upon entering the modern-themed restaurant, you will either be quickly seated or need to wait for a table since people who choose the all-you-can-eat option have up to two hours to eat in the fairly small restaurant. Upon seating, we were quickly brought cups of ice water and the menu. Staff was attentive the entire time of the meal, and plenty of staff was present.

Today, we decided to opt for the all-you-can-eat option as well as an order of salt n’ pepper wings. The all-you-can-eat option may seem pricey, but when you think about how much meat you would have ordered individually, the all-you-can-eat seems like a good deal. Since we got to choose two soups from the choices of tom yum, miso, spicy miso, tonkotsu, and spicy tonkotsu, we decided to choose the miso and spicy tonkotsu so that we had a good balance. The miso broth on its own tasted light but did not really have much body in it like at other Japanese restaurants. The miso did not infuse much of any flavor into the meats. The spicy tonkotsu definitely carried a lot of heat from the peppers, and coupled with the fact that the soup was boiling, you definitely feel the heat. After cooking the meat for a while, some of the soup is lost to evaporation and from fishing out the meat, so servers are able to refill the soup as well. The salt n’ pepper wings were quite large and were presented nice, but I did not taste much flavor in the wings themselves. The wings did not taste marinated and barely tasted salty.

As for the meat choices themselves, you get to choose from American Kobe Beef, Australian Lamb, and Kurobuta Pork. The all-you-can-eat option does not include seafood or Wagyu Kobe Beef. All of the meat is sliced super-thin to allow fast cooking times. The American Kobe Beef tastes the best and cooks the fastest out of all the meat options. The quality of the beef varies in terms of the marbling for each time we ask for refills, but each order does taste tender and juicy after cooked. The Australian Lamb tasted fresh and had a slightly gamy flavor, which went well with the soup. The Kurobuta Pork was not as tender as the other two meats and did not have any flavor even after being cooked in the soup. In order to infuse more flavor into the meat, various dipping sauces were available including a soy-based sauce, peanut-based sauce, garlic, and green onion. I found that the peanut sauce was nice and light, but still has the peanut flavors. I preferred the soy-based sauce because it was also sweet and sour. The sauce makes the juicy meat even juicier. You also get a side of vegetables and ramen with rice as an option as well.

Overall, Heat Shabu Baru serves up high quality meats with accompanying soups while providing great service. Servers have no problem providing refills to the table for meat at all. We continuously ordered refills of all three meats for at least 5 rounds. Although the focus was on the meat, we also ordered refills on ramen and vegetables. By cooking the meat simply in the soup, the meal becomes more healthy since you aren’t eating the meat with a bunch of sauce or preservatives. If you haven’t tried hot pot before, then Heat Shabu Baru will be a great experience with great meat quality. The meal is more enjoyable through the cooking experience coupled with simple sauces and soups. Although I do feel that the meal was quite pricey, the experience is worth it once in a while.

Aug 30

Four Sisters Cafe – Roseville

9050 Fairway Dr #165

Roseville, CA 95678

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Located in a strip mall near Costco in Roseville, Four Sisters Cafe serves up a variety of traditional and innovative breakfast and lunch items in a modern location. Upon arrival a little after noon, groups of people stood outside and inside waiting for their tables. When we entered the queue, we were quoted for 30-35 minutes. There was not a lot of standing room inside the restaurant, but wait area seating soon became available. After around 20 minutes, our buzzer sounded, and our table was ready. We seemed to have avoided a longer wait from the earlier crowd as lots of people finished their meals as we were seated. Our hostess quickly had us seated and asked for our drink orders after providing the menus. She quickly returned with water and stated our server would arrive soon.

After a few minutes passed while reviewing the menu, our nice server did come to take our order. We decided to order the large orange juice; corned beef hash with scrambled egg, no onions or peppers, and with a side of biscuit; simple is good omelet with ham, bacon, and sausage with a side of toast, and one stack of mancakes. The large orange juice was not really large, rather it was the size of the standard water cup. The orange juice tasted very freshly squeezed while not being too sour and having a good amount of sweetness. The cup was nicely garnished with a thin orange slice. The food ended up arriving fairly quickly after ordering.

The corned beef hash consisted of fresh scrambled eggs on top of strips of fresh corned beef on top of country potatoes. I liked how the corned beef was not too salty. There was plenty of food on the plate, almost enough for two people. I could not get to the side biscuit because of how full I got, but it did come with soft butter and strawberry jam. The mancake is a bacon and sausage infused pancake. When eating the fluffy pancake, you will notice the bacon and sausage pieces, which adds a savory flavor to the sweet syrup. The syrup was not too sweet and tasted homemade. I wished the pancake was more crispy because the thick cake fell apart at times. The simple is good omelet was extremely cheesy and came with plenty of meat inside. You get all three meats in each bite coated with cheese in the fluffy fresh real egg. The potatoes had dill and green onion in it as well, which added a fresh flavor, but gets to you after eating it for a while. The omelet may have went better with a side of rice instead. The sourdough toast was pre-buttered and came with a side of fresh strawberry jam, which went well with the omelet.

Overall, Four Sisters Cafe provided exceptional service at bearable wait times serving up extremely fresh fulfilling food at reasonable prices. At first glance, prices are a bit on the high end, but you do get what you pay for in quantity and quality of food. Our server checked up on us multiple times throughout the meal and provided prompt refills. He even noted that after the meal, we can pay as we leave. With the fresh food and variety of options, I strongly recommend Four Sisters Cafe in Roseville if you are looking for great breakfast.

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