Jul 05

Curry Club

1401 O St

Sacramento, CA 95814

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

In search for a good Indian buffet for lunch, we ended up at Curry Club in Downtown Sacramento. The restaurant was not very busy when our group entered, but soon the restaurant became so packed that the employees needed to turn people away. The staff was very receptive in getting our group seated together, and we were able to enjoy their $10 lunch buffet. The restaurant is not very big, and the buffet station was in the center near the cash register and kitchen.

As you enter the short buffet line, the first things that are available include rice pudding and rice. I opted out of the pudding so that I could eat more rice and meat. There was plenty of rice available and was cooked properly. The remaining buffet station housed the various Indian delicacies including  three vegetable curry options and five meat dishes. There was plenty of meat available on the first go around. The most notable dishes I had included the Tandoori chicken, chicken curry, and the chicken Tiki Masala. All of the dishes were loaded with Indian spices. The Tandoori chicken pieces were a bit small, but had the classic red outside. There was an instant Indian spice flavor from the chicken, but it was not overwhelming. The chicken curry had a good kick and add a lot of flavor to the rice. The chicken Tiki Masala was my favorite because it had a mild, yet creamy flavor that cleansed the palate. I also tried the Beef Vindaloo, but I felt that the spices were a bit too strong. By the time I returned to the table, the server provided both regular naan and garlic naan to our tables. The naan tasted very fresh and went well with all of the sauces from the dishes. The garlic naan was more mild than I expected, but the garlic flavor definitely added to the overall flavor when dipped into the sauces.

Overall, the Curry Club was very accommodating to our group and served up an ample amount of food considering the small buffet station. Most of the dishes tasted very good and went well with the delicious garlic naan. I applaud the staff for the water and naan refills. I would of liked to have a larger selection of food items suck as the sweet dessert balls and lamb. For $10, I should not ask for so much, but I have had a larger selection at other Indian buffets. If you are downtown and want an Indian lunch buffet, Curry Club will do the trick if there is a table available.

Jul 04

Want 5% Cash Back on Purchases?

So how would you like to earn up to 5% cash back on purchases you are already making?

Many credit cards offer rotating category offers and others offer a set percentage for the entire time. There are way too many credit cards to analyze, but I will go over a handful that have fairly nice perks with no annual fee.

Many people may be against credit cards, but I find them to be a useful tool in protecting your money as long as you use them wisely. If you do not feel responsible enough to pay off the card each month, pay off the card after each purchase so you always have a $0 balance while still raking in the benefits of the card.

Target Red Debit or Credit Card

The Target card offers 5% off everything in the store (including non-Target gift cards), an extra 30 days return policy, and free shipping on Target.com. This card is a no-brainer if you shop a decent amount at Target. You can stack your savings on top of already existing sale prices, coupons, and Cartwheel. If you don’t shop that Much at Target but eat out a lot, use the Target Red Debit or Credit card to buy restaurant gift cards and save 5% each time. If you want the benefit without the credit, bring in a check and Target can issue you a debit card with all the Target benefits. If you want to build credit or don’t trust Target with directly debiting your bank account, get the credit card.

Golden 1 Platinum Rewards Visa

The Golden 1 Visa is a great choice for people who are already Golden 1 Members. This card is a great overall card that offers 1% cash back everywhere, but offers 3% cash back on restaurants, groceries, and gas. There are many cards that offer 3% on gas, but not many that offer a consistent 3% on groceries. If you do a lot of grocery shopping or eating out, then this card is for you. The caveat of this card is that you must be a Golden 1 member, so you will need to open other accounts with them. The lowest APR offered is 7.79%.

Chase Freedom

The Chase Freedom is an extremely popular card known for a rotating quarterly 5% rewards calendar with 1% for everything else. This card is notorious for offering sign up bonuses all the time if you make a certain amount of purchases within the first few months, as well as a short-term 0% APR offer. Instead of going into details about the card, I focus on the 5% categories. The categories change every quarter and tend to differ every year. From July – September 2015, the 5% category is gas stations and Kohls. Since the Chase Freedom gets 5% for gas, people who also have the Golden 1 Visa would use the Chase Freedom for gas from July – September.

Citi Dividend

The Citi Dividend card is unfortunately no longer available for new applicants. Due to that fact, I will only say that the card is similar to Chase Freedom’s rotating quarterly 5% offers with 1% on everything else, but the categories do not seem as popular. For July – September, the 5% category consists of the Hilton Portfolio and Airlines. Citi also offered free FICO credit scores. The card has since been replaced with the Citi Double Cash card that gives 1% on all purchases, and another 1% when you pay your bill, effectively giving you a 2% cash back on everything, which is pretty good too.

Discover

The Discover card offers a rotating quarterly calendar of 5% offers with July – September including Home Improvement, Department Stores, and Amazon.com. Although not all stores take Discover, the majority of home improvement and department stores will, and of course Amazon will. Discover also offered free FICO credit scores like Citi.

If you have all of the above credit cards, you can easily rotate and use the different cards for different spending categories to milk the 2-5% cash back. Credit cards also offer better protection for purchases, protects you from fraudulent charges, separates your bank account from the seller, and provide other features like price protection and concierge. If you are looking for some money on the table, then these reward credit cards are it!

Jul 01

ESPN Zone – Anaheim

1545 Disneyland Dr.

Downtown Disney District

Anaheim, CA 92802

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Located near the west-end of Downtown Disney, near the Disneyland Hotel, ESPN Zone serves up a variety of American dishes while displaying all types of sports on the various TVs mounted on the wall. When we arrived, there was a short wait, and there were a few others already waiting. Soon, a hostess was able to guide us to a table near a bank of TVs.

While reviewing the menu, our server came by to tell us of the specials and answer any questions. After bringing back our soda, we decided to order the cheese fries and Parmesan chicken pasta. The cheese fries actually stayed quite crispy and tasted great with the bacon bits and ranch. The size of the dish was also quite big, but it made sense for the price of the dish. The Parmesan chicken pasta tasted fresh and healthy. The pasta was cooked al dente and had just the right amount of sauce. The chicken came in fairly large slabs sliced in half and tasted tender and juicy.

Overall, the food at ESPN Zone tasted fresh and flavorful. Prices are a bit high, but are within a normal range for American restaurants. If you had a premium annual pass, then this restaurant would be much more affordable. Our server provided very good service and monitored the soda for refills. If you are looking for a meal, then ESPN Zone would be OK, but you will not be too impressed with the dishes.

Jun 28

Star BBQ – Garden Grove

8295 Garden Grove Blvd

Garden Grove, CA 92844

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

My preconceptions of the Anaheim area got me to believe that there were only a couple Korean BBQ restaurants in the vicinity. Surprisingly, I found an entire Korean district in Garden Grove. Finding a Korean BBQ restaurant now became a chore to select from the many popular establishments. Today, we decided on Star BBQ because it did not seem as popular as some other nearby restaurants, but still seemed like a good choice.

Upon arrival on a busy Saturday evening, we found multiple groups of people waiting outside. We were told by staff that there was a 20 minute wait, which made sense, so we decided to stay. After what seemed to be a 30 minute wait and after seeing even more groups arrive for dinner, we were finally called in.

We were guided to a table in the back of the packed restaurant and were greeted to a table full of various side dishes. The variety of side dishes were OK, but the type seemed lower quality. We were able to review the menu, which essentially consists of two different sub-menus: the “A” menu for $20.99 per person and the “B” menu for $16.99 per person. The A menu has a few items that the B menu does not such as beef rib, short rib, and beef tongue. We decided to opt for the B menu since there were already plenty of choices on that menu.

Throughout the session, we ordered the beef brisket, bulgogi, spicy pork belly, steamed egg, fried rice, and chicken teriyaki. The beef brisket was very tender, but was extremely greasy and fatty. The bulgogi was flavorful and was well marinaded, but the meat fell apart really easily on the cook top. The spicy pork belly came with a good amount of heat, but the pieces had a fairly large chunk of fat on each one. The steamed egg was a delightful change from the rest of the meat since it came in its own bowl of fluffy goodness. The fried rice was interesting because our server pretty much took over the grill and cooked a variant of bi bim bap at the table. The server did cook way too much, and it was hard for us to finish. The chicken teriyaki was marinated well, but was pretty basic. Every time we ordered, the server brought a fairly large amount of meat. I would have preferred smaller portions so that we could have tried more varieties, but we got too full too fast.

Overall, the food at Star BBQ tasted of good quality and were marinated OK, but the portion sizes were too big and the side dishes were disappointing. Service was pretty good considering the number of tables each server is serving. Our server actually cleaned our cook top 4 times during the session by spraying water on the metal and then scraping the burnt stuff into a hole on the pan. Star BBQ may have good food, but I wonder if other restaurants can offer speedier service with smaller portions or self-service meat.

Jun 24

Thai Orchid

6974 Sunrise Blvd

Citrus Heights, CA 95610

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Since I was recommend to try out a particular Thai restaurant in Citrus Heights that supposedly serves up delicious, authentic Thai food, I had to see if the authenticity was there. Located inside a fairly shady shopping plaza with an anchored FoodMaxx, the small Thai Restaurant had quite a few tables available since it was around 1 hour before closing time. We were welcomed with a smile from the very friendly server. After the staff rearranged and set the tables for our party, we were seated and provided with a vast menu.

Today, we decided to order the Yellow Curry with Chicken, Papaya Salad, Chicken Larb, Pineapple Fried Rice, Pad Thai with Chicken, and Sweet and Sour Chicken. Although I ordered my Yellow Curry hot, it tasted more medium, but that was OK. I did not like how the potato, carrot, and chicken chunks were so big. I would have much more preferred the pieces to be a quarter of their size. The curry did taste delicious and went well soaking my white rice. The chicken was tender and the vegetables were soft. Although I did not taste the papaya salad, I heard that the salad was fresh and had a good amount of spice it in (very hot. The chicken larb tasted fresh and spicy as well and looked very appealing. The pineapple fried rice tasted good, but I would prefer it not to have the peanuts and raisins in it. The pad Thai had plenty of noodles and an OK amount of chicken, but it would have been better with prawns too. The sweet and sour chicken tasted healthy and fresh since they were not deep fried, but the sauce was lacking in flavor.

Overall, the Thai dishes at Thai Orchid definitely tasted extremely fresh and authentic. The prices for all the dishes were on the much higher size for the portions received in comparison to Thai restaurants in South Sacramento. Service here was amazing with multiple refills for water and consistent checks on the taste of the food and if our group needed anything else. If you are in the Greenback area and wanted to get some Thai food without coming down to South Sacramento, then Thai Orchid will do the trick.

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