Mar 26

Carino’s Italian Grill

3860 Truxel Rd
Sacramento, CA 95834

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Today, we decided to look for better tasting Italian food, so we ended up at Carino’s in Natomas. Located next to a Chilis and near a BJ’s and Mimi’s Café, Carino’s has a lot of competition for a restaurant. Upon entering the restaurant on Saturday night, we were told the wait was around 10 minutes as there was one group ahead of us. The restaurant did seem quite packed, but the hostess did not seem too cheery. After we were seated, a hostess provided us with menus and informed us that our server was Clorissa.

Today, we ordered the spicy romano chicken and the chicken parmigiana. The waitress provided a warm loaf a bread and a dish of olive oil and roasted garlic to snack on while waiting for the food. The bread had hints of rosemary and tasted delicious. I ended up asking for a refill on the bread twice. The spicy romano chicken tasted really healthy and fresh, but it did not have much chicken. There was a little bit of spice, but not much. The sauce tasted really good with the bowtie pasta. The chicken parmigiana was more of the opposite because the marinara sauce tasted a bit bland with not much spaghetti either. However, the chunk of chicken was huge! There was way too much chicken on the plate, but the breading tasted delicious and the entire piece of chicken was tender and juicy.

Overall, Carino’s does server up great tasting Italian food at OK prices, but the dishes are not 100% perfect. I was happy with the service provided and the appearance of the food. I would come back to give them a try when I’m exhausted of new Italian restaurants to try out. I would definitely come here instead of Olive Garden.

Mar 19

Sarang Bang – Part 2

3631 S Port Dr
Sacramento, CA 95826

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Today we decided to try out Sarang Bang again because they have quite an interesting menu. When we arrived, the entire restaurant was filled, and there were already people waiting in front of us. With just one waitress handling the entire restaurant, it took a while to get seated.

Today, we ordered the O’mu rice, bul go gi, and the cold buckwheat noodle w/special spicy sauce. The O’mu rice tasted pretty good and looked pretty interesting. It was pretty much a chicken fried rice omelet with ketchup on top. The O’mu rice tasted pretty good on its own because of the chicken inside. The bul go gi tasted good, but the pieces were pretty small and the portion size was also small. I was looking for larger pieces but found none. I was not a fan of the cold buckwheat noodles because the noodles were chewy and hard to cut and I did not really like the sauce.

Overall, Sarang Bang serves up Korean food not found at other Korean BBQ restaurants. If you wanted to pick up some good tasting O’mu rice, then Sarang Bang will have it. Service was OK, but slow due to the fact that there was only one waitress. If you come during dinnertime, expect to wait.

Mar 12

Pan Pacific

545 Downtown Pl
Sacramento, CA 95814

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Located inside the Downtown Plaza food court, Pan Pacific serves up teriyaki rice plates. Although not as busy as the panda express a few feet away, Pan Pacific does cook fresh teriyaki to order at very low prices. There’s usually someone in the front passing out free samples too.

Today, I ordered the chicken teriyaki with fried rice. They did take around 5 minutes to cook the teriyaki from scratch, but it was worth it. The meat was fresh and cooked all the way through while still staying juicy. There was not a lot of teriyaki sauce, but enough to give the meat and rice some more flavor. The fried rice was OK, but it was not too special with very little vegetables. The meal also came with a side of vegetables in the form of broccoli and cabbage. The portion size of the meal was very good considering the price at under $6.

Overall, Pan Pacific offers fresh teriyaki at great prices. The flavor may not be the best, but there is great value. If I felt like teriyaki, I would pay Pan Pacific a visit again. They also offer a card that they stamp so that you can get a free meal later on.

Mar 05

Yang’s Noodles

5860 Stockton Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95824

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

We decided to search for Taiwanese food in Sacramento, so we ended up at Yang’s Noodles on Stockton Blvd. All of the noodles at Yang’s Noodles are homemade. The restaurant has a menu printed completely in Chinese and another menu with English translations.

Today, we ordered the green onion pancake, potstickers, beef noodle soup, and bean curd with spicy minced pork. The green onion pancake was crispy and held together well, but did not have much flavor. The potstickers tasted good, but did not have much filling and also did not arrive until 5 minutes after all the dishes came out. The beef noodle soup had great flavor, but poor quality meat. I ended up pulling out large chunks of beef muscles and tendon because there was not much meat in the bowl at all. The soup was quite flavorful though. The bean curd with spicy minced pork tasted good, but did not have too much flavor. I did enjoy the handmade noodles in both dishes.

Overall, the food at Yang’s Noodles tasted OK, and the service is mediocre. If you are craving for Taiwanese food and can’t drive to Los Angeles, then you may end up here. After visiting this restaurant, I felt quite disappointed at the food. The prices are OK, but are slightly on the higher side considering what you get out of it.

Feb 26

Olive Garden

1780 Challenge Way
Sacramento, CA 95815

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

In an attempt to find good tasting Italian food at decent prices, we ended up at Olive Garden for their parmesan crusted 2 for $25 menu. We arrived less than one hour before closing, so there was plenty of seating.

For the meal, we received salad, soup, breadsticks, parmesan crusted chicken, parmesan crusted prosciutto tortellini, and the tiramisu. The minestrone soup tasted OK, but I did not like the beans because they made the soup more grainy. The salad tasted good, but was nothing special. The breadsticks did not even arrive until all of the entrees arrived, and the server was not really available to question. The parmesan crusted chicken tasted OK, but the portion size was pretty small, and the dish was quite oily. The parmesan crusted prosciutto tortellini was even more oily and even a bit salty. The highlight of the meal was the tiramisu because of the soft and tasty.

Overall, the food at Olive Garden had been disappointing, and the service quite lackluster. Even with the great deal of the 2 for $25 menu, I suggest you look elsewhere for Italian food. I do  not recommend coming back to this location.

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