Grand Buffet - Stockton, CA

Grand Buffet
4704 Pacific Ave.
Stockton, CA
(209) 952-8688



Grand Buffet was previously known as Oriental Buffet and is located on the corner of Pacific Avenue and March Lane in the Weberstown Mall in Stockton. It's easy to find with lots of parking and a large dining area with ample space for large groups of people. Buffets are normally a great place for family gatherings because everyone can eat what and how much they want, but the only thing missing from Grand Buffet is good food!

Every single thing I tried at Grand Buffet in Stockton was either old and tough, flavorless or just plain yucky. I think I loaded up my plate 3-4 times with a little bite of this and a little bite of that...but never found a single thing I liked! They didn't even have lychee for me to get full on. :(

Sticky Rice Chinese Bistro and Bar - Fairfield, CA

Sticky Rice Chinese Bistro and Bar
5030 Business Center Dr. #100
Fairfield, CA 94534
(707) 863-7500
stickyricebistro.com



Sticky Rice Chinese Bistro and Bar is located off I-680 at Green Valley Road in Fairfield, just a couple of minutes off the freeway and next to the public library. The restaurant is not very big, although it has table seating inside and outside. Too bad the outside seating area is not lit, but at least Sticky Rice Chinese Bistro and Bar is a nice spot for lunch.



It was fairly busy at Sticky Rice in Fairfield for a Thursday evening and the bar was almost full, probably due to happy hour. We had a couple of drinks while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive, a margarita on the rocks and a Napa Smith Amber Ale.



Here's what we ordered at Sticky Rice in Fairfield for dinner...and btw, I wouldn't order any of these items again (except the lettuce wraps) if we ever decide to eat here a second time. On a more positive note, service at Sticky Rice was wonderful.

Minced Chicken Lettuce Wraps $9 - good

Asian Chicken Salad $9 - meh

Steamed Sea Bass $19 - small portion and overpriced!

Hong Kong Crispy Noodles $10 - salty

Crispy Scallops in a Spicy Garlic Sauce $16 - too much breading

Lemon Chicken $11 - overcooked

Orange Beef $11 - okay (but I've had better...way better!)

Pineapple Coconut Sticky Rice Dessert - yuck

Genghix Asian Fusion - Castro Valley, CA

Genghix Asian Fusion
20855 Redwood Rd.
Castro Valley, CA 94546
(510) 537-3862
genghix.com

Genghix seemed like a trendy, hip Asian fusion restaurant at first glance...based on their flashy website, cool signage, beautiful wooden front doors and the interior ambiance. Even the menus were nice and chunky...but seeing the dirty, faded pages were the first signs of disappointment.

We ordered their kung pao chicken, caramelized scallops and pad thai...and unfortunately, they were all mediocre at best. I expected a lot more from a place like Genghix, but they did not deliver.

Based on this first experience, I won't be returning to Genghix. Maybe I should have tried their sushi. Or maybe not.







Kung Pao Chicken $10.00


Caramelized Scallops $18.00


Pad Thai $9.00

Golden Dragon Buffet - Brentwood, CA

Golden Dragon Buffet
6281 Lone Tree Way
Brentwood, CA 94513
(925) 516-9858

Golden Dragon Buffet offers a $7.99 lunch, Monday to Saturday from 11am - 4pm. We ate here for the first time and being a buffet, it was good to see that it was busy! They offer the typical items that a Chinese buffet offers: Chinese, Sushi, Seafood, Mongolian BBQ, fried food, salad bar, fruit bar, dessert bar and so on.

I discovered the most delightful dessert there...Tapioca Taro! It's actually a soup and I know it sounds odd, it even looks odd (check out my pic at the bottom of this post)...but it was SOOOOOO good that I kept going back for more, despite being a hot summer day. :)

I also liked their Sake (Salmon) Nigiri - which I made "sashimi" because I didn't eat the rice. The green beans in their Chinese food section were spectacular, the Chow Fun and General Chicken were good and the Chicken w/Broccoli and Chili Chicken were so-so. The sushi rolls weren't that great, but it's what you would expect from a buffet, anyway. The salmon was surprisingly moist, but it didn't have much flavor. The crab salad (from the salad bar) was awful.

Golden Dragon Buffet is MUCH better than the two Chinese buffets in Livermore and I definitely plan on returning for more of that Tapioca Taro soup! :)

















Sushi, Salmon and Crab Salad


Chinese Food & Fish


Tapioca Taro

Fuzio - Dublin, CA

Fuzio
4930 Dublin Blvd
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 833-7124
fuzio.com

My last review on Fuzio was a weak 5...but this one's a solid 5! I'm not one who can typically handle a lot of spice, but tonight I was a brave girl and ordered the same dish that DH ordered last time and LOVED:

Fuzio Firecracker Pork Fusilli: Ginger-braised pork, firecracker-hot habanero pesto and sour cream---give it a stir to mingle heat and flavors together. $5.13 at 50% off.

He ordered it again (of course...now I understand why once you have this dish, you can't order anything else on the menu!) and I asked for the habanero pesto on the side (so I could control my own heat) and extra sour cream to douse any fire! Just want to share a couple of things I thought of from tonight's dinner:

1. Variety and taking risks is the spice of life. I'm so glad I ventured far away from my typical "safe" non-spicy dishes...this was MUCH better than the Cambazola Rigatoni I had last time!

2. There is a fine line between pain and pleasure. I crossed it many times during the course of my meal...and I can't wait to come back for more next Wednesday...and be served by Lisa, who is kind enough to make sure I never run out of ice water!





His


Hers


Definitely hers...extra sour cream!

Mahalo Grille $20 Coupon