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

China Wall Buffet - Dublin, CA

China Wall Buffet
7745 Amador Valley Blvd.
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 833-7202

THE GOOD: oysters (dinner only), honey shrimp (dinner only), lemon chicken, green beans, fried bananas, yam sesame balls, lychee, mango...and service.

THE BAD: sushi, crab (dinner only), peel-and-eat shrimp (dinner only), shrimp cocktail, pineapple rice, most of the Chinese food except for the lemon chicken and honey shrimp.

THE UGLY: they put "Dinner Only" signs next to the oysters, crab, honey shrimp and other items at 3:30pm (when prices change from $7.99 lunch to $12.99 dinner) so that if you came during lunch, you are now limited to half the food selection because you're only allowed to eat the "Lunch" items.

I always seem to get the same things every time we come here: oysters, honey shrimp and lemon chicken (but ONLY when it's freshly brought out), green beans, fried bananas, yam sesame balls and lychee. I'm good with that. :)



















Crab Legs and Peel-and-Eat Shrimp


Mussels, Chicken Skewer, Lemon Chicken, General's Chicken, Green Beans


Lemon Chicken, Green Beans, Yam Sesame Balls


Oysters


Mango, Fried Banana, ???, Yam Sesame Balls


Lychee and Yam Sesame Balls

Great Wall Chinese Buffet - Fairfield, CA

Great Wall Chinese Buffet
1795 Pennsylvania Ave.
Fairfield, CA 94533
(707) 426-1528

For a Chinese buffet, they don't offer as much variety as other restaurants...but they do have a select few items that are delicious. I admit that a lot of what I saw there didn't seem very appetizing, mostly their Mongolian BBQ due to the fact that the meat wasn't kept frozen (yikes!) but I liked their salmon (that was my favorite!), chicken skewers, Chinese veggies, General's chicken and yam sesame balls. In fact, I liked it so much I went back and got a duplicate plate!

The interior does look a little shabby, but at least the service was good and they kept the booths clean. As we sat there eating, we also watched them bring out more food, little by little, which is probably why it tasted good and fresh. A lot of other buffets load the trays with food and leave them there for hours!

For $9.99 including a drink, their dinner is okay...as long as you don't mind eating just a few good items like salmon, chicken, veggies and yam sesame balls! I'd go back if I was in the area, but I wouldn't make a special trip there.

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