Jade Garden Offers Pleasant Surprises, Poor Upkeep

That red-and-green pagoda on Hilltop Drive was built 40-plus years ago to house the Hong Kong Restaurant. When it closed, a couple more Chinese restaurants moved in and out, and now Jade Garden has been there for several years. It would seem from Femme de Joie’s observations that while the kitchen is largely keeping up its end, perhaps the building is not being treated with kindness and could use a little upkeep.

Sometimes when she’s sitting in a restaurant, expecting to pay restaurant prices for food that will presumably be cooked in a kitchen that passes health codes, M. de Joie starts to notice things. Things like fortunes from cookies stuck under plastic window protectors (which have been there since Joe Montana was still playing and which have started to attract their own discoloration), fly specks on artificial flowers, unfinished cuts of lumber jerry-bracing ceilings next to cobwebs, rusty stains running down the wall, a grimy splat of unknown origins on the mirrored wall. She notices restrooms with two out of ten possible light bulbs installed and a damp feeling, and a cash register with a lot of tatty cheap souvenirs for sale. This is not to say the restaurant is bad because the artificial rose bush container is now being used as a trash can, but if the windows haven’t been washed since the last Ice Age and there’s condensation under the deeply-cracked plexiglass tabletop, M. de Joie starts to wonder about pride of ownership. Just because a restaurant has a convenient customer base from the motels along Hilltop doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try to do a little housecleaning.

But we don’t eat off the walls or the mirrors, so let’s have a look at the food. The menu is quite extensive but, as noted below, they may not actually serve everything.



Lunch special of almond chicken, including steamed rice, egg roll, and tea

The usual cornstarchy soup-of-the-day was utterly tasteless despite cubes of tofu, assorted veggies and minute bits of mystery meat. Soy sauce and hot chili oil were necessary to lend it a bit of flavor. Almond chicken was a moderate portion, dwarfed on the plate by an extra-large serving of steamed rice, but it was tasty with a nice garlicky flavor, crunchy celery, almond halves, and tender, moist dark-meat bites of chicken.



Pho with tendon, flank steak and meatballs

M. de Joie is a bit dubious when she sees a restaurant trying to take on too much. Jade Garden advertises Szechuan, Hunan, Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese cuisine, which are really quite diverse in ingredients, seasonings, and cooking methods, but a generous bowl of Vietnamese pho was a happy surprise. The well-flavored broth was delicious enough to drink by itself and there was plenty of thinly-sliced beef and rice noodles to round out the meal, along with a side plate of not-quite-freshly sliced Jalapenos and limes plus leafy cilantro on the side.



Bun Thit Nuong

After perusing the handwritten lunch specials board, M. de Joie ordered Ginger Lamb. “Oh, wait,” the waitress said, “they might be out of that.” After conferring with the kitchen, she came back. “You’ll have to pick something else. They’ve been out of that for quite a while.” Then why was it on the lunch specials? Never mind. M. de Joie chose another Vietnamese dish, Bun Thit Nuong (grilled beef with rice noodles). First came a really sensational soup of the day -- a fabulously gingery won ton soup, freshly made, with minced scallions and finely shredded fresh cabbage. A pleasant surprise.

What arrived later was a bowl of grilled pork -- not beef -- on top of rice noodles. It came with a small dish of dipping sauce that seemed to have been diluted with water so that the only taste was a mild heat, plus a very small dish of none-too-fresh chopped peanuts. The pork was actually quite good - strips of pork steak seasoned and grilled perfectly, on top of plain unseasoned rice noodles. Underneath the noodles was a mound of shredded lettuce and a few whole mint leaves. When the dipping sauce and peanuts were added to the bowl and everything tossed together to get the greenery involved, the dish came together with a pleasing herbal undertone to contrast with the grilled meat.

Service is adequate and pleasant, if not speedy. Jade Garden isn’t Femme de Joie’s favorite Asian restaurant but she wouldn’t throw a fit if she was taken there. Some of the cooking is quite good and the prices are right.

Jade Garden, 2257 Hilltop Drive, Redding, CA 530-222-8883. Open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m - 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 12:00 - 10 p.m. Vegetarian and vegan options. Full bar. Parking lot behind the restaurant. No checks.

Burrito Bandito is Fast Mex That Tastes Good, Too

It took Femme de Joie a long time to catch on to Burrito Bandito. For one thing, she didn’t have much reason to go out to Airport Road in Redding, where they started at the original location. For another, she didn’t really relish the thought of driving all the way out there to be caught in the lunch rush at a place that catered only to the folks who worked out there and didn’t have any choice: how good could it be? Then circumstances caused her to be out on Airport Road one day with a group of people who already knew about Burrito Bandito.

When they walked in, M. de Joie winced at the long lines and figured they might all be there until dinnertime, but such was not the case. Those guys behind the counter were friendly but speedy, and in a very few minutes the line was hacked down to size. M. de Joie entertained herself during the brief wait by reading the hot sauce bottles on display – how can you not love a bottle of Jump Up and Kiss Me, Hula Girl, or Scorned Woman?

M. de Joie was very pleasantly surprised at how much food was dished up for a modest price, and delighted at how great the burrito tasted, made to her specifications and packed full of fresh toppings. She was even more pleased when a few years after that initial lunch, Burrito Bandito opened a branch in the Holiday Market Shopping Center at Placer and Buenaventura – much closer to downtown than Airport Road (since joined by branches in Anderson and Red Bluff). The Holiday location is small inside, with a few tables and counter seating along the window; on nice days you can take your order outside to a table on the sidewalk.



Chile verde burrito, $7.25

Burritos are, of course, their signature dish, and they’re the most bang for your buck. Choose from machaca (shredded beef), carne asada, chile verde, chicken, or vegetarian/vegan beans, have the counterman add toppings to taste, grab a cold drink from the cooler and some salsa, and have a seat. Good luck trying to eat this with the plastic fork they give you.



One pork taco and one chicken taco, $3.25 each

For smaller appetites, the tacos are a good bet: same drill as the burrito (choose meat or beans and then tell the friendly counterman exactly what you want to top it with). Warning: these get soggy and fall apart if you don’t eat them promptly, and Femme de Joie has the salsa drippings down her blouse to prove it.



Vegetarian bowl, $7.25

A nice change from tacos, burritos, and quesadillas is the bowl: a salad made with your choice of meat or beans with loads of toppings. Though M. de Joie loves her a good burrito, she likes the bowls the best out of all the offerings at Burrito Bandito.

If Femme de Joie has any complaints, it’s that after a while everything from Burrito Bandito starts to taste the same, which is probably because she’s a “Put everything on it” gal, and everything is always the same. To avoid getting bored, now and then she’ll skip the onions or the rice and ask for extra cilantro and lime, or some other variation.

M. de Joie likes the value for money, fresh ingredients, fast & friendly service, and tasty burritos, all served up by a local business. To be sure, Burrito Bandito is fast food, but there’s not a Golden Arch in sight here. It's not authentic Mexican either; it’s more of a California twist on healthy Mex with a little fast-food-to-go thrown in. If you haven’t stopped by already, give them a try.

Burrito Bandito, 8939 Airport Road, Redding, 222-6240, fax 222-6639; 3365 Placer Street in the Holiday Shopping Center, 229-9068, fax 229-9079; 2805 E. Center Street, Anderson, 378-1400, fax 378-1500; 525 Adobe Road, Red Bluff, 528-8226, fax 527-6074. Cash, cards; no checks. Call for opening times (may vary between locations). Vegetarian and vegan choices. Website and fax order form at juanmeanburrito.com

It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

America is connected by coffee shops. Yeah, you get to them via freeways and highways, but that’s just a means to an end. They’re everywhere and we use them as markers – “Can you hold it until we get to the Raccoon Spit exit? There’s probably a coffee shop there.” In lonely-night-driving songs, illicit rendezvous are held at all-night coffee shops where there are no witnesses save truck drivers and drunks. And let us not forget that evocative painting “Nighthawks,” where all of us at one time or another might have been eavesdropping on the conversation between the couple at the counter.

Some coffee shops are memorable - like the one in Truth or Consequences, N.M., where the coffee was so weak you could read a newspaper through it and the bus boy itched to earn enough for a bus ticket to California. At another, on I-80 in Oklahoma, the daily specials were "toematoe soup" and "biskwits" and tasted pretty much like they were spelled. There was a dainty tea-room-like one in Susanville with amazing chicken salad, and a surprisingly affluent and upscale one in Patterson - which, it turns out, is the Apricot Capital of the World.

And then we have Déjà Vu in downtown Redding - it’s a coffee shop, yes, and a pretty good one at that. You might run into any of the local hoi polloi there - Femme de Joie caught a glimpse of the late Vic Swankly at lunch there, resplendent in a shimmering dusty rose suit - as well as lawyers, downtown office workers, and an occasional tourist.

When you walk in, turn to the right for the restaurant. Ja Vu is to the left, a barista behind the counter who will whip up a latte or cappuccino, and a pastry case full of sweet cakes to go with your cup o’ joe. There’s a small upstairs, too, with tables for private dining; food from the restaurant can be served there.

The menu isn’t going to offer up any lark’s tongues in aspic. It’s good, basic coffee shop staples at a reasonable price and fair portions. This isn’t health food by any means but waitresses are happy to accommodate dietary requests.



Ortega cheeseburger with seasoned fries

What coffee shop doesn’t have burgers? Nothing out of the ordinary here and it won‘t change your life, but Déjà Vu cooks to order - not pre-made and sitting under a heat lamp - and serves up a fresh, hot burger with a choice of fries, green salad, potato salad, or soup - all of which are also freshly prepared. Those curly fries? Probably terrible for you, but they are also very addictive.



Club sandwich with potato salad

When in doubt about a café's offerings, Femme de Joie usually chooses a club sandwich, feeling that it’s pretty hard to screw up too badly. The one at Déjà Vu is a towering mouthful of piled-high turkey, bacon, tomatoes on toast. Potato salad seems to be the appropriate side to go with, though M. de Joie has had tastier versions elsewhere - this one could use a little pepping up and personality.



Hot pastrami with a green salad

Dejà Vu does hot luncheon sandwiches particularly well and the pastrami melt is a good example - generous portions of pastrami on a fresh roll, not covered in so much cheese that the salty-spicy pastrami gets covered up. And a word about the green salads: Déjà Vu’s are invariably fresh and crisp.



The Déjà Vu omelet - bacon, sausage, sautéed mushroom, tomatoes, with home fries and an English muffin

Breakfast is served all day and omelets are featured with just about any combination of fillings you can think of, served with crispy home fries sautéed with onions, or hash browns. The fillings tend to be on the meaty side - lots of sausage, bacon, etc. - and that flavor does dominate the rest of the filling, so speak up if you’d rather not have quite so much pork fat in the middle. If you’re more inclined toward sweet breakfasts, Déjà Vu has giant cinnamon rolls, tender pancakes, and a strawberry waffle that you just want to have a moment alone with.



Fish and chips

The batter on the fish is light and not greasy or heavy so that the actual taste is of mild fish, not thick clumpy coating. Fries are homemade and crisp.

The only real complaint Femme de Joie has about Déjà Vu is that there doesn’t seem to be any one designated host/cashier, and you can sometimes wait a while at the entrance for someone to notice and seat you, or even longer to take your money when you’re ready to leave. Other than that, service is fast, cheerful, and obliging. The food is dependable and a fair value; with careful ordering it can be healthy as well.

Déjà Vu, 1590 California Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-244-4272. Open daily 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. Cash, local checks, cards. No alcohol. Vegetarian options. Street parking or park in the mall parking lot across California Street. Don't forget to feed the parking meter.