Category Archives: Restaurants & Reviews

Taki Sushi has no sushi for lunch

Leave a reply

Matt and I wanted to grab a quick lunch near home the other day, so we went to Taki Sushi (10889 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito).  They’re located in one of those cursed locations where things have come and gone – a really unattractive part of a generally unattractive stretch of San Pablo Avenue, in my opinion.  Problem #1, they don’t have sushi for lunch.  Problem #2, the food inspector arrived as we sat down to eat.  We were not happy about a place with “sushi” in its name not having sushi for lunch, and they were not happy about the food inspection, but we did wind up having quite a nice lunch. 

Taki Sushi is nicely decorated, has a sushi bar and is clean as a whistle. 

We ordered one of my faves, agedashi tofu ($5.50), which is like tofu tempura served in a rich dashi, a broth made of bonito (tuna) flakes, with mirin and shoyu added.  This was a very generous portion and it arrived boiling hot.  Nice. 

Matt had a lunch bento with tempura ($8.25).  The tempura was crunchy and obviously of fresh shrimp and veggies fried at the right temperature.  The portion was nice.  Tempura – check!

I ordered the chicken curry donburi (I do not see this on the take-out menu, but I recall it being about $8 for lunch) and it was very good, with a nice, rich, curry sauce with ample chicken and carrots.  It was a hot day and I still enjoyed it, so that says something.  Curry – check!

Service is friendly and prompt and the food good, so we’ll go back soon and try a few other things, but they should have sushi for lunch!

Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland

Leave a reply

Matthew’s plate at The Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland

Matt and I thought we should have something decadent in honor of school starting this week.  Having gone through all the acting classes offered at Berkeley City College, he registered for one at Laney College, which put us near downtown Oakland as we eyeballed the location of the campus vis a vis the Lake Merritt BART station.

After getting our business taken care of, we decided to go to Home of Chicken and Waffles (444 Embarcadero West, Oakland), which is right across from Barnes & Noble near the main entrance to Jack London Square.  It’d certainly be hard to get more decadent than fried chicken, waffles and macaroni and cheese, plus we wanted to give this place one more shot after having had a mediocre meal with poor service a few years back.

When we walked in, we were greeted immediately and made comfortable while a table was prepared for us.  I noticed that the restaurant, which has a kind of retro-diner theme, added a bar with a nightclubby feel in a space to the right of the main dining area.  Nice.

Once seated in a comfy booth by the windows, we were introduced to our server, who handed us a menu with a huge selection of combo plates, whose names and representations were part of a colorful mural behind the counter.  Home of Chicken and Waffles bills itself as a Southern-style restaurant, and accordingly offers quite a variety of eats, including salads, a full range of breakfast foods, and a number of Southern sides, like greens and mac and cheese.

The problem I had (and I recall having it the last time) was finding a combo that had enough chicken and not too much else.  While you can order extra chicken a la carte, it is not really cost effective, given that combo prices are not really low to begin with.

I settled on a combo called “Kim’s Creation,” that came with a breast, wing, grits, two eggs and a biscuit for just under $11.  Matthew chose the “Princess Jordan,” for just under $12:  one breast, mac and cheese, greens and corn bread.  We also threw caution to the wind and got the fried chicken livers appetizer for $6.75.  What the heck, in for a penny.

My plate at The Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland

The entrees came first, the livers therafter, so we wound up eating everything together, which worked out fine, though they should be more careful about this.  It’s not like the place was jammed at that time of day, so an error like this always makes me wonder about busy times.  That said, the server was attentive and friendly, so that makes other things better for me.

There is no doubt that things are made to order here.  While the massive chicken breasts were a bit dry, they were not greasy and had good flavor.  My wing, however, was excellent, and I will make a point of ordering them exclusivly the next time.  The two eggs on my plate were cooked perfectly (over easy), so I had plenty of yolk action with the grits.

The mac and cheese was proclaimed “very good” by his nibs, and he should know, because it is the defining part of a Southern meal for him.  I prefer greens, which were standard here, and I did get some sandy grit in the forkfuls I nabbed off Matt’s plate.

While the cornbread was good, the biscuit was seriously top-notch – tender and tasty, with just enough density to satisfy.  I was sorry I traded it for greens, to be honest with you.

The highlight of the meal for me was the fried chicken livers.  A goodly amount arrived straight out of the fryer, and, joy of joys!, they were not overcooked, rather creamy inside and crispy outside, with just enough batter and seasoning to enhance and not overpower them.  If you eat this kind of thing once every five years, you want it done right.  I would have been crestfallen if they arrived like tennis balls.

One beverage issue I should mention here is that the sweet tea ($2.50 a pop) does not come with refills, like the regular iced tea and soda.  I don’t understand this.  Isn’t sweet tea just iced tea with lots of sugar?

Matthew at the home of chicken and waffles in oakland

I will certainly come back because our overall experience was much better this time around, though I’ll apply all we learned to my next order.

Pizza at Arinell in Berkeley

Leave a reply

Pizza at Arinell in Berkeley CA

Matthew and I had a couple slices of pizza at the only decent New York City-style place in the area, as far as I’m concerned, Arinell (2109 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley).  They make thin crust Neapolitan pizza topped with simple, high-quality ingredients.  There is a nice zesty sauce and real mozzarella cheese – and not too much of each, allowing the slice to remain rigid when you fold it over part way.  The crust has good flavor, too.  The sum of the parts equals a real East Coast experience when you take that first bite.

Some days they are off a bit, but when they get it right, it is REALLY right.  They sell slices and whole pies.  I cannot speak for any of the toppings, because I don’t bother with those, nor with the Sicilian pizza.

My final gripe is that they got rid of their lunch special.  Now, two plain slices and a drink will set you back over $6.00.  They need to be reminded that this is a good time to offer specials.

Downtown in Berkeley not up to snuff

Leave a reply

fried olive appetizer at downtown restaurant in berkeley CA

I think it all comes down to the fried anchovy-stuffed olives in terms of whether or not I’ll ever go back to Downtown in Berkeley.  Six of us went there for dinner recently to celebrate a birthday and had a subpar experience from the get-go.  First off, we were seated in the back room, which I was hesitant about, since it does not have the same vibe as out in front, but I figured I’d keep my big mouth shut for once.  Bad idea, as the service was not good.  Bread was slow in coming (which was particularly irritating for this meal, since much of what we ordered turned out to be so watery and/or skimpy, but more about that later) and water and other beverage refills were almost nonexistent.  As a matter of fact, the server assistant was not very nice when he caught wind of our unhappiness.  Instead of trying to turn things around, which is really not so hard to do with our group, he just seethed each time he had to bring us something.

Let’s start with the apps.  Matthew and I had just had the patatas bravas at Cesar, where they are magnificent.  I broke my own rule by ordering something that is great somewhere else and I was again reminded why I have that rule.  The patatas at Downtown were a shadow of what they should be.  They were like soggy steak fries that you could have anywhere, with a wimpy sauce.  We also had an $8.50 fried calamari that was made up of the smallest, most uniform rings that I have ever seen.  My question about the uniformity and lack of tentacles was met with a “deer in the headlights” look.  I cannot believe that Downtown uses a manufactured, frozen product, but I can’t explain what we were served.  As usual, we loved the fried olives, and ordered two plates.

All six of us had the chicken entree, which was not consistently plated, with several of us not receiving one or more of the stated accompaniments, and with the pieces of chicken varying in size from miniscule to reasonable.  I wondered who was expediting that night.  The jus on the dish was little more than stock, and it just didn’t work, to boot.  I felt bad for the whole party, having “pushed” the chicken, given how excellent it always was at lunch, regardless of how it was being served on any given day.

The server caught on to our displeasure and did not add the automatic gratuity to our tab.

I was really surprised to find this state of affairs, having eaten at Downtown many, many times for lunch – back when they served lunch – always finding the food and service fabulous.

Here’s hoping they just had a bad night.

Chicken wings have come to town

Leave a reply

There have been numerous Wing Stop restaurants opening up in my neck of the woods in the last couple of years, and now there is finally one in El Cerrito (340 El Cerrito Plaza).  Wing Stop is not great, but it’s pretty good in terms of tamping down my inner Buffalo wing demon now and then.  The wings are small and pricey, and sometimes the pricing strategy makes no sense, but they are made to order and nice and hot when you take them outta there.  The strips are also good, and you can get them “sauced” just like the wings.  I can speak for the original hot and lemon pepper flavors – both of which are very good.  The mild flavor is just too mild, and the rest, meh, just not my thing. 

Wing Stop’s fries are made from real potatoes with the peel on, and a regular order is very big, with the large being enough for several people if they are also eating wings. 

I am really happy about this addition to the neighborhood, even if it is a chain.  I hope they have not overexpanded and wind up being here awhile.