ernie in berkeley's Profile
Suggestions for 7 meals in San Francisco
Una Pizza Napoletana probably wouldn't work with kids, considering the wait. Maybe Tony's A Pizza Napoletana in North Beach instead? Golden Boy would be good for a snack while walking around North Beach.
Lighter French: Le Charm
Tacos: one or another taco truck around town.
Best Cheese pizzas?
Ah. Might want to consider Rotten City in Emeryville for the NY category, too.
Best Cheese pizzas?
Why the bump for Arinell? You haven't been shy about your dislike of the place in the past.
Fire at China Village (Albany)
Today's East Bay Express has an article about the Chinese restaurant fires. Because of permitting problems, China Village won't be opening until September. L&L hopes to open in June, though.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/scouring-the-oakland-coliseum-for-a-decent-meal/Content?oid=3209161
Affordable steakhouse in East Bay for tonight
As I recall, Nizza's steaks are kind of, well, French. Probably a bavette cut, so a little thin and little chewy but intensely flavored. Not your average steak house ribye or NY strip, but quite good in their own right. They tend to be on the rare side, so double-check when you order if you prefer them cooked more.
I seem to recall that Cafe Rouge is happy to cook items from their butcher case, even if they're not directly on the menu. Might be worth a phone call to find out. Then again, the rib-eye on the posted menu sounds really good.
Soly y Luna--new taqueria downtown Berkeley
The latest place to open in the old Bakeshop/felafel shop space. I noticed they were open and a parking spot suddenly appeared, and it was lunchtime.
This is more in the style of Picante than places like Gallegos or La Palmita. Their homemade tortillas were excellent with carnitas tacos, and they fried up nicely in the accompanying chips. A salsa bar takes the space of the felafel place's condiment bar, and has sides like beans in addition to the salsas.
Very reasonably priced at $4.95 for a regular burrito or two tacos. They're still working things out--it took 20 minutes for them to get me what turned out to be the wrong order, and another 15 to replace it. Nice outdoor seating in that little alleyway.
(edited to correct the restaurant name)
http://solylunataqueria.com/
Berkeley: Alfonso's Cafe - Holy mole ... CREPES !!!
I'll recommend Gallegos as well. Nice atmosphere, family run, very well-assembled platos. And a parking lot, so you don't have to feed the meters on San Pablo.
TONIGHT We need Restaurant Reqs for Hamburger only guy & people who love good food.
Gather in downtown Berkeley does a fine burger. You'll have to specify that you want it plain, though.
Yuet Foo Seafood in El Cerrito
I also had a competent meal there, crisp noodles with mixed seafood. It was almost as good as the one at L&L. I was surprised, though, at how empty the place was for Saturday lunch. L&L was typically packed.
Seeking Eggplant Sandwich in East Bay
In Emeryville, Rotten City Pizza has them on occasion. Call or check their Facebook page. They're pretty good.
In Berkeley, I saw one on the menu at Paisan, but I don't know whether it was a special.
Also in Berkeley, Lucca has them on the menu, but the one time I tried it the eggplant was undercooked and a little bitter.
Who is responsible for those "really yummy taqueria" banners?
There seems to be a small chain called Yummy Taco in Brooklyn. Connection?
Good convenient breakfast stop OAK to Point Reyes
There's always a long wait for Bette's sit-down place. But the to-go section next door has excellent pastries and coffee, and great sandwiches.
Starving for BBQ
Smokey J discontinued the rib tips last time I was there--have they started offering them again?
For quick take out fried ckn in Berkeley - TC or Popeyes?
Since it's tax day and the post office is right there, I decided to do a comparison. I had a thigh and a leg at both places.
TC: The striking thing here is that there doesn't seem to be much immediately available. There were only a few pieces of chicken under heat lamps. I don't know whether they'd have to cook a big order from scratch (also the fish and shrimp; there were none in the case). As it was, this chicken was acceptable, with a thin coating, possibly flour and not batter. It had a nice spicy bite, and wasn't particularly greasy, but the seasoning tasted, well, generic.
Popeyes: I chose the spicy variety for comparison. It was markedly spicier than TCs, but the batter coating was thicker. I prefer less coating, myself. The chicken was much hotter, probably due to the higher turnaround, and was just a touch greasy. I preferred the seasoning here.
So, I'd say it was a toss-up. I'd like to try the freshly-fried chicken at TCs sometime; this would be a better comparison. If you do need to hang around while they fry, you have to factor in the Berkeley parking meter fees, about an extra dollar or so. Popeye's has a parking lot. The bill at TC was $3.40, and since Popeye's has a Tuesday two-piece special, it was $1.40 there. I didn't compare other prices.
Spicy Tuna Roll--Salmonella Outbreak--Seafood "pink slime"?
A few weeks ago the news came out of an outbreak of salmonella that was being traced to sushi, spicy tuna rolls in particular. The cases were wide spread, covering about 20 states from Texas to Massachusetts.
Sushi seemed like a strange vector. I was under the impression that it is meticulously made locally, from especially good quality fish. But...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/04/13/national/w174625D56.DTL
Apparently tuna bones are scraped in much the same way as beef bones for the "pink slime" product, and distributed from a central location, and a fair amount of spicy tuna roll is made with this. No word on whether ammonia is involved.
(editied to correct the URL)
meringue cookies in the east bay
Bette's To-Go on Fourth Street usually has them, but call first.
Fire at China Village (Albany)
China Village is closed because of a fire on 3/24. When I stopped by for lunch yesterday, the regular staff was busy cleaning up; apparently the fire didn't do too much damage. A sign on the door said they expect to reopen in a couple of weeks.
What's going on with Chinese restaurants and fires? Saigon Seafood, L&L, Great China and now China Village--I can't think of any other local restaurant fires in that timeframe.
Grocery Outlet March, 2012
Berkeley: Charles Renoir 2009 Beaujolais Villages, $4.99. Delightful, wish I'd stocked up during the sale, but still a great value.
Brasa - Peruvian chicken (and more) in Berkeley
I had the chicken rice bowl for lunch, and it was very good. Shredded dark meat spiced with black pepper in a slightly creamy sauce over rice with lettuce (iceberg) and tomato. But the rotisserie chicken that most other people were eating looked even better and I'll be back soon. Word is spreading fast--the place was very busy.
Smoke -- new BBQ (maybe) on San Pablo, Berkeley
Ribs! Tina was experimenting with them recently and was satisfied enough to add them as regular Friday and Saturday specials. Very tender and smoky, just enough fat to moisten them up, and with a great rub. The portion was generous--I couldn't finish the plate of four or five meaty ribs (with a big mac-and-cheese side), and they reheated up nicely for dinner.
Hot BBQ sauce is now available, in addition to the mild and the vinegar sauces.
Pizza for Breakfast!
IMO, any variety of pizza is appropriate for breakfast, egg or no. There's nothing like leftover slices from the night before. Nizza has one called Mi Favorite, with sausage and chevre (not on the online menu, for some reason), that is perfect for breakfast.
Even without the egg, the Prosciutto pie at Paisan makes a great brunch dish.
Pizza for Breakfast!
A number of places that serve pizza for lunch/dinner also offer it for breakfast and brunch, usually with an egg or two on top. Here's a couple in the East Bay:
Nizza la Bella has two egg pizzas, the Cyclops (with potato and sausage, no tomato sauce) and the Bonjour Bella (a basic cheese pie with egg). I like the Bonjour Bella, personally. These are just the right size for one person, and only around $8.50.
Zut! in the Fourth Street complex usually has a pie with spicy sausage, fresh mozzarella, two eggs and a sprinkling of arugula. It's $15, but can easily serve two (I bring half home for dinner).
I've seen egg-topped pizza at PIQ in downtown Berkeley but haven't tried it.
Rotten City experimented with an egg pizza on weekends, but they haven't mentioned it on Facebook in quite a while.
The cafe at Olivetto has an egg pizza. I've wanted to try it, but for a long time breakfast hours ended at 11:00. I see from their website that the brunch menu continues into the afternoon now. $16.
And, two others in passing: the Prosciutto pizza at Paisan would be incredible with a couple of eggs on it. When I mentioned it to a waitress, she said people asked for it all the time, but the restaurant doesn't seem to be interested. And the "carbonara" pizza at Bucci would make a great breakfast, but they're not open then.
Over in the City, I see that Zero Zero has a brunch pizza, haven't tried it.
What are your favorites?
Bay Area Wine Bargains [split from Kermit Lynch bargain bin thread]
And BevMo is doing their 5-cent sale, in effect another inventory clearance. Five cents for the second bottle on selected wines. Some winos scorn the choices, but I've found some nice ones amid the dross. They do this a few times a year.
