Cassia's Profile
List of Baby Friendly East Bay Spots
Our kids are now 4.5 and 3...so from personal recent experience, our two favorites in the Grand/Lakeshore area:
- Spettro: they take great care of kids - crayons and paper, drinks with covers and straws, special kids menu, high chairs and boosters, very nice and accomodating staff. delicious warm soft rosemary bread (perfect for making dough balls!) comes right away. my kids love the booths or the table by the fountain, plus the eclectic menu has something for everyone.
- Mijori: good sushi, super friendly staff (when they bring our miso soup, they bring lots of extra tofu cut up in small piece, for my kids, and they are totally nice about the mess of rice all under the table after we eat there), a tree growing inside the restaurant for distraction.
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Spettro
3355 Lakeshore Ave, Oakland, CA 94610
Update on Pizzaiolo in the morning
They now have more food choices, including a frittata that changes daily (perfect if you are doing a low-carb diet), assorted housemade pastries, AND....
AMAZING doughnuts. These were a revelation to me - i had no idea doughnuts could be this good: crisp on the outside (from the fry, coated with granulated sugar), fall-apart tender on the inside. I think they are the old-fashioned cake doughnuts.
it's more crowded now but still very relaxed and low-key (on the weekdays anyway) and overall a great place for a leisurely morning.
"Taste of Joy": new BBQ and gumbo joint on Lakeshore (Oakland)
Went to Taste of Joy last night (on a Friday night, now about 6 weeks after they opened) and we are definitely planning to go back. I don't consider myself a BBQ connoisseur, but IMHO the food here is MUCH better than Everett and Jones.
Overall, all the food was excellent. We had:
- BBQ ribs: the BBQ sauce was delicious. Kansas City style: tomato-based with molasses, so a touch sweet. just a little heat. even my hubby who usually turns down his nose at mild sauces thought it was great. The spare ribs were smoky and meaty and with a good chew, benefiting from 5 hours in the smoker (according to the chef/owner), but not fall-off-the-bone tender. (because the meat came already slathered in sauce, i couldn't taste the meat on its own.)
- BBQ brisket: agree with abstractpoet; this is not like other brisket I've had but super-yummy. It's as thinly sliced as roast beef - which I found I prefer - less chewiness in general - and slathered in the yummy sauce.
- BBQ chicken: also well-cooked; moist not dry, and again, slathered in sauce.
- potato salad: perfect all-american flavor. texture a bit too like smashed potatoes though - I usually like bigger chunks of potato interspersed
- mac and cheese: YUM! perfectly al dante pasta tossed in (but not drowning in) a nice cheesy sauce, with extra cheddar melted on top
- salad: fine; the dressing was basically the bbq sauce thinned down. that's what I get for ordering a salad in a BBQ joint.
- bacon and bean soup: basically, baked beans in soup form. tasty but not outstanding, and not enough chunks of bacon.
They are definitely going thru new restaurant growing pains. Although we arrived at 6pm, they had to make us the last customers to be served because their cash register froze up. The server was brand new (to waiting in general it seemed) and it really showed in our service (he was slow, forgot things, etc).
a few notes:
- they call themselves a "southern bistro." the ambiance is a weird blend of upscale/downscale. e.g. you order at the counter, but the tables all have table cloths. they have white bistro-ware for plates, but cheap paper napkins rolled up in a glass on the table.
- they have no liquor license.
The chef/owner, Brian, is a super-friendly and nice guy and came out to chat with us. It's his first restaurant, and to his credit, he said something like, "please give me your feedback. please be honest - I can take it." And then actually genuninely seemed open to what we said. So I am hopeful that this place will keep getting even better and better because we need more great BBQ restaurants!
Taco trucks around Oakland Airport
About five minutes away, on International (14th) and 104th, is an outpost of the revered El Ojo de Agua taco truck. from airport, take 98th to the east side of 880, go a mile or so, turn right on Intl/14th, and it will be on the right a few blocks south.) My favorite is a pastor (spiced pork) taco. Great aguas frescas also. The usual guy speaks English, too, and is friendly.
best ethiopian in berkeley?
Went to Cafe Colucci this past Friday - we got the meat combo and the shouro combo. Favorite of the meats was Minchet Abish Wot - ground beef with a very savory sauce, so much that husband ordered a second order of that dish. Mitten Shouro was the best of the veggie dishes but they didn't measure up to Axum in SF (my ethiopian standard). Fresh mango juice was augmented with honey, which tasted fine but was weird because mango juice should be plenty sweet enough. Service was super-friendly, although it was early for dinner and the place was otherwise completly and surprisingly empty. (it was a holiday weekend, granted)
Best Dim Sum - East Bay
I'll put in another plug for The Old Place on Grand. The food is consistently good and relatively authentic - I took my family there (several months ago) and even my (Chinese and picky) mom was happy with the food. It's a small place through, and doesn't have that typical hustle-bustle dim sum feel...and because it's not as big, they don't have as much turnover of dishes...sometimes you see the last stray turnip cake or whatever going around again and again. Thus, I would recommend special ordering anything you don't see if you know what you want. Note that there are specials, written in Chinese, on the white-boards - a good bet. The servers are very friendly.
Legendary Palace and Peony are, in my limited experience, much better than Jade Villa, which I think is overly greasy. But I also don't go to dim sum all that often, and it seems that those three are inconsistent quality.
Town Hall - Recent Reviews
Just got back from Town Hall for a Thursday night dinner with a friend. Overall, I'm disappointed. Food was only so-so, and definitely not worth the money.
We opted for 5 appetizers instead of any entrees, and in order of yumminess:
1) Salad with beets, goat cheese, frissee and champagne vinegrette: beets were perfectly cooked and very sweet, goat cheese was nicely herbed, slightly melty with a crisp crust, and dressing was nicely balanced.
2) Crab cake: Yes, it was one small 2.5" one for about $15! But it was mostly crab meat, not filling, well seasoned, and came with a decent grapefruit and fennel mini-salad/garnish.
3) BBQ Shrimp on toast: Big juicy shrimp, and very good with a touch of the sauce but the platter was swimming in the sauce which in that quantity was overwhelming.
4) Meatballs on mashed potatoes: These were really nothing special in flavor, and in fact were a bit on the tough/gristly side, which is a special feat since veal is supposed to be a tender meat to begin with! the potatoes and gravy were tasty.
5) Ham with apple begneits and cinammon creme fraiche: Begneits were greasy and soggy, and the ham would have been good but had extra, and excessive salt sprinkled on top. a clever idea ruined by poor implementation.
Lovely ambiance and decor. Service was a little slow but friendly.
