Cafe 15, Oakland

Wow, what a find!

I haven't been so excited about a new restaurant in a while. Cafe 15 is a super cute little spot behind the courthouse in downtown Oakland. There is very limited seating but the space is cozy and gets plenty of sunlight. Despite it being crowded, we were immediately greeted by the woman at the register who was happy to chat and answer any questions we had. She also offered us a frequent buyer card. They give you a stamp for every $5 you spend, and after 15 stamps you get a free meal.

In addition to a very tempting menu (think Bakesale Betty type food with a lot more options--yes, I just made that comparison), there are a bunch of daily specials written on the board. I went with the blood orange lemonade and the oyster po' boy with cabbage slaw. My friend had the eggs and potato/fennel sausage hash with toast. While the lemonade was a little too tart for our taste, the food was spectacular.

The potatoes in the hash were soft and perfectly cooked. The fennel sausage was flavorful and melded everything together into a filling, delicious meal. My oyster po-boy had three gigantic fried oysters on a soft, buttery roll and came with a crunchy, fresh cabbage slaw.

It's obvious that the people at Cafe 15 truly care about the food they are serving. The service is impeccable, and when you dine in the cooks will actually bring you your food. I loved everything about my dining experience here and cannot wait to go back.

Cafe 15 is located at 597 15th Street in Downtown Oakland, between Clay and Jefferson.

They are open Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Brown Sugar Kitchen, Oakland

Have you ever gotten to a restaurant and instantly loved it the second you entered? That's what happened to Greg and me when we got to Brown Sugar Kitchen. The space is friendly, gets plenty of light, and has a very sleek yet homey decor. While I do feel like ultimately the service can be improved upon, I was overall very happy with my experience and cannot wait to go back to try more of the delicious California-inspired Soul Food menu.

We started with coffee and a sticky bun, which was not my favorite, though it made waiting for the main attractions a little easier. Maybe I just have a misconception as to how sticky buns should be but I keep imagining and getting excited for a soft, chewy, sweet pastry and am constantly disappointed (this time was no different) when it's dry and crunchy.

Our main dishes, however, were phenomenal. I had the cheesy grits with poached eggs and a side of bacon. The grits were deliciously creamy, very nicely seasoned, and my poached eggs were cooked perfectly. Greg's egg tart was stuffed with fresh asparagus and a wonderful mix of flavorful cheeses; the accompanying potatoes were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and had great flavor.

My only negative was the service. I don't mind slow service, because all of the dishes are made to order, but I thought that the waitstaff was rather inattentive. They were friendly when we could wave them over, but it was difficult to track down the hostess to get our names on the wait list, and our server never checked in with us during our meal except to bring the check. Just a lesson, don't stand in between two pre-health students and a refill on their morning coffee.

When it comes down to it, though, the blips in service were completely overshadowed by the food. Both Greg and I were very impressed and already have plans to go back.

Brown Sugar Kitchen is located at 2534 Mandela Parkway (yes, you read that correctly, it's in the middle of a bunch of warehouses behind the Home Depot strip mall in Emeryville), between 26th Street and Campbell Street.

They are open Tuesday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m, Friday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Sundays 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Website: www.brownsugarkitchen.com

Bi-Rite Creamery, San Francisco

I'd had a gift card for Bi-Rite burning a hole in my pocket since our WCC volunteer appreciation party last year. Being an East Bay kid brought up on Fenton's I had yet to experience what San Francisco had to offer ice cream wise. Bi-Rite did not disappoint.

Despite the long line, the service was impeccable. The employees were completely focused on helping me with my order instead of just rushing me out the door to get to the next. They also use metal spoons for tasting, which I really appreciated--go green! Before making my decision, I tried the honey lavender and coffee toffee. The honey lavender tasted exactly as it sounds, and I think I'm just not that into lavender. Coffee toffee was good, but the salted caramel rocked my world.

I ended up getting a banana split with salted caramel ice cream. Loved it! It came with fresh whipped cream, toasted walnuts, hot fudge and caramelized-to-order bananas. The ice cream was so good though that the sundae wasn't totally necessary. Though their hot fudge has nothing on Fenton's, the ice cream at Bi-Rite hit a home run.

A few other interesting things on their menu that I'd like to try are the toasted banana flavor, and the sundae with olive oil and sea salt (what?!).

Bi-Rite Creamery is located at 3692 18th Street in San Francisco (close to the 16th/Mission BART Station).
They are open Monday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m, Friday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Website: www.biritecreamery.com

International House Cafe, Berkeley

In addition to being a crazed foodie, I on occasion do my fair share of schoolwork/studying. The plan is to incorporate some cafe reviews into my food blog as well. While most of the places I recommend will not have stellar food, I'm basing my final judgment on these places on a study-friendly scale. But, staying true to my blog the food will be evaluated too. Hopefully this will be useful to all four of my readers. Here it goes...

Internet: Yes, with a UC Berkeley log-in.
Prices: Moderate for the quality.
Noise/Music: Loud, usually playing 94.9 FM.
Parking: 2-hour street parking or UC Berkeley lots.

I'm really not.that.cool. Yet I've known the words to every single from Rihanna, Chris Brown, Akon, Lady Gaga, Usher, and Kanye that has come out in the past year, all thanks to the I-House Cafe.

There's something soothing about listening to hip-hop in a loud room where tree-sitters bathed, international students drink beer, the creepy guy gives you dirty looks for taking "his" table, and the smelly chess corner gets overly animated. Plus, taking a study break to look up and see my friend Greg (photo of Greg's ipod here: http://george.hotelling.net/90percent/pics/npr_podcast.png) awkwardly bouncing his head to rap never gets old.

The coffee's terrible and the food mostly comes out of a microwave, but the nachos are a huge guilty pleasure of mine, and the lasagne isn't half bad if they re-heat it all the way through. I also really like the Italian Salad (topped with artichoke hearts, olives, tomato, red bell pepper, garbanzo beans, and mozzarella that I substitute with chicken). Skip the pastries (they're never as good as they look) and any espresso drinks. Also, skip the pasta salads. They always have a weird acidic taste that I can't quite put my finger on. That said, over all if you know what to order and appreciate a place that stays open late, this is one of my favorite study venues.

I'll keep studying here until the university realizes I've stolen my sister's wireless password.

Santa Ramen, San Mateo

On a quest to do Michael Bauer's job for him, Scott and I drove down to San Mateo to check out Santa Ramen, which was the most highly recommended ramen joint from the sfgate.com reader comments. It being a Saturday morning, the traffic wasn't bad at all, and we were ready to eat--Santa sweater and all:


As we walked in, we noticed that there were in fact tons of actual Japanese people patronizing the place, and we were immediately hit with the delicious, salty/meaty smell that can only come from a fresh bowl of ramen. Service? Not so much. After walking inside, we stood awkwardly at the door for about five minutes and were just stared at by the waitstaff. Eventually, we just walked in and sat at the bar. Whatever, I could care less about service if the food's off the hook. It was.

One of my favorite things about Japan was that the restaurants would specialize at certain dishes instead of trying to encompass every aspect of the cuisine. Santa Ramen does just that. They only serve ramen, and they do it well. The menu:

Santa Ramen had me at "not vegetarian." Considering my utter lack of love for vegetarians, I was already sold on the place before trying anything. The menu is set up so you have a choice between three different broths, and then can add toppings. I chose the traditional pork broth made spicy and since they were already out of the highly recommended miso broth, Scott got the soy sauce flavor made spicy.

Then we went to town with toppings. I got green onions, roasted pork, kikurage mushrooms, fried garlic, bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots:

Scott got green onions, bamboo shoots, roasted seaweed, roasted pork, cod roe, "special" stewed pork and kimchee on the side:

O Chame can really take a lesson on pork making from Santa Ramen. Both the roast pork and stewed pork were delicious. My roast pork was juicy, flavorful, and had the perfect amount of fat on it. But the stewed pork on Scott's was out of this world. If I hadn't been so full from everything else I would have ordered just a piece of the special pork on the side. It's made with a somewhat sweet marinade and is tender beyond belief.

The pork broth was just what I remembered from Japan. This is the only place where I'd say that something salty, white, and murky could be delicious. The only way to get a broth that opaque is to boil pork bones until they no longer exist. Scott's soy sauce broth was decent too, but it reminded me more of the broth that you get from packaged ramen. A great salty wonder (though not as oily), but not as fulfilling. My noodles didn't quite have the bite I was hoping for but it could be because I spent so much time ogling Scott's pork that they got soggy. The flavor, however, was there.

As for the toppings, order however you want but I'll give my take. Especially because they can add up and get pretty expensive. Definitely get the stewed pork if you didn't pick up on my recommendation earlier, and if you like spice, it's worth the $1.50 to make the broth spicy. I'd pass on the fried garlic next time. Though it sounds amazing, I think the overall flavor of the soup was compromised because the garlic was so pungent. You also can't really go wrong with bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and green onion. Santa Ramen should leave the kimchee making up to the Koreans, though. Not worth it. I could give or take the cod roe. I did discover that I just hate cooked cod roe that is still in its sac (see Japan sushi entry) because I was a fan of the roe Scott had. However, next time I go to Santa Ramen (yes, there will be another time), I probably won't order the roe with everything else on the menu.

This is the first in what I hope to be an ongoing series on finding the best Japanese noodles in the Bay. Please weigh in on any other recommendations or opinions!

Updates!

My goal to stay sane while studying for the MCAT is to update this blog once a week, no more, no less.

You'll notice I made it a little easier to navigate. On the right hand side I've grouped entries based on cuisine and meal types. You can also subscribe or follow the blog (and make me very happy) by showing your love and commenting or becoming a "fan."

Any suggestions for how to make this site more accessible will actually be considered.

Tamarindo Antojeria, Oakland

While usually boasting about my own food writing skills, I do believe that Carol Ness wrote everything I ever wanted to say about Tamarindo. We'll call this review an "update" that just happens to echo every single one of her sentiments. I was so stoked to eat at Tamarindo Antojeria. It's been touted as the big rival to Dona Tomas' stronghold on upscale Mexican cuisine in the Bay Area, but I rate it with a big 'ol MEH.

The service was friendly, and the restaurant is cute but the food was very disappointing. As I look over the menu now, I realize that we weren't even offered whatever the special dinner/large plate was that night (the menu is mostly small plates), which is frustrating because some of the descriptions of the bigger plates sound like they could bump Tamarindo up a star. The service did do a great job of pacing the courses and not overloading our tiny bar table, but that's about where the fun ended.

We started with the Queso Fundido, Tamal Oaxaqueño, and Empanadas de Hongos Y Queso. The Queso Fundido ($10) sounded oily, gooey and delicious but only succeeded in acheiving my first two adjectives. It was a bowl of melted cheese with a few tiny pieces of chorizo served with tortillas. It needed a lot more meat, texture, and flavor. Maybe a veg to garnish or if it had been served with chips we'd have liked it a lot more. The tamales ($7) were incredibly dry and disappointing. I covered mine in salsa which still didn't help the stringy, overcooked meat. The empanadas ($8) were decent; I like mushrooms, I like fried things, but I could get the same thing for half the price at Picante and for even cheaper at some place on International that I haven't been brave enough to try yet.

Next, we had the Sopes Surtidos, and Frijoles Charros. The Sopes Surtidos ($9) are crispy masa "boats" topped with meat and/or vegetables. The "boats" were very tasty little corn tart-like shells that had great texture and flavor. One was topped with roasted peppers and cheese, another with carnitas and red onion and the last with carne asada and potatoes. The beef one was very good--the meat was tender and flavorful, but again the pork was dry. While I hate to toot the horns of Picante or Tacubaya too much because I think they're overrated as well, the food's just as good and way cheaper at both. The pinto beans ($7) were served almost as if they were in a soup with bacon slices and jalapeno. The flavor was definitely there but the dish lacked texture, which we quickly remedied by dumping our leftover Queso Fundido into it. Delicioso.

For dessert, we tried the Crepa con Cajeta ($7), which was a crepe covered in caramel sauce, sprinkled with walnuts and garnished with a strawberry and vanilla ice cream. The vanilla ice cream was icy, creamy and delicious but I had major beef with the fact that they garnished it with a strawberry. It's March, people, strawberries are totally out of season. Why serve one even as a garnish when there are so many great seasonal alternatives? The crepe was not very good either. The caramel sauce tasted like the stuff you can buy at Safeway in the plastic tub and the walnuts weren't even toasted so they blended in with the chewiness of the crepe.

It's too bad, I really wanted to like Tamarindo but at this point I'm not even tempted to go back and try anything else on the menu. Plus, you can get most of the small plates on their menu at their sister restaurant, La Calle, for a fraction of the price.

Procrastinate Much?

I spend a lot of time surfing the interwebs. Sorry, Mom and Dad, but in-between studying my butt off and over-spending on eating out, I waste a ton of time. All is not lost; I feel as though I've been able to come up with a pretty reliable list of go-to's on the internet.

Bored? Tired of pressing reload and waiting for me to update my blog (all...three...of you...)? So I won't stress so much about posting new blogs all the time for my wide readership, I'm linking to some of my friends' sites that are getting up and running:

Erik is a science writer and has some fun articles posted on his new webpage: www.erikvance.com.

My friend Anna is getting her fictional blog up and running at: lezcity.blogspot.com.

Nnekay has a great thing going with her stories about being a librarian: www.nnekay.com.

Adventures in news photography written by the always hilarious Chris: photocalypse.blogspot.com.

The entertaining musings of a foodie dieter are posted by fellow Bourdain-lover Leanne at: mshappysteak.blogspot.com.


And of course, a few mainstays that aren't written by my friends that I think everyone should take a look at:

Dissing Food Network: www.foodnetworkhumor.com
Best of Craigslist: www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/
Passive Aggressive Notes: www.passiveaggressivenotes.com
Most Delicious/Worst Looking Food Ever: www.thisiswhyyourefat.com
My Favorite Comic Strip: www.nataliedee.com

Get it together, Michael Bauer!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=26&entry_id=36319

For those of you who didn't receive or read my overly enthusiastic email, my letter to Michael Bauer made it into the Chronicle the other day!

I'm currently on a search for authentic Japanese noodles. I want real ramen in a murky, white pork broth that's been simmered for days, served with chili oil, bamboo shoots and pork. I want fresh cold soba and cold udon served with hot, salty, concentrated broth to dip the noodles into.

I don't want the bland, dry pork tenderloin that's served over the non-house-made noodles from O Chame that come in a fusiony yet bland seafood broth. I want real Japanese comfort food.

When I first dissed O Chame some angry peruser wrote that I just have no taste in food and want something laced with MSG. I deleted it because like so many things in the world, this blog is NOT a democracy and I only post the comments I like. That said, I'll address their issue. Sure, I've been known to love many terrible restaurants that probably allow their meat to swim in MSG. But, I also know what good, flavorful, authentic broth can taste like without it. I want authentic Japanese noodle soup. O Chame doesn't cut it. While they do have some good qualities to their food, M. Bauer needs to stop referring to them as a noodle house.

I'm looking forward to trying some of the places that these readers suggested. Anyone out there aside from my family reading this? Got anything to weigh in on? I miiiiiiiight just publish your response.