Suppenkuche, San Francisco

I learned the hard way to never make a bet with my man Mikey D. Yet I think paying him back by taking him to Suppenkuche ended up being pretty win-win.

On a cold drizzly SF night like we had the other day, Suppenkuche truly hit the spot with an ice cold beer, friendly service, and, in all its glory, the bread ball smothered in a rich, thick mushroom gravy. Since I don't want to gain 50 pounds I won't plan on next time just ordering three of these as my appetizer, main, and dessert, but I'll be tempted. God that thing was so good.

I don't know anything about beer except that I like what's cheap, so Mikey ordered for me. Fortunately what I lack in beer snobbery/knowledge Mike makes up for and then some. Whatever it was, it was crisp, somewhat light, and had a little spice to it. Very tasty.

I was also obsessed with the bread and butter. The butter they serve the bread with is smooth, whipped, salty, and seasoned. Despite only having four slices of bread we slopped up the entire butter crock.

For mains, I had the braised beef with cranberries and Mikey had the venison (sauteed in red wine plum sauce). I wasn't crazy thrilled with either, but they were both very good. The meat was super tender (I could pretty much cut it with a spoon) and seasoned to perfection. It *almost* made me crave some veg, but Mikey was thrilled: http://www.myspacebrand.com/funny_pictures/quote-images/_img/quoteimage28.gif

The dishes did come with gravy, spatzle and pickled red cabbage, though, which were delicious. I'm usually not one to leave meat behind, but when it came down to it I scarfed up as much as the spatzle as I could stomach and let Mikey eat about half of my meat.

From reading reviews, I think I'm going to go with chicken or pork next time--seems like those tend to be a bigger hit than the red meat at Suppenkuche. And I'm definitely getting a bread ball all to myself. Fatty alert!

Our dessert was an apple strudel with ice cream, which was also very tasty. Even Mike could barely finish it, which is an indication that I got my money's worth at this place. Trust me, if this guy was full (http://www.summitpost.org/image/470993/155422/ice-step.html), they did an amazing job.

My main complaint was probably the wait and the noise. For two, we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. We ended up going down the street to Place Pigalle (really chill bar with a decent beer selection when they're not sold out) for a few beers before having dinner. Then, when we did get seated, we had to practically yell in each others' ears to have a conversation. Don't get intimidated by the crowd, and just don't try to have a romantic date here--the food is worth it!

Suppenkuche is located on the corner of Hayes and Laguna in San Francisco. They have valet, but it's a really quick walk from Civic Center BART for you East Bayers. No reservations for fewer than 6, so show up early, or show up ready to wait.

Bellanico, Oakland

I initially went here because one Scott's cook buddies works in the kitchen. Bellanico is a relatively new Italian restaurant that opened up in the up and coming part of Park Boulevard. I ended up rounding out a group of three cooks with my amateur food critic (or just professional eater) status. If shoveling food at record pace into one's mouth while discussing food and cussing up a storm means fitting in, I think I can hang hardcore with cooks. Hear that, Bourdain?

The menu here seemed to be kind of hit-and-miss. Reviewing just what I ordered, I'd give them four and a half stars out of five, but from tasting everyone else's food I'd give them three.

I started with the farro salad, which was really simple but fresh and delicious. It was served with fresh cherry tomatoes, cucumber, toasted pistachios and plenty of olive oil with lemon. The cheffies had minor issues with it just because it was so simple, but I'm a sucker for farro anytime, anywhere. Scott had the soft shell crab salad with watermelon, purslane and tomatoes that Carol Ness had been raving like mad about. We all didn't understand it. The crab wasn't as crispy as it should have been, and it seriously lacked seasoning. His buddies split the salumi plate (decent but nothing to write home about) and cicchetti (another dish Ness was freaking out about). For those of you who don't know, cicchetti are little fried meat balls; these were served with a basil and walnut pesto. Meh. They were kind of dry and too grainy.

For mains, I had the pork chop served with chard stems marinated in vinegar. The pork chop was massive and beyond perfectly cooked, down to the grill marks and tender juiciness on the inside. Definitely one of the best pork chops I've ever had, and I loved the chard stems. The other dishes were not so memorable. So unmemorable that since it's been a while that we went I only remember what one other person got. The tagliolini pepati with fresh jalapenos, bacon, and tomatoes was only so-so. The flavors didn't seem to meld as much as I'd hoped. The fresh pasta was very tasty, though. It had a great bite to it and was obviously made that day.

My favorite part aside from the pork chop was the dessert. I had an almond pound cake with fresh peaches and whipped cream. I actually still dream about eating this cake--it was really moist on the inside and crunchy on the crust.

All in all, if you order like me this place is solid, especially for the price. Considering where Scotty and I have been eating recently, this place cost easily about half of what we've been paying at Wood Tavern, Corso (forget this place!), and Camino. They deserve a lot of points for service, too. Our waitress was beyond cool and amazingly tolerant of our raucous table.

I'm going to go back at some point later on when I'm not studying to see if the consistency has improved over the past few months. Update to follow!

Bellanico is located at 4238 Park Boulevard in Oakland. Reservations can be made by calling (510) 336-1180. They also have a website: www.bellanico.net.

Round Table Pizza, Oakland

Sorry, foodie fans, but I'm back in school! Yep, that means my standards for food just got tossed out the window. Actually, I kid. I really like Round Table. Sorry if you just lost all respect for me after reading the last few sentences but I really suggest you give it a try sometime. It's a lot better than most locally owned pizza places I've been to recently, especially if you order correctly. They also deliver to my house, have quick service, and I'm more than satisfied every time.

Humor me by reading my (what I think) is a slightly entertaining story about how I came to love Round Table Pizza so much...

I remember the first time I ever tried Round Table Pizza. On December 17, 2004, I was a Junior at Cal and procrastinating by surfing the internet (pre-food blogging days, obviously) instead of reading Moby Dick for the 8th time. Bored, I went to one of my usual interweb playgrounds, http://ESPN.com and came upon the blasphemous news that Billy Beane had traded my husband (what?), Tim Hudson, to Atlanta.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I compensated for my devastating loss by eating everything in sight. My dear 90-pound roommate Mia had ordered an 8-slice Italian Garlic Supreme and left it sitting out earlier that day after only eating only two dainty slices. Peering into the hallway to see if she was around and would notice, I cut a half slice for myself and quietly chewed. I'd never really had chain-restaurant pizza while growing up, so I was amazed to find that the toppings were actually fresh and that the pizza was truly tasty.

The garlic cream sauce was nice and potent, and the crust had that perfect balance between chewy and crunchy. That tiny half-slice turned into a whole slice as I tried to fill the void in my heart.

Next thing I knew I had eaten the entire pizza. So embarrassing, right? Well it gets worse. I got a call from Mia saying that she and her boyfriend were coming back to our apartment soon. I panicked. Not only is eating an entire pizza embarrassing in general, but to have it not be my pizza to begin with and to have eaten it over a baseball player being traded moves past the point of mortification.

I ended up ordering a new pizza, hiding two slices, and pretending like nothing had happened. No joke.

I'm not one to usually advocate for chains, but the Italian Garlic Supreme really is delicious. The delivery guy at the location on Grand Avenue is also adorably awkward. I expect we'll be seeing a lot of each other this semester as comfort food is definitely in order whilst MCAT studying (Hey Paw Paw, did you read that?! COMFORT FOOD.).

Round Tables are everywhere, just look 'em up online: http://www.roundtablepizza.com.

Camino, Oakland

Wow. To begin with, Camino has one of the most beautiful kitchens I've ever seen. The gorgeous wood burning oven is open to the entire dining room, and they hang herbs from all of the chandeliers so there is always a really nice aroma floating around.

There have been a few complaints that the menu is too limited, but I think it's perfect. There's just enough to cover most palates, yet still just a few dishes so each can be perfected and be comprised of the freshest, most seasonal ingredients.

Cocktails were nothing to write home about (bitters overload!); then again Scotty and I are coming off dinner at Flora. But everything else? Wow.

We started with the crab toast and frisee salad with goose confit/persimmons. The toast was covered in a lump crab meat salad that put Flora's to shame. It was obvious that the crab was fresh and picked from a crab that day because it was so sweet and tender. No canned crab here! The goose confit had great flavor, and melded really well with the bitterness of the frisee and sweet, crunchy persimmons. The salad was also put together nicely...the frisee was already cut into manageable bites and everything was dressed perfectly.

Next we had the wood oven-roasted black trumpet and hedgehog mushrooms with leeks and garlic toast. I loved everything about this course. The broth was delectable, the toast crunchy and chewy, and the mushrooms were packed with flavor.

For mains, we split the grilled rockfish with tepary beans/wild nettles (pea sprouts)/chiles/saffron broth and the grilled/braised pork with sauerkraut, potatoes and mustard. I made the mistake of digging into the pork first. Everything about it was wonderful. The meat practically fell apart on my fork it was so tender and juicy. The potatoes were soft and perfectly cooked (lightly pan fried), and the sauerkraut added a great punch to the flavors. One thing that this kitchen seems to have mastered is seasoning the food. Everything is really nicely salted, almost to the brink of saltiness but never goes overboard. I couldn't stop eating it.

Unfortunately, the strong flavors from the pork made it hard for me to love the fish as much as Scott did. Everything in the fish dish was so delicate that no matter how many swigs of my wine I took, I just didn't get it. I can say though that the fish was really nicely cooked--it flaked apart and practically melted in my mouth. Just take Scott's word for it that the fish was awesome.

Dessert was also impeccable. Scotty couldn't stop eating the persimmon pudding with fresh whip, which is a true accomplishment because he is never a dessert person. It was nicely spiced without being too sweet, and had a rich, thick texture. My favorite dessert was the penko covered ricotta that was then deep fried and drizzled with honey. I don't even really like cheese that much, but these were little bites of heaven. The outside had a really great crunch to it, and the inside was sweet, almost molten ricotta.

Our server was friendly, prompt, and seemed to know a lot about the dishes, which we appreciated. The only thing I'd nitpick about is that the long benches that run down the center of the restaurant are slanted in a way that make it a little uncomfortable to eat. The grand total was also a little higher than I'm used to (about $35 higher than at Wood Tavern, Flora and Corso but maybe we were ultra fattys last night). But, I was distracted from the discomfort pretty quickly due to my amazement at the bathroom hand dryers (no seriously, they are awesome!), and an Elizabeth Falkner sighting that left me pretty star-struck!

Sunnyside Cafe, Albany

I really didn't understand the hype of this place for the longest time. A friend of mine convinced me to go a few times and it was always 2-3 stars. Until I had the Alameda. Gawd that thing is good.

I don't know who thought to make a savory french toast with a balsamic reduction but whoever did deserves a special place in foodie heaven. Sandwiched between two gigantic slices of french toast is some thinly sliced ham, portabello mushroom, and tomato. It's then topped with two sunnyside-up eggs, hollandaise and a balsamic reduction. Every bite is a delight for my mouth.

Everything else on the menu is pretty underwhelming. I have sometimes gotten swayed by the specials and the fancy mimosas but they've never been worth it.

The Sunnyside Cafe is located at 1499 Solano Avenue in Albany.

Yume, Alameda

If you are the type who enjoys ordering California Rolls, etc., please read no further and go down the street to Sushi House.

When I was in Japan, my dad's buddy took me out to eat at every fancy pantsy foodie place in Tokyo that we could fit into our schedule. This whirlwind tour included trips for teppanyaki, yakitori, soba with eel tempura, and of course sushi. Since that trip, I'd been unable to eat octopus or eel in the US because I learned in Japan what it's really supposed to taste like.

At Yume, it tastes like my vacation. The unagi truly melts in your mouth and doesn't have the sticky gross consistency of that stuff from the bottle that they use at even the high-end restaurants around here.

My friend Nnekay is right, though, Yume is a terrifying place to eat. But, I've found that it's not too bad if you just accept that you're joining a cult and follow the rules. It's worth it.

A few tips:
-Arrive early, with no more than one other person in tow
-Allow him to order for you; you won't regret it!
-Make sure you're facing his wife when you speak to her, and speak clearly (she's hearing impaired, not rude)
-Don't use soy sauce...The fish is so fresh that it should be eaten unadulterated.

And if anyone knows of a place where you can get REAL soba I will gladly trade that information for my soul.

Yume is located at 1428 Park Street in Alameda (above Three Wishes gift shop).

Flora, Oakland

"You're scared you're going to cheat on your boyfriend and love it, aren't you?" --Scotty

I came close to loving Flora and ditching my BF Wood Tavern but unfortunately the entrees fell way short. Aside from the entrees, though, eating at Flora was one of the best restaurant experiences I've had in a while.

The cocktails, as everyone has said, are great. There's an extensive menu with lots of classics and new drinks, all of which are delicious. Scotty's a huge fan of the Trailer Smash but I preferred the Salt and Pepper (gin, fresh grapefruit juice, black salted rim). Service, also, was fabulous--friendly, prompt, and helpful. Plus, how can I find any fault in a bartender wearing suspenders? The suspenders go along with the very cool Art-Deco facade and homage to classic Americana vibe.

Scott had the crab salad over arugula to start and I had seared scallops over braised oxtail and risotto. The crab salad had a nice big portion of crab and was very tasty. My scallops were perfectly cooked and the flavors melded nicely. It was one of my favorite dishes of the evening.

The entrees were a different story. Scott had the chicken pot pie with seasonal lettuce. Sorry Flora, but even Marie Calendars makes a flakey bottom crust. The sauce was decent, but the chicken was dry and the crust didn't have enough butter to make fatty happy. The salad was also very unappealing. The lettuce was gorgeous but the dressing was underwhelming and relied too much on the parm grated on top.

I had the steak with kale, potatoes gratin, house made Worcestershire Sauce and horseradish cream. For $30, my steak was way too small (only about 3/4 of an inch thick!) and not properly cooked. I ordered medium rare but half of it was well-done, the other half was medium. Also the house made Worcestershire Sauce tasted like...the stuff from the bottle. Awesome. The potatoes were good, so was the kale, but nothing to really rave about.

Flora's saving grace (I was really unhappy with my steak) was the dessert. Unfortunately for me, Flora is located within a block of my new gym. I already know that I'll be canceling out every single work out with one of their caramel pudding desserts. It's basically a caramel creme brulee but instead of burnt sugar on top there is a thin layer of sea salt, topped with fresh whipped cream. Definitely one of my top five desserts of all time.

Overall, the menu seemed to lack some focus, but I'm definitely going back, and will most likely skip the entrees.

Flora is located at 1900 Telegraph Avenue at 19th Street in Oakland. Reservations can be made by calling (510) 286-0100.

They don't have a website, so here's a link to their Yelp! page: www.yelp.com/biz/flora-oakland

Water Lounge and Raw Bar, Oakland

Margaret and I went here for a drink before our table at Wood Tavern was ready. I mostly wanted to scout out the place after Scotty stopped working there. Trust me, you don't need to see this place for yourself.

It was totally overpriced, had stingy pours, and unfriendly service. The food we did have wasn't fresh and had no depth of flavor. The ceviche was rubbery and needed salt. It was obvious it had been sitting around for a while because the avocados had all oxidized.

Plus, we've all heard that the owner is super shady. I'm not going back.

Care to spite me? Water Lounge is located at 5634 College Avenue in Oakland.

Wood Tavern, Oakland

I think the only people who read this are family members but I'm going to tell you for the thousandth time: GO HERE! It's the best restaurant EVER!

This is by far the best restaurant in the East Bay, and it's my favorite restaurant of all time. Real talk. Every time I have gone, the service has been friendly, helpful, and attentive. They pace the courses properly, don't rush the patrons, and the bartender gives generous pours. I can highly recommend any of the cocktails on the menu (they change daily but are always delicious and strong).

The food is always perfectly prepared (I can't stress enough how much I care about properly cooked meat), flavorful, and has lots of depth. Despite the fact that I don't have a paycheck I continue to come back for more. My personal favorites on the menu:

-Butcher Block Sampler: Acme toast with a variety of terrines or smoked meats; the chicken liver pate is to die for, as is the prosciutto-wrapped beer-infused pork terrine.
-Roasted Balsamic Beef Marrow: "meat butter" --Scotty
-Tuna and Fennel Salad with Lemon: refreshing, tasty, with the perfect amount of acid
-Roasted Pork Belly Salad: crispy, melt-in-your-mouth tender
-Chocolate Cake: enough to split between two but you won't want to
-Southie Affogatto: Jameson with espresso ice cream and a shot of espresso
-Polenta Encrusted Halibut: it was served on a bed of sweet white corn cooked with bacon; if it's still on the menu, you must order this

Things that are great but not as good as most things on the menu:

-Seafood stew
-Salmon with leeks
-Get the burger and I will punch you in the face--I'm not kidding, I know where all of my blog readers live. This restaurant has so much to offer; don't insult it by getting a freaking burger.

I've eaten here 5 times now and each time the service has been impeccable; friendly, not intrusive, polite, and attentive with a great sense of humor. The room can get a little loud, but the ambiance is nice and the food has been consistently mind-blowingly good.

Wood Tavern is located at 6317 College Avenue in Oakland, across from the Safeway on College and Claremont.

They are open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. They take reservations but are very accommodating to parties of two on a walk-in basis.

Phone: (510) 654-6607
Website: www.woodtavern.net

Corso, Berkeley

It's Winter Vacation and thank you family I now have some spending money, so it's time to EAT!

I really really really wanted to like this place more. I'll preface this review with the fact that I went to Corso with Scott S., my chef friend and fellow food snob, but unfortunately nothing really impressed us at Corso.

The hostess was very prompt with seating us (thank you, OpenTable!) and the waitress, who was incredibly friendly and laughed at our jokes in a relatively believable manner, recommended a great bottle of wine to go with our eclectic orders. Maybe we had too high of expectations...

We started out with the crostini trio, one of my favorite dishes of the night. One had mascarpone with tomato, another chicken liver, and the third a lobster puree. All were delicious, but a forewarning--if you order this, eat the liver one last, the flavor will linger in your mouth forever. It's great, but not when you're trying out the delicately flavored but wonderful lobster crostino.

Next we split the tripe with cannellini beans/spicy tomato broth and the papardelle with duck/olives. The papardelle was probably the best dish of the evening. The pasta was beautifully rolled and cut, and tasted very fresh. The duck sauce was also very flavorful, with extremely tender meat. The tripe was a total let-down. There were too many beans, not enough tripe, and the "broth" was more of a sauce and had no spice. Scotty has the most delicate, adorable palate when it comes to spice and even he thought it needed pepper. Post parmesean snow storm it tasted okay, but I wouldn't recommend this dish.

Then we had the pizza with funghi that everyone on Yelp has been freaking out about. This better have been an off night otherwise I am just reviewing the wrong restaurant. It's a pizza with a decent crust, but it's covered in sauteed button mushrooms. It is winter...mushroom season...and you give me BUTTON mushrooms?! For $13?!?! Please. Plus, Scotty pointed out that the center of the pizza had gotten a bit soggy; most likely because the mushrooms weren't cooked enough before being added to the pizza, so the water from them got soaked into what had been a decent crust. Ugh.

Last, we had sauteed baby spinach (still had some sand in it--not washed properly, but other than that it was obviously very fresh, good quality spinach) as well as romano beans with pancetta/hazelnuts/mint. The bean dish was actually a very unique, tasty combination, but the beans were totally over-cooked.

For dessert, Scotty had the olive oil cake and I had the poached pear with fresh whipped cream. The olive oil cake left something to be desired. It was a little muted on texture and could have used some rosemary. The poached pear was very visually appealing. They left the skin on, though. While my friend Margaret highly recommended the dish and thought it made it more rustic (I guess...), I guess I just don't really care about rustic when the skin peels off like slimey I-don't-know-what. The sauce had enough brandy for me to get wasted alone, though, so at least that was tasty. So was the pear after I peeled off the skin.

Service overall was very good--they sometimes seemed a little antsy to take our plates away which is a constant annoyance factor of mine, but other than that they paced our dishes relatively well considering how bizarre our ordering was.

At some point I might give this place another shot, but mostly the disappointment in Corso reminded me that I was cheating on my BF, Wood Tavern.

Dear Wood Tavern: I am very sorry that I went out on a date with one of your SF Chronicle food section rivals. It's just that I feel like I have to do all the work in our relationship. You're always busy, I have to take the initiative to call you, and I always have to pay. And what's with us needing to stay at your place every time? That said, I realized how well you treat me when I do call. Please take me back? Love, Kara.

Corso is located at 1788 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley.

They now take reservations on OpenTable.com, which can be accessed via their website at www.trattoriacorso.com or by phone at (510) 704-8004.