Hog Dogs Put on a Show

Just like how burgers got dressed up a couple of years ago and made it to the menu of some fancy restaurants, hot dogs are now the latest to go gourmet.

A new spot that puts a Coney Island dog to shame is Show Dogs on Market Street near the Tenderloin, brought to you by the people behind Foreign Cinema restaurant.

For me, hot dogs are guilty pleasures. I know it’s bad for you, but I love the saltiness. And I’m even happy with just getting the generic hot dogs at the movie theaters. I usually find myself eating hot dogs only at the movies or baseball games.

But last week I went to check out Show Dogs. On my first visit, I went for their happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. (During happy hour, you can get a pint of beer for $2.50 but the dogs are regular price.)

Show Dogs is right at the corner of Market and 6th Street, across from the Golden Gate Theater. This stretch of town showcases the full spectrum of humanity, but particularly the end that likes to piss and yell on the street. So as far as location, it really takes a dedicated hot dog eater to drop in.

That said, the store itself is clean and cherry with marble table tops that reminds me of a bistro. The young staff is incredibly friendly, but that may also be because they’re not overly taxed with work. On the times I visited, there were only one or two other people there.

There are 12 varieties of hot dogs on the menu (one is vegetarian)—all are sustainable and most are organic. They’re supplied by some of the big-name meat people in the area: Fatted Calf, Ryan Farr 4505 Meats, Let’s Be Frank and Golden Gate Meats.

On my first visit, I tried the Organic Duck Sausage ($8), which is topped with pasilla BBQ sauce and kim chee. (Side note: the sausages all come with creative toppings, but since the dogs are made to order, you could ask to mix and match the dogs and toppings.)

I also ordered the happy hour Prohibition Ale, which is the first time I tried this beer and I really enjoyed it. It had a lot of body and flavor, but wasn’t overly alcoholic or yeasty. It was smooth, and went really well with the hot dog.

The duck sausage was meaty and succulent, so I really enjoyed the texture but I felt it didn’t have a distinct duck flavor. Still, how can you go wrong with kim chee topping? The kim chee was fresh and great on any hot dog, IMHO. The passilla sauce gave it a nice kick, although I probably could have skipped it. I should also note that the bun was nicely toasted.

Because I enjoyed the Duck Dog, I came back a couple of days later for lunch. This time I got the Organic Lamb Marquez ($7), which is a lamb sausage with fig chutney, house mustard and arugula.

The lamb sausage was slightly dense and the meat texture was almost minced like. It’s not the juicy, meaty bits that I enjoyed in the duck sausage. But one thing I realized about Show Dogs is that the sausages are often covered up by all the toppings. So the dogs don’t really play the starring role.

I enjoyed the lamb sausage because of the sweetness from the fig chutney, but around this point I was craving some good sauerkraut.

I like the concept of Show Dogs and appreciate the creativity on their menu (I want to try the wild boar next). It’s kind of out of the way unless you’re heading to the Warfield or Golden Gate Theater. But it’s the kind of place that I hope does well because it’s time hot dogs got their time in the spotlight.

Show Dogs, 1020 Market St., San Francisco. PH: 415.558.9560. www.sfshowdogs.com

Related links (get it):
Baseball + Hot Dog = Independence
Frankly, It’s More Slim Dog Than Hot Dog
Batter Up: Tres Agave at AT&T Park

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Dish on Dining: Five

Berkeley Hotel Dining is Reborn
2086 Allston Way (at Shattuck), Berkeley
Downtown
PH: 510.225.6055
Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.five-berkeley.com

Some of the highly anticipated restaurants lately have been opening up in the East Bay. And it’s no surprise when you have names like Scott Howard.

Chef Howard, who had a restaurant under his own name that closed down near San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, has re-emerged with Five restaurant in the historic and recently renovated Hotel Shattuck. The restaurant’s name, according to its Web site, is a celebration of the five senses and five elements that go into food.

I visited Five for dinner recently with my friend Maureen, who has been working in China the last few years and recently moved back to the Bay Area. I thought Howard’s modern take on an American bistro would be a nice reintroduction to the California culinary scene.

Walking in, it takes you awhile to orientate yourself to the black-and-white floors and patterned walls. It’s a bit Manhattan meets Norway in the 1950s. The only hint of Berkeley comes in the interesting inlaid peace symbol at the steps of the foyer.

The deep translucent red lighting, including a chandelier in the lobby, doesn’t seem to hold up to the wide-open layout. That feel seems to carry over to the restaurant, which is to the right of the lobby. The bar serves as a divider between the lobby and the open restaurant, losing all sense of coziness.

Maureen and I sat in a back table near what looked like a real cool lounge area. As Maureen caught me up with her life, I perused the menu, which included a few favorites from Scott Howard (like the orzo mac and cheese with morel mushrooms and my favorite butterscotch pudding).

We started with the Smoked Salmon and Yukon Potato Cake ($10), garnished with green apple slices and horseradish. The salmon was nice, but really served mostly as an accessory to the fluffy and lightly browned potato cake underneath. It was so easy to eat, and the tart crunch of the green apples and kick of the horseradish all blended harmoniously.

For our entrees, Maureen ordered the Duck Confit with Summer Soccotash ($19), which she enjoyed. She says the size of the duck leg was a larger portion than she has seen at other restaurants, so she appreciated that.

I ordered the Lamb Loin with Wild Mushroom Strudel ($24) served with a green peppercorn sauce and spinach. The lamb pieces looked like it was encrusted with the green peppercorn sauce, which was actually mild and didn’t overpower the lamb. I loved how the lamb was perfectly cook, maintaining the tenderness and juiciness of the meat.

But again, the star seemed to be the supporting act; in this case, an incredibly tasty mushroom strudel. It wasn’t just the fact that the strudel pastry was flaky and light, but the stuffing had a variety of mushrooms, creating a complex yet satisfying bite.

To end our dinner, I knew I had to order Howard’s butterscotch pudding. I ate this for the first time at his San Francisco restaurant and fell in love with the creamy, rich pudding that makes you feel like a kid. I’d been searching for a suitable substitute since he closed Scott Howard but nothing seems to compare.

Maureen and I each ordered the pudding ($7) because I warned her I wasn’t willing to share mines. At Five, Howard tweaked his recipe by making it a vanilla bean butterscotch pudding, which explains why the color looked pale than what I remembered at Scott Howard.

The pudding, while creamy and tasty, lacked the strong butterscotch flavor that I recall. Still, it was enjoyable and I especially like the addition of the peanut brittle and shaved chocolate topping.

Service was especially friendly, probably because they still have that “we’re new, come visit us” mentality. Our waiter was very informative although he did sometimes go on and on about our wine selections.

Overall, Five is a welcomed addition to the downtown Berkeley scene. The grand chandelier in the center of the dining room signals the elegance of Howard’s dishes, but the casual vibe makes this a comforting and friendly spot.

Single guy rating: 4 stars (Modern food in historic digs)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner



Similar restaurants you might like:
Luce: “A Taste of Elegance and Style”
Zinnia: “Welcome Home Chef Sean O’Brien”
Chez Papa Resto: “From Bistro to Paris Chic”

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Test Kitchen: Puff-Pastry Tomato Tarts

I don’t know if any of you also subscribe to Food and Wine magazine, but if you do, do you agree that the recipes are getting kind of boring? I don’t know, but a lot of them are getting too simple that I don’t really feel challenged. I mean, how many salads can we make?

That’s how I felt when flipping through the August edition, trying to pick three recipes to taste test. Put I put three up for voting, and you, my helpful readers, picked the Puff-Pastry Tomato Tart recipe with barely a majority (51%). Still, it’s the perfect recipe to try because this is prime tomato-eating season.

The recipe is from Andreas Viestad, a Norwegian TV chef who has his own show called “Perfect Day.” I’m not sure why Food and Wine magazine decided to feature a celebrity chef that nobody in the States heard of or can even watch his show? But whatchagonnado?

Chef Viestad came up with a variety of tomato recipes, and the photo of the tart looked like a perfect starter for a summer picnic. You can see the complete recipe on the Food and Wine site here. And this is how it went when I made it.

I started out by blanching the tomatoes so that I can remove the skin. I got some beautiful heirloom tomatoes from the Frog Hollow Farms’ stand at the farmers market. I forgot the particular name of the variety, but it had the word Oregon in it. So if you want some beefy tomatoes, these are the ones for you.

No, your computer’s saturation is not on the blink. These tomatoes are just that red. Aren’t they beautiful? And they were so sweet, but I’m getting ahead of myself. After removing the skin, I sprinkled them with brown sugar and salt and set them aside.

The puff pastry part was easy because the recipe says you can just by ready-made all-butter puff pastry, and that’s what I did. I cut one sheet into two round pieces that measured 6-inches in diameter then baked them until they were golden brown.

Then I piled on the ingredients for my tart, which included the tomatoes, grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, and butter. Then I baked them and when they were done, I sprinkled them with thinly sliced fresh basil.

Here’s my finished version. It doesn’t really look like the photo in the magazine above, but it still was pretty to eat. But was it worth it? See below.

My tips and warnings about this recipe: Chef Viestad skips a lot of details, like how it helps if you score the bottom of the tomato before blanching. That’ll help when you want to peel the skin. Also, when baking the puff pastry rounds, puncture it with a fork so that it doesn’t puff up into a big balloon in the oven.

Ease of cooking: Another super easy recipe. I mean how hard is it to prepare the tomatoes and then just plop them onto a baked puff pastry that you bought from the store? You can totally use this concept to make other tarts, like fig and gorgonzola or pears and ham, maybe?

Taste: While super easy to make, these tarts really lacked something. My thought was a nice layer of cheese. The grated parmesan isn’t enough. It needed a more substantive base like ricotta or goat cheese. Then it would have been good with the amazing heirloom tomatoes I had. But instead, it was just this weird puff pastry with wet tomatoes on top. I was not a fan.

Overall Grade: C- (easy but I wouldn’t make it again)

Don’t forget to vote in the poll on the right column on which recipe from the pages of Food and Wine’s September edition that you want me to tackle next!

Previous test kitchen:
Bucatini Carbonara
Mini Corn Cakes with Seared Salmon
Spicy and Sticky Baby Back Ribs

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Mini Dish: Koreana Kitchen II

Feasting on Kim Chi for Lunch
3288 Pierce St., Richmond
Inside the Pacific East Mall
PH: 510.528.8864
Open for lunch and dinner
No reservations, credit cards accepted

RICHMOND
Whenever I can get my hands on a car, I undoubtedly make the trek up I-80 to Ranch 99 Market to pick up some Asian groceries. On one of these rare shopping trips, I was lured by the bento lunch specials at Koreana Kitchen II.

Koreana Kitchen looks like a contemporary Asian spot, with colorful photography on the walls and bamboo décor. It’s primarily Korean food but like other Asian restaurants at the Pacific East Mall, there are blending of the lines to grab as many customers as they can. Thus the bento lunches, which is really a Japanese thing.

The bentos actually didn’t sound too enticing: just your choice of meat, kim chi, rice and salad. But my eyes did catch the combo special, which includes your choice of meat and a bowl of soon, the Korean soft tofu soup. So that’s what I order, the seafood soon with BBQ chicken.

Of course, before my food arrived I got a nice selection of panchan, the free nibbles laid out before you. Even for lunch and for a solo diner, Koreana Kitchen laid out an impressive six plates of spicy potatoes, kim chi, soy beans, yuba, clear noodles, and seaweed. All of the panchan choices were fresh and tasty.

When my lunch arrived, my bowl of soon was bubbling hot in the cast-iron bowl. My server gave me another bowl with an un-cracked egg in it and told me that I could add in the egg to my soup if I desired. I actually didn’t know Koreans ate an egg with their soon, so I tried it.

Unfortunately, in my mind I thought the egg was hard-boiled, but it was raw. And when I plopped it in my soup, it went straight to the bottom. What I realized I should have done was crack it in the bowl and stir it up a bit to drizzle it into my soup like the Chinese egg flower soup. That way I wouldn't have a big raw egg hidden in my soup.

The rest of the soup was great, filled with a variety of ingredients from meat slices to baby prawns to tofu. It was a combination soon that was nice and filling.

I probably could have just eaten the soon by itself, but my combo came with the BBQ chicken, which looked like a very large plate for the price. But the chicken wasn’t the greatest. It really tasted like fast-food, processed chicken that lacked freshness or quality. Despite the large serving, I don’t know if it was worth the price for that quality of chicken.

Still, Koreana Kitchen is a nice, clean spot that’s family friendly. I wouldn’t say it’s the best Korean in Richmond, but it’s definitely convenient. Avoid the chicken but go for the soon and panchan.

Related posts:
Pyung Chang Soft Tofu House: “Its Soon, Delightful”
Mua: “New Club Vibe on Auto Row”
In a Pickle with Korean Chili

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Global Wine Tastes at Cav Wine Bar

Cav Wine Bar and Kitchen is one of the original neighborhood wine bars that popped up before the current wave of new wine bars started to grab hold. I’ve talked about the food before, but one of the fun things about this San Francisco spot is the wine events.

Last night, my friend Ken (who’s on Cav’s mailing list) told me about a free wine-tasting so I met up with him and checked out what was being served.

The tasting was limited to the first 50 people who showed up, which was a good idea because I never realized how small the space is. The wine pourers were set up in one corner in the middle of the restaurant and it was crowded and I don’t even think there were 25 people there yet.

Despite the crowds (I don’t know why people don’t move to the side after they get their pour of wine?) and the humidity inside, we were able to taste four wines. This is what I thought:

1. La Tunella Biancosesto, 2007 – This is a white wine from Italy made from ribolla gialla and tocai friuliano grapes. It was perfect for the weather and I appreciated how it was chilled just perfectly. It was light with a melon flavor that really awakens one’s palate.
2. Tinto Figero Tempranilla, 4 Mesa Red, 2006 – A Spanish wine called a ribera, this had the rich flavor of plum but was quite tannic. This was Ken’s favorite though.
3. Henry’s Drive, Dead Letter Office, 2006 – A shiraz from Southern Australia, this was also very tart and quite light in body. I’m not a big fan of Australian wine, and this didn’t do me any favors. And what a weird name, huh?
4. Paternoster Synthesi, Aglianico del Vulture, 2005 – Another Italian red from Basilicata. This was supposed to be the heaviest wine akin to cabernet sauvignon but when I tasted it I thought it was lighter in body than the shiraz. This also had a lot of tannins.

Of the wine we tried, I have to say only the white from Italy really surprised me. The three reds were very similar and not very pleasing to drink.

After the wine, Ken went to meet someone for dinner and I stayed behind because I peeked at the menu and saw an appetizer of braised octopus that I had to try.

The braised octopus ($13) was served with roasted heirloom tomatoes and fried garbanzo beans. The octopus was soooo tender that it was a pleasure to eat, but I felt it was oddly supported by the tomatoes with thinly sliced basil. The perfume of the basil seemed to overpower the octopus. And another odd thing about the plate were the fried beans because they really tasted and even looked like frozen peas. Still, I couldn’t fault the overall dish because the octopus was cooked so well.

If you want to check out a future Cav wine event, go to its Web site to join its mailing list or follow them on twitter at twitter.com/cavwinebar.

Cav Wine Bar and Kitchen, 1666 Market St., San Francisco (between Gough and Franklin). PH: 415.437.1770.

Related posts:
Cav Wine Bar: “A Delightful Overture to Any Night Out”
Cade Winery: White, Red and Green
Art with the Pour at Artesa Vineyards & Winery

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Dish on Dining: Looney’s Smokehouse

Southern-Style BBQ Spreads in the East Bay
5319 Martin Luther King Blvd., Oakland
North Oakland neighborhood
PH: 510.652.1238
Breakfast buffet, lunch and dinner daily
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.kenlooney.com

With grilling being a big summertime affair, I was excited to hear from my neighbor Joe that a new barbeque joint opened up in the hood. Turns out, it’s the second location of the popular Looney’s Smokehouse in Berkeley, which was voted “Best BBQ in Alameda” (as prominently mentioned on its Web site) by KRON-TV’s “Best of the Bay.”

I have to admit, I never heard of Looney’s so I was suspicious when Joe and I pulled up at the new MLK location. The spot is under the BART and highway overpass and sits pretty much alone in this quiet part of town that borders Berkeley.

When we walked inside, the place was totally empty except one table of what looked like old-timers (or they were just old people). Plus, the décor was simply orange, which I guess is someone’s attempt to complement the BBQ sauce.

Looney’s serves up your typical barbeque fare, which means lots of ribs and smoked things, along with sandwiches, burgers and fried stuff.

Joe ordered the North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich ($8.95) along with additional sides of macaroni and cheese and corn. North Carolina refers to the particular type of BBQ sauce used when cooking the pork.

Looney’s offer five particular styles of BBQ sauces, including the aforementioned North Carolina, Texas, Kansas City, South Carolina Spicy Mustard, and something called “Girly Man.”

I wanted to get the full experience of Looney’s BBQ so I ordered the combo plate (choice of two kinds of meats for $18.95) and got the baby back ribs and BBQ chicken with the Kansas City sauce, which our server recommended as the best Looney’s sauce to try for a newcomer.

Joe’s plate was filled with pulled pork and a lot of French fries, but his sandwich looked sad with just the two ordinary slices of bread keeping the pork together. His mac n’ cheese had a strange texture to it, tasting a lot like something that came out of a box. His tiny corn on the cob was lukewarm.

My plate came with garlic mash and cole slaw, and it kind of threw me because the plates looked like they came from a Chinese restaurant. The chicken was shredded, which surprised me. My server apologized for not warning me that this is how the BBQ chicken is served. If you buy the chicken dinners, then you get quartered pieces of chicken.

Both the chicken and ribs were drenched in the Kansas City BBQ sauce, which was slightly spicy and sweet. Our server brought out squirt bottles (oddly in a Budweiser six-pack container) so we could try the other BBQ sauces, but my plate had so much sauce I didn’t even bother.

The chicken was all right, but the ribs seemed slightly dry. It tasted like it was smoked earlier in the day and then just left sitting waiting for the dinner crowd. While the meat was tender, it just didn’t seem to make my mouth water.

Side note: We had an incredibly charming waiter who was friendly, helpful and courteous. He really went out of his way to make our stay feel homey.

I hear Looney’s original Berkeley location is often packed, so if you’re tired of the crowds you can always go to the Oakland location because there’s plenty of room. Although I wonder if Looney’s tasty reputation has lost some of its charm when moving to MLK.

Single guy rating: 2.25 stars (Filling but unspectacular)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner



Related posts:
Lady’s Place: “Home-style N’awlins Plates in Downtown Oakland”
Father’s Day Grilling Class at Two
Asian-style BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich recipe

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3Bucks: Lemon Bar

My latest contribution to the 3 Bucks Bites site is what I consider the best lemon bar in the Bay Area. Check it out to find out why I like it and where you get it.

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Penzeys Spice and Everything Nice

MENLO PARK
During my recent jaunt down to the Peninsula, I made a point of visiting the nearly 1-year-old Penzeys Spices store in the heart of downtown Menlo Park.

Apparently, there’s a real cult following for Penzeys Spices, which started out being available only via a mail-order catalog out of Wisconsin. They now have 42 stores across the country and three in California. The Menlo Park store is the only one in Northern California.

I’d never heard of Penzeys until I read about it on THE South Bay foodie blog, Food Gal. And I’d been waiting to see it first-hand ever since.

Let me just say that downtown Menlo Park is soooo Main Street USA, which seems like the perfect spot for a Penzeys. The store itself is spice heaven, but in a very orderly fashion. The clear aisles display countless jars of spices, but all organized in ways to help the home cook.

Looking for something to grill? Check out the spices in the grill section. Want something to sprinkle in salads? Look under the big photo of a big bowl of salad. Want something to jazz up your cookies? Walk into the make-believe homemaker kitchen in the center of the store and check out the cinnamon and vanilla extract.

Shopping for spices is a lot of fun for me because I love the visuals of the different colors of the spice. What’s cool about Penzeys is that not only has it gathered unique or hard-to-find spices, but it also has created several spice combinations to get your creative juices running.

For example, taking Food Gal’s lead, I picked up a jar of Singapore Seasoning because I wanted to eat it out of the jar (it smelled like walking into a Singaporean restaurant). I also got a jar of Galangal, a spice used in Thai cooking and Penzeys seasoned salt because it was, well, so pretty.

As you can tell, there are snuff jars all over so you can smell the spices and let your imaginations run wild. You can definitely get lost here for a whole afternoon.

Penzeys Spices, 771 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park. PH: 650.853.1785. Open 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Monday–Saturday; 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Sunday. www.penzeys.com

Spiced Up Recipes:
Firecracker Shrimp and Humita
Spicy and Sticky Baby Back Ribs
Five-Spice Grilled Chicken with Orange Fennel

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Dish on Dining: Nopa

Clean Flavors in the Spotlight
560 Divisadero St. (at Hayes), San Francisco
North of the Panhandle
PH: 415.864.8643
Open daily for dinner
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
nopasf.com

Nopa is a restaurant that I’ve been meaning to try for a long time, but never could get myself out to that area of the city (which the restaurant has staked out to be North of the Panhandle but I always thought was more the Western Addition). But I’ve always had hints of Nopa’s grandeur at food events, where I got some teaser tasting of the talents of Chef Laurence Jossel, who seems to excel in using fresh, seasonal ingredients in simple but tasty dishes.

Nopa was white-hot when it opened in 2006, and some say it is still going strong attracting the crowds. For awhile it was the destination restaurant in the hood, but now it’s spawned an equally popular little sister (the Mexican restaurant Nopalito), and Bar Crudo has recently opened up a couple of blocks away.

When I finally took the time to travel out to check out Nopa, I got there early so I could grab a stool at the back counter that faces the open kitchen. Walk-ins are seated at the bar or at an adjacent communal table, but I’d heard that the fun is at the four-stool counter facing the wood-fire oven.

Side note: The bar is bustling in the early evenings because Nopa offers some of the best drinks in town, served up by some of the more experienced bartenders in the city.

Because of the emphasis on seasonal ingredients, the menu changes almost daily. It’s also not as extensive as I imagined, although it offered a nice variety of appetizers. A nice indicator of my meal to come was the amuse bouche sent out by the kitchen. I was surprised to receive an amuse at a casual restaurant. These are typically reserved for more fine-dining establishments, but who am I to complain? What I got was a mini croistini topped with a mini Greek salad, with ingredients like mini diced cucumbers, olives and feta cheese. But it was dressed in a bright lemon vinaigrette that was bright and refreshing, waking up my palate like how an amuse should behave.

After that promising start, I ordered the Grilled Monterey Sardines ($10), which was served simply dressed with some olive oil and topped off with cherry tomatoes confit. From the first bite I could taste the freshness of the sardines, and the cherry tomatoes were bursting with summer flavors. As a nice touch of contrast, Chef Jossel adds flash-fried spiced chickpeas that are entertaining to bite into for their airy crunchiness. The overall dish was simple but elegant.

I also couldn’t pass up ordering the Sweet Corn Soup ($8) just because I love summer corn. The simple corn soup was topped with a swirl of harissa, a North African/Middle Eastern spice. I blended the spice with the rest of my soup, turning it into a pinkish hue and adding a splendid back heat to the sweet corn.

For my entrée, I ordered the special of the night, which was an Osso Bucco ($25) made from pork instead of the traditional veal shanks. The braised pork was tender and juicy that easily pulled away from the center bone. The dish was distinguished by an accompanying aioli that tasted similar to the harissa but I couldn’t say for sure what it was. There was a slight tang like tomato but it was spicy with a Middle Eastern flavor. Whatever it was, it nicely complemented the dish, adding just a slightly different twist. (A reader pointed out that it wasn't an aioli but a romesco sauce.) The cranberry beans and spinach served with the dish were also nicely prepared (and who knew cranberry beans were so big?).

I ended my evening with the Sour Cherry Clafoutis ($8), which is a French cake that reminds me a lot of this wonderful warm pineapple cake I had in Vietnam. Nopa’s version was filled with cherries that weren’t that sour. I actually wanted to have more of the cherry flavor because the cake tasted mostly of vanilla. While it was nice, I felt it could have been served a bit more warm and the sauce on the plate could have been served a bit more cold. So maybe it was just an off night for dessert?

While the counter was a fun place to people watch (although I thought the chef felt like he was an animal at the zoo being watched), the rest of the restaurant looks like a lively place to dine no matter where you are—whether the main dining area downstairs or the cool mezzanine that gives a birds-eye view of all the action.

Overall, I left Nopa feeling rewarded for making the journey out to this lonely part of town. The service was friendly and paced just right so you feel welcomed and not rushed, and the food is spot on with clean flavors and just a few tiny tweaks of surprise.

Single guy rating: 4.25 stars (Strong and steady)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner



Restaurants you might also enjoy:
Wood Tavern: “A Year Later, It’s Still a Hotspot in Oakland”
Foreign Cinema: “Now Playing: An Innovative Brunch Matinee”
Bar Tartine: “More Than Baked Goods at this Neighborhood Bistro”

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