2377 Shattuck Ave.
(510) 843-1535
French (or Provenal) in West Berkeley
I've been here many a time in the last few years, and it's definitely one of those places that gets majorly hyped. I first heard about it back in 2003 from my co-RA in the dorms who had spent a year studying abroad in Paris. OK, I thought, this place must be pretty good since she's probably been to Provence. I remember being completely let down by the supposedly divine raspberry oatmeal pancakes, as well as the eh eggs.
I had also gone for dinner once with a friend, and I remember being a believer in monkfish after my meal. Buttery and rich, that dinner was one of the best I had in college. But then again, that was pre-SF and before I really began fine-tuning my palate. I went here for another brunch last year, and got the deliciously sounding open-faced omelette with potatoes and caramelized onions, which was disappointingly bland.
After my let-down brunch experiences here, I went here again this past weekend, only because Mike had never been before. This time it was actually quite good. I would usually average the stars in the review, but I'm feeling generous. I believe that this restaurant can be redeemed, given these crucial factors:
- Know what to order. Since I had already gone through disappointing menu choices, I knew what to avoid and we picked dishes that were actually good this time. Mike had lemon gingerbread pancakes which he raved about (they were ok for me. I'm not a fan of gingerbread, and that flavor was very strong). It was cutely plated with blueberries and poached pears. I had a normal ham & cheese omelette accompanied with roasted tomatoes which were yummy. Mike had a side of homefries which were roasted with rosemary and garlic = mmm. I remember having the homefries before and feeling pretty indifferent about them, probably because they're easily burnt... which leads me to the next factor....
- Beat the rush. Sure, there are practical reasons behind this (you don't have to wait, less crowded, blah blah blah), but the main reason, especially in this case, is that the busier the restaurant is, the worse the quality of the food will be. We went at 9am whereas typical brunch time is 10am, and we didn't have to wait at all, and we also got good food. I have no idea if the food would've been comparable at 10am, especially given my previous experiences there.
All in all, La Note was redeemed this weekend, but hopefully they're consistent from here on out. We'll see!
*** UPDATE ***
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
La Note
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Modern Tea
602 Hayes St. (& Laguna)
(415) 626-5406
Tea Salon/Cafe in Hayes Valley
In place of my sister's bachelorette party, I planned a Spa Day for the day before the wedding. To go with the theme, I arranged to have lunch at Modern Tea (i.e. tea = relaxing). I've walked by this place many a time and have always wondered what it's like.
I must say that it's beautiful on a nice day since they have large windows and the light just pours in. The service is also great - very warm and friendly... the type of staff that reminds me of the comfortable chillness of Berkeley restaurants.
They have quite an extensive tea menu, but they're primarily hot teas. They only had about 5 chilled tea drinks, which was disappointing since it was a pretty hot day. I went ahead and got the iced soy chai which I sweetened to my liking with simple syrup. The two hot teas that my sisters tried were eh... I don't really have a palate for teas, so I can't really go into much detail. I don't remember what they were, either =T But they came in their own individual cute mini teapots!
The food is good here - I love heirloom tomatoes and got a sandwich with just those and cucumbers = light and yummy. My little sister got a chicken meatloaf sandwich (it was strange tasting meatloaf made out of chicken), and a friend got a savory bread pudding = yummmmy. I wish I had gotten that, but I didn't feel like getting anything too heavy.
I would definitely come back and try more of their teas and hopefully become more educated. They are also supposed to have good desserts, but we didn't have time to try them. Next time!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Rick & Ann's
2922 Domingo Ave (& Ashby/Claremont)
(510)649-8538
Californian in Berkeley
It's safe to say that this is my favorite place in Berkeley. I'm really hesitant to give 5 stars, because that would really mean perfection, but 4 would just not do justice, because I enjoy my experience here every single time I visit. * I've never been here for dinner, and although they also have a lunch menu, I think I've only eaten off their breakfast menu even during lunch time (which runs until 2:30pm). On weekends there is always a wait, especially when the weather's nice.
Nothing fails here. The staff is friendly, the ambience is very country/cottage, which is quite characteristic of that neighborhood in Berkeley. The food is great. I'm more of an eggs person when it comes to breakfast (by far the best meal of the day), but their whole wheat pancakes are fluffy and divine (and healthy!). Everything is uber Californian, and yummy! I went here earlier this morning for a late brunch and had the buttermilk waffle which wasn't the best, but I wasn't complaining. Their French toast is pretty good, but when Mike had it before he couldn't really taste the Orange (they add orange extract into the egg batter - I overheard a cook explaining it to a diner). Other than those examples, just about everything here is good!
* Edit: I change my mind. This is still one of my favorite Berkeley restaurants, but I realized that I'm over-hyping it by giving it 5 stars. I still believe their whole wheat pancakes are divine though.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Dottie's True Blue Cafe
522 Jones St. (at Ofarrell) Guest starring Lil Cyn at the mic. So we arrived at Dotties and it was a gorgeous day, which made the wait in line not that bad. We waited about 20 minutes and I think I got a neck tan in the process. our day wasn't so nice...we waited about an hour saturday morning. lucky for us (but not for those in line) it started pouring after we were seated. We wait about 30-40 min. Good thing I wasn't hungry (yeah right). When we got in my friend said everything was good, so I ordered the sweet potato tart, which came with two slices of homemade dill bread, a mountain of scrambled eggs, and a bowl of fruit. I also got the coffee and later we split a cinnamon roll. The tart was really good: sweat and savory at the same time. The bowl of fruit was also really good, surprising because sometimes those can just be gross. i tried the recommended frittata that consisted of a lot of ingredients, one of which was penne. it was unusual, but good. i also tried the southwestern scramble which had Andouille sausage, onions, cheese, salsa served with two tortillas - tasty, though my frittata was better. it was the same with the smoked chicken apple sausage, eggs, and other stuff special which came with grilled cornbread - good, but not spectacular. I also tried the frittata (asparagus, feta, tomatoes, and other stuff) and it was gooood. It was served with a side of potatoes and toasted zucchini bread mmm you could taste all the butter in it. Kevin agreed that mine was better than his (he had scrambled eggs with sausage, spinach, and more normal stuff). (random side note: Dottie's is a hot spot for celebs - Halle Berry, Cheryl Crow, Jake Gyllenhal...I forgot the rest) My friend said to order the cinnamon roll because it wasn't like other cinnamon rolls. It was much flakier and not too uber sweet. There was a faint hint of orange in the roll because they use orance juice in the brown sugar sauce part. My friend got an omlette with pesto, goat cheese, and something else, and it looked deeeelicious. I only ate half my meal so that I could eat the cinnamon roll, and I ate the rest of it for lunch today, and it was still good! Yay! i'd go back on a weekday and try the cinnamon roll =], but i wouldn't try going again on a weekend. If you love breakfast, you'll love Dottie's. I totally plan to go back. The service was great, service was average (maybe they just liked c better) the people friendly, and the ambience cozy. And, if you love old Hollywood, like I do - pay attention to the collages and posters of Betty Davis, Rita, Veronica Lake (whose hair I could never manage to copy), and other beauties from when Hollywood was Hollywood. I took away one star from the original post because the food wasn't FABULOUS. It was definitely good, but I don't know if it's worth the wait. They don't have a sign-up sheet or waitlist, so you just have to wait in line forever. Yay, two thumbs (tongues?) up! (one tongue!)
(415) 885-2767
This past Sunday I went to Dottie's True Blue Cafe. I went with my friend who helped design the posters, mugs, lamps, you name it. He highly recommended this place and he says he goes just about every day, so I thought heck why not. Besides, breakfast food is THE BEST. i do like breakfast foods!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Zazie
941 Cole St (and Carl)
(415) 564-5332
French/Californian bistro in Cole Valley
Cole Valley's a very Berkeley-esque area where people are out walking their dogs or brunching on weekends. Our group of 4 had to wait awhile but the neighborhood is comfortable enough to not be so bad. This place is supposed to have a cute patio (in the back), but we got a very cute window booth instead, which was actually perfect since it was raining for a little bit.
I enjoyed the food. It's no Rick & Ann's, but they have a lot of poached eggs, which you don't see very often on brunch menus. The dishes we tried: french toast tahiti (with caramelized bananas... interesting concept, but just ok), scrambled eggs grece (with feta and the like), poached eggs monaco (with proscuitto and tomato... i liked it), and poached eggs with salmon, capers, and stuff (don't remember what it was called).
All in all, it's a very cute place, cute ambience... very rick & ann's, but not as good. I'd go for the poached eggs, and next time the patio. =)