Underdog(s)

Underdog (hot dogs) and Underdogs (sports bar + taco shop) can get easily confused, especially since they are just about 2 blocks away from each other on opposite sides of 19th. Underdog feels like a hippie version of Top Dog with their extensive list of vegetarian and vegan "sausages," except significantly more expensive by $2+. The meat versions are all organic, and they also include some grassfed options as well as a Let's Be Frank dog, which would explain the higher prices, though it isn't more satisfying than a $1.50 Polish from Costco. Good and healthier I suppose, but how healthy are hot dogs anyway?

A bouncer was collecting cover before the UFC fight... not a shocker, we ate and left before it started. =P Mmm fish taco Nick's way and a cold beer.

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Size Matters

I haven't eaten a full meal here, but this tiny space around 16th + Valencia that is Monk's Kettle warrants a return. If it hasn't already reached capacity and you've gotten passed the stressed out bouncer, you can enjoy what they have to offer, big or small. They serve a wide range of beers, from PBR to some obscure Italian brews, $2-40 a glass. The best part is that they let you taste! For the unsophisticated beer palates, these tiny little steins can save you from committing to something that may taste like straight-up molasses. There were also these tiny little bottle things they kept hanging behind the bar that you're supposed to pound on the table three times before taking it like a shot. Looks fun, but tastes like not-sweet jager (= not fun).

One of their signature snacks is their "giant pretzel," served with a cheddar ale sauce and stone ground mustard. Piping hot and deliciously chewy, you really can't go wrong. Both condiments are great accompaniments to the rock salt covering the pretzel. Honestly, it's expensive for a pretzel ($8), but it's worth a try.

I would definitely come back to try more food and more beers. The bartenders are also very accommodating, knowledgeable, and patient. There are just so many beers to choose from which makes it hard to decide. It's also a popular joint, so I just need to make sure I can get in!

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Luka's

2221 Broadway St. (& West Grand)
(510) 451-4677

"Taproom" in Oakland (like real Oakland, not Berkeley-Oakland)

So this place is trying to be a neighborhood "brasserie," according to their website... which to me means upscale bar food. That's pretty much what it is, although Mike compared it to A Cote (does not even come CLOSE though). So the experience didn't start off very well, since despite the seemingly spacious area and lack of people there, we had to wait almost 20 minutes for a table when the host told us 10. He seemed nice, but while we were waiting at the bar, the bartender wasn't the most warm or friendly. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like there was a trend with the female staff (i.e. bartender, waitresses) being cougar-ish and having plenty of attitude. Or maybe I'm just not used to the real Oakland (i.e. not right next to Berkeley, not Jack London's Square). Either way, I was kind of put off by the people there.

However, the food did come through. I'm surprised I've never heard of this place, but it was basically upscale bar food, which reminds me of that Top Chef episode. We had mussels in a cheesy chorizo-corn sauce - I've never seen mussels with that kind of sauce, but it was good. I was amazed by how plump the meat was that I took a very bad camera phone picture (left). We also had some Belgian cut fries with different dipping sauces (paprika ketchup, some kind of lime-herb aioli, and a chipotle aioli) which were ok. Another starter we shared was the seared gnocchi, which came with chanterelles and other butter-laden goodness. I thought this was the best dish of the evening, but I'm also a sucker for anything with chanterelles.

Part of the reason why we went was because I love mac n' cheese, and they have a pretty good one. A crunchy/breadcrumby top is always important to me, and Mike of course splurged and added the $2 bacon. With all that cheeseyness, bacon/fatty meat, butter, and beer (oh yeah, they have a pretty extensive beer/Belgian ale menu), I was about to pass out. But being the gluttons we are, we ordered dessert - an amaretto sabayon that came with some plums and sucky peaches. I can't really tell if they have a real pastry chef or not, because sabayon is something that takes a lot of effort to make (so much whisking!!), whereas the rest of the dessert menu was eh.

Overall, I thought this place had very satisfying food. They did have lighter dishes on the menu, but they were also a little more on the boring side. Although I was impressed with the food despite our mediocre service, I have to say that... I liked it because you cannot go wrong with bacon and cheese, you know what I mean? How can you make something with ingredients like that, and not have it taste good? I definitely enjoyed my meal, but aside from the gnocchi, everything was just overpriced bar food. Oh yeah, they have $1 oysters on Mondays. Sounds a bit sketch, but maybe they have high turnover and they aren't too bad?

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A Cote

5478 College Ave (& Taft)
(510) 655-6469

Californian/Mediterranean small plates in Oakland

Technically it's Oakland, but I still think of the Rockridge area as part of Berkeley. Regardless, this is an incredible restaurant. I don't know anyone who's dined here and left unsatisfied. Maybe I'm feeling generous, and have just been on reliving-Berkeley-glory-days overload, but I just couldn't think of anything bad enough about A Cote to give it less than 5 stars. The one thing is the hostess. She's kind of spacey - on a recent visit here, my friend and I walked in without a reservation, and after waiting a good 20 minutes, the hostess asked us if we were quiet people, or planning to cause a ruckus. I don't see the relevance in that at all, because the table she took us to was in the back in their outdoor patio area, surrounded by other tables talking loudly... whatever.

Even on a Monday night there was a crowded wait, so it would probably be good to make reservations for a more popular day of the week. The staff is great - our waitress was totally chill and friendly. They have a fairly extensive drink list (separate menus for Belgian ales and rose flights), and we decided to try some Belgian ales on tap. I don't remember what they were called, but one was blonde but pretty thick (Mike really liked that one), and the other was darker and Guinness-like, which I liked, except for the slightly metallic aftertaste. I can't imagine what the $20 bottled beer tastes like.

So this place is small plates style, and the website claims it's Mediterranean cuisine... yet it's just so Californian that I don't really see a strong Med influence. Regardless, the food is amazing.
- "tango salad" w/ hazelnuts, ricotta shavings, pluots (plum-apricot hybrid): the ricotta was sparse but salty enough to contrast the sweetness of the fruit (seasonal is always the best)
- mushroom+leek tart: basically a quiche, this was amazing. I LOVE quiche, and this was not too eggy or cheesy = perfect
- pancetta-wrapped quail w/ porcini bread pudding: the quail was ok (moist, tasted like quail...), but the bread pudding was laden with mushroom and buttery goodness. I had never really had a savory bread pudding before, but I like!
- grilled pork chop w/corn, fava beans, and this cherry sauce: juicy (Mike was in love). Alice would've liked the corn.

We were going to do a cheese course, but by this time, we were both incredibly full. However, being the dessert snob I am, I had to at least try one. I recently took a pastry class on seasonal fruit desserts, and it was coincidental that we went over clafoutis and noyau, which were both on the menu. I'm whatever about clafoutis because it's so easy to make, but noyau gelato? How often do you see that? So we got a "warm peach pie" that had that as an accompaniment, and it definitely hit the spot. The gelato was definitely spot-on for the flavor - basically tastes like almond extract (different from almonds themselves). Simple, but good stuff.

*** Edit: I went here again over the weekend for my sister's birthday, and as a party of 6, we sampled practically the entire menu! Since this restaurant changes its menu seasonally (if not more often), the only familiar item was the fries (pommes frites) which my dad really enjoyed. Since we tried so many different things, I'll just highlight the good ones.

- duck sausage (Karen's fave)
- gazpacho verde (Lucy's fave)
- fig (both green and black mission varieties) & pancetta flatbread
- chanterelles with fingerling potatoes, leeks, and truffle oil * (my fave)
- pink apple galette with mascarpone filling: a tad dry (needed more sauce), but we all liked it
- mussells (dad's fave)

* Mike began his bitterness towards truffle oil after reading this times article on what it's actually made out of. I still like it! =P

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Ajanta

1888 Solano Ave.
(510) 526-4373

Indian in Berkeley

This is an "upscale" (kind of) Indian restaurant in Berkeley's cute Solano area. By upscale, I mean that the restaurant has a nice interior and the food is cleaner (i.e. less greasy, more subtle flavors, if Indian food can be subtle).

For the food, we got chicken biriyani (rice, chicken, nuts, yogurt sauce, and other stuff), chicken samosas (mine had chicken cartilage in it! ugh), these scallop and corn fritter things (few pieces of scallop, and heavy on the fish paste), and the "madras jhinga masala," which was basically prawns with an onion sauce. The scallop fritters were gross - all you could really taste was the fried-ness. The samosas and the biriyani were OK. The prawns were REALLY good. I could just eat the onions+sauce with naan and be satisfied with that.

The beer we got was pretty rich, dark, and chocolatey - Ayinger ale from Germany... the brand was Celebrator I think. Anyway, this is a lackluster review for a whatever meal. Satisfying, but you can get Indian food just as good for cheaper. The end!

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Suppenkuche

525 Laguna St (& Hayes)
(415) 252-9289

German in Hayes Valley

I've heard a lot about this place, so finally I decided that my birthday was the right occasion to try Suppenkuche out! For those of you wondering how to pronounce it, the voice on the machine said something like "soopenkookah". Apparently it means "soup kitchen" in German.

Before the majority of the party arrived, a few of us arrived early to check out the bar. The decor was simple, with large minimally finished wooden tables and chairs, but it was appropriate for the restaurant type. Immediately I was excited about their beer selection. I love beer, but I can't say I know much about German beer (other than knowing that I like Heifeweisen). I consulted with the friendly bartender who let me have a taste of some of the five or six varieties of Heife they had on tap. I opted to go with a .5 Liter of Schneider Weiss (which was also the bartender's favorite). Jeff, on the other hand, went for the 2 Liter boot of a special Pilsner they had on tap that day. Just as a warning, the boot is pretty fragile, and they will charge your credit card $50 if you break it.

Once the entire party of 10 arrived, they were prompt about seating. If you have a party larger than 6, you should definitely call ahead to make a reservation. Since the menu had so many enticing options, we stalled for time by ordering an appetizer of potato pancakes with applesauce. As a lover of potatoes, I enjoyed these very much. It was the perfect amount of crispy on the outside, and the applesauce complemented it well. After some pondering, I ended up ordering a sauteed porkloin with mushroom sauce and spaetzle. The portion was pretty huge; I definitely couldn't finish it all. The pork was a little dry, but the mushroom sauce was flavorful. The spaetzle was a little greasy, but I enjoyed it as well. A couple of my friends ordered a cabbage roll stuffed with chicken (or sausage). I would highly recommend ordering this. The cabbage was full of flavor, and the meat was very tender. For dessert, I ordered an Apple Streudel, which was tasty enough, but nothing to write home about.

Though at first the wait staff made me nervous by mentioning that we need to be out of the restaurant by 8 to accommodate for another party, the waitress was relaxed and let us sit with another round of beers before leaving. All-in-all, it was a very pleasant and delicious experience, and I was glad to spend my 25th birthday there.

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21st Amendment

563 2nd St (and Brannan)
(415) 369-0900

American Brewery in SOMA

After my coworkers had raved about this place for the past 6 months, I finally got a chance to check it out before seeing Spoon (they were playing at popscene, which is very close). This is a great restaurant to go to before a Giants game, or after work for happy hour since they have a pretty unique beer menu. I got a very sweet pomegranate ale (not on the online list), and Jason got a tall glass of their signature watermelon wheat, slice of watermelon garnished on the lip and all. Never in question, Jason's masculinity barely wavered when he was served his girly-looking drink. Kudos. You couldn't taste the actual watermelon, but he said it was definitely sweeter (I couldn't tell).

So I came here for the jerk chicken, and I'll agree that it was good. It was moist (I almost never get chicken at restaurants because it's so normal and oftentimes dry) and had a lot of flavor... but I just don't think it was worth $15. I also expected the portions to be huge, but I thought they were normal-sized... or maybe I just eat a lot. Either way, it was good but not $15 good. Jason got fish & chips, which he said were ok... so I'm going to take that as ordinary and nothing special.

Like most breweries, this place is more about the beer and the atmosphere, so I wouldn't come with high expectations for the food. Spoon ended up being an unfortunate experience, too. They had no advance tickets so we had to wait forever in line and in the cold! We barely made it and when we finally got in, there were no openers and Spoon's set was incredibly short. Despite it being short-lived, they're still good live. I don't really remember which songs they played from their new album, but they did start with "Don't Make Me A Target."

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