Been going out lately to some nice restaurants in the East Bay. Here's what I thought anyways…
Recently went to Rivoli finally on Solano Ave in Albany. Very tasty, a little pricey. Italian/California Cuisine type restaurant. It's a small restaurant. Awesome service. The street is very cool. Nice to walk up and down.
Rockridge
- Oliveto's (upstairs) – one of the best restaurants in Oakland, Italian/California cuisine, pricey, great food, nice atmosphere. It's a special occasion place.
- Hiro's Sushi – been going here a lot. family style, laid back Japanese food, very homey; guaranteed no line, so perfect if you get stuck at Kirala and you're hungry. Up the block, Uzen is pretty good too.
- Somerset – hard to characterize the food here, I guess upscale American. The food is good, good for brunch, the decor is classy but lots of wood. A friend of a friend owns it.
- Soi4 – trendy Thai, nice place for a hot date
Wood Tavern, haven't been yet but supposed to be good. Pearl is supposed to be good. We also go to Cactus Taqueria, Citron or Acote on special occasions. We also go to Zachary's pizza when the mood hits. Haven't been yet to Pizzaiolo in Temescal. And I do like LaneSplitter's Pizza also in Temescal.
Temescal
- Pyung Chang tofu house. Not as good as My Tofu House on Geary but pretty good.
- La Calaca Loca – quick Mexican food. good chicken soup and fish tacos.
- Tanjia is this Moroccan place. Very cool with Belly Dancing, food is ok.
- Bakesale Betty's of course – oatmeal cookies, chicken sandwiches are too dangerous
Haven't been to Genova lately for sandwiches. Need to go back to Dona Tomas (fancy Mexican) to give it another chance.
Piedmont Ave
- Bay Wolf – kind of every day fancy, California cuisine. Food is good. Strangely went here twice this year.
- Jojo – my all time favorite restaurant, country French, menu doesn't change much, best steak frites – my favorite dish
- Went to Fenton's for an ice cream sundae. The first few bites were good but their ice cream kinda sucks. Tango Gelato down the block has no line and is 10x better.
Haven't been to Lotus Thai this year… :-) Cesar (spanish tapas) is so overrated, always packed. Dopo (Italian) overrated and packed too.
On the hit list to try next is:
- Art's Crab Shack, Ohgane
- And non-Oakland: Bistro Luneta (in San Mateo), Foreign Cinema (SF), Ozumo (SF) and that should do it