Tandoori Nite

20150130:
Today I came here with two of my friends for the all-you-can-eat lunch.

Unfortunately, from my point of view, the experience was mediocre.

As far as the food went, the only item I enjoyed was the fried fish. Otherwise, the remainder of the food was quite disappointing.

Aside from the food, I was also disheartened by the time it took for naan to come out. I would have thought that naan just gets made in a steady manner at an Indian restaurant with an all-you-can-eat lunch option.

Finally, before leaving I had a little of the rice pudding. While I was initially excited for it, my excitement was extinguished by the pudding's watery consistency.

Although I don't have a rating system, if I did, then Tandoori Nite's buffet would only get two stars - perhaps their kitchen-prepared dishes are better. 2:04PM PT

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Tandoori Nite

Relevant Links:
The Tandoori Nite Website
Tandoori Nite - Downtown Berkeley - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)

Belli Osteria

-- CLOSED --

20150128:
My friend and I went to Belli Osteria and I got pappardelle with wine-braised lamb cheeks & English peas au jus.

Pappardelle with wine-braised lamb cheeks & English peas au jus (20150128)

The lamb was soft and delicious. The pappardelle with the sauce was also tasty. The dish reminded me of beef stroganoff.

Of course, the dish also had a wonderful presentation. I love it. 4:14PM PT

[20150217 Edit]

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20150213:
Today my friend and I returned to Belli Osteria.

Bread - the waiter is more than happy to bring more.

Upon sitting, I tried to look up what I had previously ordered, but it was a bit of a hassle since this post did not yet exist. As such, I just looked down the menu and decided to order the pappardelle with red wine & cacao braised wild boar. In hindsight, I was lucky that the restaurant has a rotating menu.

Salt for eating with bread.

In any case, I wrote the following: "I find the dish to be delicious. The meat is tender. I especially liked the fresh ground pepper. For the most part, the pappardelle was cooked al dente - maybe slightly over - and was to my liking." 1:57PM PT

Lamb ravioli in pink sauce. (20150220)

[20150217 Edit]

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20150220:
This ravioli was delicious. Unfortunately there were only five pieces. Fortunately, I was able to use some bread to finish up all the sauce.

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20150227:
As I approached the restaurant, I noticed a sign for potato gnocchi with Tuscan sausage & hen of the woods mushrooms.

Espresso (20150227)

However, after sitting, my friend and I were informed that there was no gnocchi, but the dish could be ordered with spaghetti in place of the gnocchi. Interested in the Tuscan sausage, I decided to order the spaghetti with tuscan sausage & hen of the woods mushrooms.

Spaghetti with Tuscan sausage & hen of the woods mushrooms (20150227)

The sauce was creamy and flavorful. In addition, I enjoyed how it stuck to the spaghetti and I'm actually unsure if I would have enjoyed the same dish with the potato gnocchi. Finally the Tuscan sausage, which comes in ground up bits, was also good. 6:51PM PT

[20150308 Edit]

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20150304:
Today I deviated from getting a pasta dish and instead got a sandwich. In an attempt to eat it "normally", I picked it up with my hands and took a bite.

Grilled rib eye steak sandwich with roasted bell peppers, arugula & smoky aioli. (20150304)

Unfortunately, medium rare steak neither tears easily nor stays between the bread like a patty would, and so I ate the rest of the sandwich with a fork and knife.

The steak was pretty good. While I wasn't fond of the arugula (it had a strange taste and texture), I liked the aioli. 1:15PM PT

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Belli Osteria

Pappardelle with red wine & cacao braised wild boar. (20150213) The waiter has just ground fresh pepper over the top.

Relevant Links:
Belli Osteria Website*
Belli Osteria - Downtown Berkeley - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)
*No longer exists

Lush Gelato

20150120:
There was a big power outage today which our workspace as well as other businesses stretched out along an entire block. Unable to work without an internet connection, my coworker and I decided to go look for some dessert. Unfortunately, many establishments had temporarily closed due to the lack of power.

Eventually walking far enough north to where power had resumed, we decided to have some gelato. While most flavors were probably discarded, some flavors remained.

I wrote: "Pomegranate and cinnamon. The texture of the pomegranate reminds me of a sorbet. The cinnamon initially tastes like Big Red chewing gum. However, this taste eventually subsides. Despite being partially melted, I thought it tasted good." 3:30PM PT

I look forward to coming back and trying gelato from Lush when the gelato is more solid.

[20150214]

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Lush Gelato

Relevant Links:
Lush Gelato Website
Lush Gelato - Gourmet Ghetto - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)

Gecko Gecko

20150120:
Today Damien and I decided to try out Gecko Gecko.

After looking at the menu, I decided to order a pineapple duck curry. The curry was a bit spicy - enough to make my nose run. The grapes were nice and the pineapple was good. Unfortunately, the dish was occasionally tingly (some ingredient contains a protein that causes a slight, local allergic reaction).

Overall, the portion was small and I got the impression that the restaurant establishes itself as being fancy and overpriced (relative to the portion and quality).

As a fan of beer, I was a bit upset that they forgot to put my beer order in, especially after being carded!

Finally, I should mention that this restaurant does not have pad see ew on the menu.

All things under consideration, I will not be coming back to Gecko Gecko. 1:47PM PT

Menu Description:
pineapple duck curry house-roasted duck breast meat simmered in rich & spicy red curry, with pineapple & bell pepper, served with jasmine rice & greens 12.50

[20150213 Edit]

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Gecko Gecko - Thai California Eatery

Relevant Links:
Gecko Gecko - Thai California Eatery
Gecko Gecko Thai California Eatery - Downtown Berkeley - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)

Seasons of Japan

20150115:
Of this sushi, both the rice and avocado are a bit harder than average.

On the other hand, the bowl of chicken was tasty. In more detail, the sauce was sweet, but the overall bowl was plain boring. 1:52PM PT

Whether it was the service, the restaurant design, or the food quality, I received a negative vibe from this establishment and would be reserved about coming here again.

[20150212 Edit]

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Seasons of Japan

Relevant Links:
Seasons of Japan
Seasons of Japan - Downtown Berkeley - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)

Sushi Ko

20150114:
The chicken here had delicious sweet sauce.

The salmon texture was good, though the salmon and sashimi pieces were small.

In contrast, there was a good portion of chicken.

In general, Sushi Ko reminded me of a Japanese & Korean restaurant in Baltimore called Niwana. At Niwana, I enjoyed the bento boxes and, on occasion, I would get the sushi, but only because I craved it and there were no other sushi places nearby.

There are, however, many other sushi places in the Downtown Berkeley area and while I might return to Sushi Ko for the bento boxes, I probably wouldn't come back for the sushi. 20150115 1:23AM PT

[20150114][20170114 Edit]

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Sushi Ko

Relevant Links:
Sushi Ko - Downtown Berkeley - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)

Asha Tea House

20150113:
Today my friend Marcus invited me to come try a tea place he knows called Asha Tea House. Taking his recommendation, I decided to try the Artisan Tea of the Month: Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte. Giving it a whiff, I found it had a lovely smell. Eventually taking a sip, I found it also tasted great. I could really taste the pumpkin in it. Artisan. 3:40PM PT

Matcha Latte

[20150211]

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20150115:
Today Marcus and I returned to Asha Tea House and I ordered a Matcha Latte. It has the bitterness of green tea, but otherwise it's pretty tasty - especially if you like green tea. 3:40PM PT

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Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte

Asha Tea House

Relevant Links:
Asha Tea House Website
Asha Tea House - Downtown Berkeley - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)

Isshin Ramen House

20150110:
After rock climbing today I went inside the Pacific East Mall to look for some food to eat. After looking at the menu, I decided to order a bowl of black tonkotsu and a chicken chashu bowl.

However, the server pointed out that I can just get a ramen and rice bowl combo. 7:11PM PT

When the food arrived, I cautiously ate the chicken chashu which was covered in sesame seeds. Fortunately, they seemed innocuous. The chicken chashu bowl tasted good.

Moving onto the ramen, I like the black color of the noodle. As for the taste, I enjoyed the broth. Unfortunately, the quantity of broth, relative to the quantity of noodle, was lacking.

There was a lot of green onion. What are these black things? Seaweed maybe? They're tasty.

The combo was nice and filling. 7:21PM PT

Okay, maybe I ordered too much. The egg has a sauce in it? There's a salty taste. Overall, the black tonkotsu tastes pretty good. The noodle's firmness was such that the noodle bent, but was not quite soft to the bite. If you like your noodle harder or softer, then you should probably ask. 7:31PM PT

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Isshin Ramen House

Relevant Links:
Isshin Ramen - Richmond, CA (Yelp.com)

BUILD Pizzeria

-- CLOSED --

20150105:
So my friend Damien said this place had a great lunch deal where you can build a pizza with as many toppings as you want for a reasonable fixed price. [20150202 Edit: This deal is no longer available.]

(20150105)

In addition to the basic hand-pulled mozzarella and rossa sauce, I also got wood fired mushrooms, wood fired red peppers, artichoke hearts*, sun-dried tomatoes*, Milan pepperoni*, and prosciutto di Parma. Note that, as I learned it should be on 20141113, the prosciutto di Parma is added after the pizza is baked.

While the crust was a little burnt, I thought the pizza was delicious and I'm happy with the prosciutto.

*I'm not sure I added these three, but I love sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts so it would be expected of me to add them and there are round, red pieces of meat in the picture.

[20150201]

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20150108:
As before, I got the hand-pulled mozzarella and rossa sauce for the pizza's base. On top of this I also added ricotta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, pineapple*, prosciutto di Parma, and a fresh egg.

(20150108)

When asking for a fresh egg, the employee will crack an egg open over the center of the pizza. One could instead ask for a fresh-peeled boiled egg.

I thought the ricotta cheese was good choice and the fresh egg was a bit runny, but delicious. Overall, I thought the toppings were good picks, that is, they tasted good together. 2:04PM PT

*In my notes I wrote "pineapple again," suggesting that I also got pineapple on my first pizza as well.

[20150202]

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20150123:
Today my friend and I came here hoping to get more delicious pizza, but the restaurant more or less reverted to a pay per topping pricing. Upset and unwilling to accept this change, we left and got food elsewhere (I went to Phil's Sliders).

[20150202]

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BUILD Pizzeria

Relevant Links:
BUILD Pizzeria Website*
BUILD Pizzeria - Downtown Berkeley - Berkeley, CA (Yelp.com)
*Restaurant Closed