HISONLYNESSberkeley | HISONLYNESS

Could eat Ippuku every night

hisonlyness — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:48:45 +0000

Ippuku
2130 Center Street, Berkeley
Now takes reservations

Chez Panisse 40th.

hisonlyness — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:09:17 +0000

I want to go to all of these.

First cheeseboard back

hisonlyness — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:45:37 +0000

Roma tomatoes, red onion, feta, mozz, lemon zest, cilantro, garlic oo. Ill be there Friday fasho for summer squash and corn. Duh.

Chez Panisse Cafe – Three Courses of Fresh Deliciousness

hisonlyness — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:23:18 +0000

Clinton made an appearance at Cal last week and we figured he might go to Chez Panisse for dinner afterwards, so we went. Just in case. He didn’t go but the meal was still incredible. It was my first visit to the cafe in over 3 years and it was better than I remember.

I started out with cauliflower soup with black truffle oil. No cream. It was so tasty and the texture was different than other soups. Next up, I tried the La Tercera Farm puntarelle with anchovy, garlic, and egg. Puntarelle is a type of lettuce and it’s got a pretty interesting taste and texture as well, different from other greens. The egg was also amazing. So much better than store bought.

I tried the grilled sardines and asparagus with fried new onions and salsa verde as well. The sardines were so fresh and tender. The asparagus was fried in a kind of Japanese style like tempura. It was so light and delicious I could’ve eaten a whole plate of them.

For my main, I had the Soul Food Farm chicken leg confit with Belgian endive roasted in the wood oven with little potatoes and rosemary. It was by far the best (and to my knowledge, the only) chicken confit I’ve ever had. It was extremely tender and the outside was perfectly crispy. The endive was also extraordinarily tasty and complimented the chicken perfectly. Tired of my ridiculous adjectives? Too bad.

Finally, for desert, we split the plate for two of almond-pistachio chocolates, Barhi dates, and candied Cara Cara orange peel. The Barhi dates were so incredible. I’ve never tasted anything like them. I’m still looking for them around Berkeley because I want MORE.

The new Vik’s Chaat Corner

hisonlyness — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:49:59 +0000

I used to love Vik’s back when it was in the big old warehouse with the roll-up door and the sketchy looking food counter in the back behind the mounds of imported Indian stuff. Well, things have changed a bit since then and Vik’s seems to be doin’ pretty well.

Cholle Bhature - the big puffy thing

They just moved into a new, beautiful location at 2390 4th Street in Berkeley with plenty of parking and space to eat. The restaurant takes up most of the giant space and is bright and open. The food, which is typical to the streets of India, seems better than it used to be and almost all the utensils and plates it’s served with are recyclable and/or compostable. It’s really quite impressive.

the inside of the restaurant

So far, I’ve tried the Cholle Bhature, which is a big puffy fried bread thing filled with air that you dip into the Cholle and garbanzo beans. It also comes with the spicy pickles. Must try.

Samosa Cholle

The Samosa Cholle was also delicious. It’s two samosas served with cholle that is just so tasty.

vegetarian masala dosa

The Vegetarian Masala Dosa was also delicious, as was the combo lunch plate with chicken. Definitely check Vik’s out for lunch or on the weekends when they have even more specials. STUFFED.

the combo meal with chicken

Udupi Palace in Berkeley for a Dosa

hisonlyness — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:17:17 +0000

If you’re in the mood for vegetarian India food, especially a spicy dosa, Udupi Palace is a great Berkeley option. It’s cheap, quick and it tastes like it does in India except you don’t have to run to the bathroom 10 minutes after finishing. I got the spicy masala dosa: ****/5, and a mango lassi (like a yogurt smoothy). Perfect for a quick Indian lunch. Recommended to me by SweetLime.

the lunch special comes with....

Masala Dosas