A comical international menu at Cafe 88, Oakland

[grocerytrekker]

I haven't tried Cafe 88 yet, but I picked up their menu today after a delicious frog lunch nearby (between 8th and 9th on Franklin).

I limited the “International version” of their menu to one dish per country.

Spanish pan-fried fillet of sole $12
Portuguese style chicken rice $6
Diced duck in French style $7
Sizzling Swiss steak $18
Thai style pineapple seafood rice $6.50
Singapore vermicelli $5.50
Malaysian curry lamb chop $13
Grilled pork chop in Vietnamese style $7
Mongolian beef $6.50
Japanese pork cutlet w/udon noodle soup $5.50
Russian borsch beef stew macaroni $4.50 (borsch $3)

Pan-Chinese;
Shanghai style chow mein $5.50
Szechuan sauce chicken & green $6.50
Tofu in Chiu style $7.50
Wo style fish $3
Yan Chow fried rice
Hong Kong style milk tea $2

Honorable mention: Baked minced beef spaghetti $5.50, Satay beef lo mein $6.50, spareribs with BBQ sauce $7, Pork chop bun $3.50, Abalone & chicken porridge &8, Banana split, $4,

Open 8 – 10 pm, 7 days/week. 388 9th street, #181, Oakland
(510) 844 - 0651

Either the chef needs help paring down his menu, or he could turn out to be a genius, who knows? (For the moment, I think I will pass... the borsch sounds intriguing, though.)

[Gary Soup]

Sounds like a regular ol' Hong Kong style sai chan joint to me.

[Melanie Wong]

Quite typical for this style of cafe, here's more on the Cha chaan teng (茶餐廳) genre,

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/358642

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/358489 (includes a report on Cafe 88)

[grocerytrekker]

Ah, I remember that thread.. thanks, Melanie.
Since I never eat at these places, it never sticks.

Even rworange, the OP of that thread, said on that thread, "These places have been reported for years on the SF board, but it just hadn't caught my attention before."

I find the price not reasonable enough, what do you think?

[Melanie Wong]

Noodle and rice plate pricing looks about par for the course, maybe 4 bits to a buck higher than the competition.

[Gary Soup]

According to another thread, it's related to Peony. Maybe Peony is just getting its money's worth out of its chefs.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/39127