Maisa in Oakland: update report

[susancinsf]

In this thread, Robert wonders where the chef is from, and several folks praise the food and criticize the music:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6904...

I met a friend who works around the corner at Maisa for lunch yesterday so got a chance to ask: the chef is from Libya.

My report:

first of all, someone must be listening about the music, because they were playing what seemed to be North African music (at a reasonable volumne level) the entire time I was there: the same style of music I heard throughout Tunisia on my trip there. That said, the hotel lobby decor was a bit off-putting, as others said. At just before one the place was a lot emptier than it deserves to be in that neighborhood on a weekday.

The service was friendly and reasonably fast given that everything did seem to be freshly prepared.

As for the food, it was very good to excellent in addition to fresh and bright. We shared a lamb kufta platter and the sampler platter.

The kufta was nicely spicy, flavorful and juicy; my favorite taste of lunch, and I'd happily order this again. It was served with sauce and on a platter of basmati rice with some grilled vegetables (green beans, red bell peppers, onions) mixed in.

Our sample platter had good (but not great) falafel, a delicious hummus, and a large serving of cucumber and tomato salad with chunks of good feta cheese. Grilled pita was served on the side. Portions were generous. No dolma, which was a disappointment.

My friend was buying so I didn't get the exact total, but the kufta platter was about $10, the sampler about $7. There is also a kufta sandwich for $8, a Niman Ranch burger for $7 ($9 with fries), and a fried chicken sandwich. I'd also like to try the lamb soup and tangine...

Bottom line: there aren't enough North African specialties on the menu (at least yet) to make this a destination restaurant for me, but if I still worked nearby it would definitely go on my regular lunch rotation. Well worth checking out, and I hope that if other hounds go they will encourage them to add more regional specialities to the menu....

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Maisa
377 13th St, Oakland, CA 94613

[10foot5]

I haven't reported back on Maisa lately because I've been trying various other items on their menu and really haven't found anything else to be all that exciting.

The North African items are still worth trying, don't get me wrong. Especially their Friday off-menu specials.

The Mediterranean platter sometimes has dolmas, sometimes not. When they are included they are good.

Since my last post I've tried:

Maisa Caesar salad - not very good. Bell peppers in a Caesar?

Falafel wrap - could have been OK but served in a VERY gummy flour tortilla

retried the Meatball sarny - suffered from being served on a stale-ish dutch crunch roll rather than the fresh ACME ciabatta I had the first time

Penne Pesto - I asked what the best pasta on the menu was and they pointed me to the Pesto. Not much flavor.

I want to love Maisa but unfortunately hit a string of meh lunches and stopped going for a while now. Co-workers still bring back favorable reports when they go, so maybe it's just my luck.

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Maisa
377 13th St, Oakland, CA 94613

[susancinsf]

thanks for the further update.

The two non-North African or Middle Eastern dishes that interested me the most were the spaghetti and meatballs and the fried chicken sandwich. Would love to see reports on either one of those.

I have to admit that pesto and wraps in flour tortillas are both two of my least favorite foods, so I wouldn't have your luck on those anyway (I wouldn't order them). A stale bread roll would be disappointing (especiallyl since the pita was very good).