3rd Annual Oakland Restaurant Week: Jan 18-27, 2013

[hhc]

Oakland's during their Restaurant Week Jan 18-27, 2013. What are Chowhound's going to try?

Sounds good to me:
Miss Ollie's
Sobo Ramen
Tanjia Moroccan

Website:
http://visitoakland.org/restaurantwee...

[acetaminophen]

Plum Bar looks appealing to me. I tried to make reservations for Restaurant Week on OpenTable, but there was a notice stating that they're only taking walk-ins for Restaurant Week.

[Ruth Lafler]

Hmmm ... I made a reservation for Plum Bar for Saturday a couple of weeks ago. Maybe I should check on it.

[Robert Lauriston]

If you used the web site, the reservation is for Plum, not Plum Bar, which takes reservations only by phone and only for parties of 8 or more.

Plum's more comfortable than it used to be, they replaced the benches with chairs.

[Ruth Lafler]

I clicked on the link from the restaurant week site. It was kind of confusing.

[jaiko]

We are going to Camino with lowered expectations as we didn't care for it two years ago, but are willing to give it another try. Just happened that in matching schedules with our friends, it will be during restaurant week.

I would certainly not recommend Tanjia, which went downhill drastically last year. We've been eating Moroccan food since the original Marrakesh opened in SF's Union Sq. area. We first ate at Tanjia in June 2011 and were mildly pleased, but a Feb 2012 dinner was uniformly awful in every respect.

[nconway]

When I went to Sobo a few months ago, it was quite bad (probably the worst ramen I've ever had, to be honest). Although I've heard it has gotten better recently...? Tanjia was just OK when I went.

I've heard great things about Miss Ollie's, so I'll definitely give that a shot. B-Side is great, so I'll try to give that another visit.

[JonDough]

I went to Sobo last week and it was pretty good - probably the best ramen I have had in the East Bay (I haven't tried Ramen Shop yet). I would eat it over Katana-ya.

[calalilly]

JonDough, what did you have at Sobo?

I went there about a month ago with two other people and unfortunately we were all underwhelmed. We had the veg miso ramen, spicy miso ramen and the tonkatsu ramen. We all thought the broth lacked body flavor (it mostly tasted salty, like too much MSG) and the noodles were overcooked. Maybe we went on an off day?

I've been looking for a good ramen place in the EB for awhile so will have to check out Ramen Shop soon.

[hungree]

this is the second MSG mention for SOBO i've seen on this board. any way we can get this confirmed? it seems like it would be a dealbreaker for some... including me

[JonDough]

I had the tonkotsu with mayu. The broth wasn't great but I think the mayu helped give it some flavor. I didn't get the salty msg taste and my noodles were not overcooked. The egg was cooked really well. I hate when you get a chalky dry egg. Overall, it was good for a fix - especially since I didn't have to drive to the S. Bay or SF for it.

I will be trying Ramen Shop this weekend.

[nconway]

I went to Ramen Shop last night. ~1 hour wait at around 6:30. Their ramen options were all unconventional (meyer lemon, veggie miso, or spicey with chashu pork) -- my friend and I tried the miso and the spicey. Overall I thought they were very good; the salt-cured egg was particularly good. Not traditional ramen, but definitely worth a visit.

[Rapini]

I will probably go to Bellanico--their Restaurant Week menu looks good, and is very reasonably priced. Also considering Camino and/or Bay Wolf.

[hyperbowler]

That does look like a good menu and great value. I'm a fan of theirs and would advocate going sometime, but do realize that they do a 4-course dinner for $32 as part of their regular schtick. They're always well rounded and you feel like you're getting a full effort dessert.

I've found that Dine About Town in SF generally leads to overworked staff, mediocre offerings, and being forced into a half-assed dessert as the "third course." I did six DAT's one year, and ate enough mediocre creme brulee for a lifetime. I'm curious if the lower demand in Oakland makes it better all around. There are lots of interesting looking Oakland Restaurant week menus and/or deals. Bocanova w/ 5 courses for $30. Spice Monkey Cafe and Restaurant has "Bottomless draft house red or white wine"

Some odd ones...

Yayu, an Ethiopian place is doing a $30 prix fixe that includes a drink. I wonder what they're doing... I'm not sure I've ever spent that much at an Ethiopian place.

Tanjia normally has a 4-course menu for $25, and their $20 restaurant week menu is 2 course + beverage.

[lakemerritter]

I am definitely going to Spice Monkey--the drink offer is too good and I tend to really like their food. Simply, tasty, I dig the fountain.

Camino is also on my list. Had not even considered Bay Wolf, but seeing that I have never been it might be a good idea.

Totally hear you on the creme brulee!

[shanghaikid]

tried bellanico last year. food pretty good but they gave a smaller portion for restaurant week.

bay wolf very good. don't think i went restaurant week.