Doña Tomás - 5004 Telegraph Ave

Our project was horribly stalled for several months due to a variety of circumstances, including a bizarrely busy summer packed with travel and a studied avoidance of the next place on our list - a mediocre pizza joint followed by a fried fish joint.

We'd already had our fill of disgusting fried fish at Louisiana Fish & Chips, and even thinking about this place just made us wince. So sorry, other fish place - LFC ruined us.

After realizing that we'd put the project on hold for waaaay too long because we were both so unmotivated to eat crappy food, we broke our own rule and skipped those two places that were the barrier between us and Doña Tomás. And so it is that we finally got to Doña Tomás, which my Parter in Chow has enjoyed on a previous occasion and I've been to so many times I've lost count.

In a nutshell: we both love Doña Tomás. They have awesome drinks and absolutely the best carnitas you will ever have, hands down. And I own the cookbook, so paying $4 for camote (sweet potatoes) isn't something I absolutely have to do. But oh, they're just so good at the actual restaurant. And you can get them for like a buck cheaper at their sister taqueria Tacubaya, which is also awesome but nowhere near Telegraph Avenue and, therefore, a review for another time.

Reviews on Yelp will complain about the pricing. I don't mind the pricing much - sure, I wish it was cheaper. I also wish that the Patriot Act never happened and that the San Mateo bridge didn't have a backup every freaking day. But their ingredients are mostly organic and locally sourced, and I doubt their rent is cheap in spite of the occasional Lady of the Night that might liven up the "transitional" Temescal neighborhood in the evening hours.

My guess is that so many people have experience with Mexican street food and taquerias that the concept of fancy, expensive Mexican food annoys them. They feel entitled to a burrito the size of a hubcap for $3. This however is Oaxacan food, and it's high-end dining at that. So stop complaining and realize that the crappy pizza from the place we skipped isn't Dopo or Pizzaiolo either. And if you really want to save money, just skip the drinks. (But that'd be a shame, because there's no crappy tequila and the lime juice is fresh.)

What we've ordered: carnitas (amazing), carne asada (great), various fish dishes, margaritas, tequila lemonade (PIC's favorite), chile rellenos with various fillings, pozole (great), halibut cheeks (awesome)
Other things on the plate: camote, vegetable pudding (these are always delicious), beans, rice, grilled corn (mmm)
Service: local hipsters, mostly nice but occasionally hurried
Atmo: Sparse, vaguely Mexican hacienda - wood floors, rough-hewn chairs and tables in the front room. Bar is painted all red but is just as loud and smells like a Jamba Juice due to all the fresh squeezing of citrus. Back patio is awesome in the summer.
Crowd: the hills come down and the 'hood comes in - it's laid back, loud and diverse
Spent: generally spend around $80+ with 2 people, including drinks
Overall rating: 4.5 silver sporks

With all the gushing you'd think the big DT would get 5 sporks. But occasionally, there's something ordered that's just kinda blah. It's usually an appetizer, but still - $12 for blah feels like a bummer. Most recently it was a pumpkin quesadilla with goat cheese - something about the goat cheese and the squash just didn't work. The short ribs were also just OK, and kinda small. However, the other appetizer (recommended by the waitress) was unexpectedly fantastic. I don't even remember what it was, but damn - it was good.

The big standouts on the menu for me: carnitas, camote, whatever vegetable pudding they're making. That last one is filled with butter and cream and is most decidedly not good for you, but it is just delicious.

The pozole is fantastic, and especially so if you're sick. Mmm.

One thing to try: a $15 shot of Paradiso. Yes, it's really $15. No, you don't shoot it. You sip it after a meal the way you'd sip a fine port or brandy. And yes - it's worth it. A friend calls this stuff "liquid heroin," and if you're celebrating it's worth trying once.

The back patio in the summer is great, though I once saw a rat the size of the burritos people expect for $3 climbing up the wall of ivy. Since rats are all over Oakland and live in ivy and trees, this didn't bother me too much. He kept to himself and didn't run over to steal my food, which made me happy.

So, to sum up: eat here. Be prepared to spend more than you've ever spent on Mexican food unless you've eaten at Rick Bayless' restaurants. And enjoy.

Bakesale Betty's - 5098 Telegraph Ave

This wasn't going to be a part of the Eating Up Telegraph project due to closing at 7 and, thus, not really being a dinner destination, but it's just so damn good I couldn't help including it. And may the gushing begin...

Sweet Jesus, I thank you for bringing this establishment into the world. Good God, how did I live this long without that Fried Chicken Sandwich being just down the street?

I love this place. And I'm not particularly into pastry or baked goods, but my God I will eat them here.

The reason I came to Betty's was to try the Fried Chicken Sandwich. It's a huge sandwich double-stacked with perfectly crispy, seasoned fried chicken breasts on a fresh-baked roll, and the only other ingredient is a delicious, crunchy spicy cabbage slaw that is mercifully mayonnaise free.

This sandwich is awesome. In fact, I just ate one. Mmmmmmm.

Betty's has the best apple pie I have ever had in my life, and I even eat the crust. Normally I hate crust; not her crust. Another standout is the date cake with delicous rum butter sauce that you heat up and dump over it. We found ourselves eating this sauce with a spoon, and I'm not ashamed of it.

Other standouts: the ginger cookies, the scones, and the banana bread.

Everything's great here, with a single exception: if you like traditional egg salad, you might not like this one: there's no mayonnaise (woot for mayo-haters like me) and it's simply a ton of fresh eggs and arugula. I personally like this sandwich, but I can't imagine bothering when a fried chicken sandwich is there.

What we've ordered: apple pie, pecan pie, lemon-curant scones, apricot almond scones, pear ginger scones, date cake with butter rum sauce, fried chicken sandwich, egg sandwich, ginger cookie, blueberry pie
Other things they've given us to try: lemon ices, banana bread, strawberry shortcake, brownies
Service: super friendly local hipsters
Atmo: nouveau urban hipster bake shop - the tables are made out of ironing boards
Crowd: The neighborhood + the in-the-know-non-neighborhood
Spent: it varies - we always leave with something free, so there's that
Overall rating: 5 enthusiastic sporks

Extra bonus points for using the chicken and the egg in the 2 sandwiches offered...

At some point I will try the chicken pot pie, and I'm guessing I'll rave about that too.

The other nice thing about Betty's is the vast amounts of free food handed out by the ever-cheery staff. I got an entire free pie at Christmas, and today we went in for a sandwich and some scones and walked out with a slice of banana bread, 2 lemon ices and a strawberry shortcake.

And oh Lord, that strawberry shortcake was good. And another thing I don't generally eat. The banana bread isn't greasy, and was so good we actually bought a whole loaf.

So beware: do not go to this place if you're dieting. Somehow, you always leave with more than you planned to get.

Betty also gets extra bonus points for wearing a bright blue wig and her baby in a sling around the joint. It's nice to see a funky young gal make a go at something she loves to do, and it's clear that everything Betty's offers is a house specialty.

So yes, I hella heart Bakesale Betty's. May she do this for the forseeable future so that I might never go without a Fried Chicken Sandwich.

Marc 49 - 4915 Telegraph - Oakland, CA

Marc 49 is a new wine bar that cropped up on Telegraph, in the little stretch that houses Tanjia, Pico Paco and La Val's.

It was mid-week when my Partner in Chow and I hit this place, and we weren't looking to drink. However, we decided that the food menu was substantive enough for dinner and we weren't really in the mood for pizza anyway (La Val's is next on our list). So Marc 49 was actually a happy surprise, sparing us what we fear is most likely sub-par pizza. We shall see...

The interior of this place is nice and clean, with cool square leather couches at the interior. But the big bonus is the patio out back, which has enough heaters to keep everyone warm and is nice and homey.

At some point we'll return to sample the wine; this review is going to be based on the food.

The menu is small and unfussy, and it's way cheaper than the alternative wine bars in the area: A Cote and Franklin Square. They have a couple appetizers and a small selection of salads, panini, bruschetta. Dessert comes in 2 flavors of chocolate - chocolate mousse with whipped cream, or a brownie with white chocolate mousse. Most things on the menu were $6 or $7, with the sandwich/salad combo coming in at $10.

What we ordered: Tomato bruschetta, brie and apple panini with spinach salad, ham & assorted charcuterie yumminess panini with candied walnut & blueberry salad, fig & spice tea (me), black tea (PIC)
Service: super friendly and attentive
Atmo: laid back hip wine bar
Crowd: Mixed
Spent: Around $30
Overall rating: 4 sporks

Warning: you should not come here if you're on the Atkins diet. The things worth ordering on the menu are either made of booze or served on bread.

The bruschetta was a classic tomato and basil bruschetta, and it was delicious. It was also served on fresh bread that didn't cut our mouths up as though we'd been speed-eating Fruit Loops with no milk, which made us both very happy. The portion was big - 3 large pieces - and we realized that our individual sandwich/salad combos might end up being too much food.

The panini came out hot and charred off a panini grill. This bread was also really good - they don't make it there, but whoever's making it is doing a good job. The brie and apple one was OK - the interesting part was the candied walnuts, which are clearly homemade and very candied. This was a good sandwich, if you like melted brie (I don't, really).

The ham sandwich was fantastic - the meat is sliced super duper thin, and the cheese gooed up to make a perfect melty ham 'n cheese sandwich. We can't remember what other meats are in this sandwich, and we don't care. Mmm mmm good.

The salads were slightly overdressed for my taste, but the flavors were good and spending $10 for a full sandwich and side salad was a nice change from the usual wine bar experience. Not that the food is on par with A Cote, but it's nice to have the option to go for something less fancy and way cheaper.

One major standout was the tea. It comes in cool pot/cups and the flavors are awesome. Extra thumbs up to Marc 49 for giving quality drink options to the non-drinkers.

So we were very pleased to find and welcome Marc 49 to the neighborhood, and we'll definitely be back to have some wine and dessert.

Pico Paco taqueria - 4911 Telegraph Ave

Pico Paco is a hole-in-the-wall next to New HoHo's Chinese, and the fact that I'm someone who grew up in L.A. eating with a Partner-in-Chow who lived in San Diego means that we're awfully picky about Mexican food. Things like good salsa (me) and horchata (PIC - I hate horchata and think it tastes like bubble gum milk laced with cinnamon) are important to us, and good chile verde is something that I personally take seriously at any Mexican foodslinger - whether it's a taco truck or Sonora Cafe.

Pico Paco started off on the wrong foot when the gal at the counter told me that they hadn't made chile verde that day. Dammit. My go-to order when reviewing a taqueria is: one carne asada taco, on chile verde taco, one chicken taco.

PIC is also very particular about her Mexican food order. This is what she wants in her burrito at any truck, taqueria or any place that isn't a high-end foodie joint:

Beans (preferably refried, whole pintos are a second choice, black beans come in third)
Rice
Sour Cream
Cheese
Jalapenos

That's it. No, really. No, don't put any salsa in it - she hates cilantro. Occasionally some lettuce will join the lineup, but God forbid someone gets creative and throws in anything that involves cilantro or tomatoes in any way. Yes, that includes guac - just stick with the 5 ingredients and nobody gets hurt.

What we ordered: The PIC Burrito (with refried beans), 1 carne asada taco, 2 chicken tacos - one braised, one roasted, a side of whole pinto beans, horchata, beer, bottled water
Service: friendly enough
Atmo: hole-in-the-wall perhaps not-so-clean taqueria with a blessed lack of the usual awful fluorescent lighting.
Crowd: A regular walked in while we were there, but it was the off-hours. This is a neighborhood joint.
Spent: This place is pretty cheap - but not as cheap as taquerias in Mexican neighborhoods - tacos were around $2 and we spent around $20 including the drinks
Overall rating: 3.5 sporks

The PIC gave her burrito 4 sporks, but the meat quality of the carne asada had something to be desired so I'm only giving a 3 with the tacos.

The chicken tacos were both good - I preferred the roasted one. These tortillas are larger than the usual wee taqueria-type shells, which was fine. I prefer the smaller fresher ones, but if you're not making your own I'm already neutral as to your tortillas.

The salsa was just OK, which also merits the 3. The beans were beans - not much to say there.

The PIC burrito was, however, really good. It can be hard for certain establishments to balance the 5 meatless ingredients - sometimes this burrito arrives with way too much rice, or the cream is all glopped in one section, or all the ingredients are layered as though it were a dip so that it's a huge bite of cheese, then a huge bite of beans...

Pico Paco managed to balance this vegetarian burrito well - not too gloopy, and the beans had great flavor. The horchata was also quite good, according to my PIC, and I tried it to find that the usual Pepto-Bismol flavor was minimized. Not that I wanted to drink any more than a sip, but it wasn't completely awful.

Would we go back here? Yes - for the burrito. The reality is that with La Calaca Loca around the corner (organic meat and delicious tortilla soup, plus margaritas with soju) we'd probably pick up the PIC burrito here and then travel to 52nd to get me tacos or tortilla soup.

New Ho Ho's Chinese - 4871 Telegraph Ave

After Tanjia, my PIC and I were really excited to finally, at long last, be at Dona Tomas.

Problem is that we weren't there yet. There's a bank of little hole-in-the-walls we'd never noticed at the 48th block of Telegraph, and so we resigned ourselves to practicing self-discipline and getting them over with so that when we get to the big DT we can feel good about it.

The first of these hole-in-the-walls is New HoHo's Chinese restaurant. The name made us laugh; the view of the interior made us want to run straight away to Dona Tomas. However, we bravely entered and figured that it couldn't be worse than Louisiana Fish 'n Chips. Seriously.

What we ordered: Hot and Sour soup, mu shu tofu, egg rolls, something we can't remember - I think it was veggie fried rice.
Service: overtly friendly and enthusiastic. I thought the counter lady might invite me home for tea and fortune cookies. This might freak some people out; we liked her.
Atmo: Chinese prison cafeteria. With an overly-friendly lunchlady and lots of Chinese newspapers to read.
Crowd: What crowd?
Spent: This place is cheap - it was around $20
Overall rating: 2.5 sporks

The weird thing about New HoHo's is that they have a counter buffet-type display where you can get pre-prepared food as well as a menu. They also mention dry-fried ribs, which we almost ordered but just weren't in the mood for the KFC flavor.

The buffet scared us and so did the thought of the meat source, so we went vegetarian. I have to say, the food wasn't as bad as we thought it would be and actually had some good points. The hot 'n sour soup was actually sour, which has been a problem with other Chinese establishments on Telegraph. The egg rolls were the usual deep fried version and had a really thick wrapper.

The MuShu tofu was quite good - they made it to order and it wasn't particularly greasy. I can't remember the other entree, but I think I remember not being overwhelmed with it. Since we can't remember, we're settling on a 2.5 given that the cleanliness and atmo have something to be desired - being afraid to eat somewhere due to the visuals has to discount a restaurant rating no matter how good the food is (and in this case, it was just OK).

Would I go back here? Unlikely - Yang Chow is by far my favorite delivery Chinese in the area. But if it's in walking distance to your house and you're broke and hung over, go for it. Just order smart - the buffet looks scary. Asking for "light oil" might also be a good idea here.

Lanesplitter, 4799 Telegraph Ave.

I don't really like pizza; PIC loves pizza. Occasionally, I will acquiesce to eating Zachary's... but when I can help it I don't eat pizza.

Lanesplitter changed all that. I love this pizza. And I don't really know why, exactly.

The crusts are super thin and a wonderful blend of crisp and chewy, and they don't go overboard on the cheese. So there's two reasons. Good microbrews on tap are another reason to enjoy eating there, as are the art installations and laid-back vibe. Oh, and fresh basil is always nice to find.

Lanesplitter is kind of the Zeitgeist crowd. If that crowd traded the black clothing for vintage plaid or whatever thrift-store-chic item is less San Francisco tragic hipster. The Oakland brand of hipster is just slightly less self-conscious (and aggrandizing) about it...wait, I just had a vision of Mama Buzz and realized that this may not be entirely true... hmm.

What we've ordered (we'll combine both trips): Thin and thick crusts, olive and mushroom (a fave), herbivore, garbage - between the 2 of us, much pizza has been consumed here.
Service: friendly, sometimes. forgetful, sometimes. vaguely disinterested, hurried and occasionally surly when doing takeout. Overall we've had positive experiences with service here when sitting.
Atmo: Groovy loft-like warehouse meets bike garage
Crowd: Hipster 'hood dwellers, bike messengers, the occasional family
Spent: we generally spend around $25 what with the beers and all
Overall rating: 4.5 sporks

This is great pizza if you obey some simple tips:

1) Eat in and do a 7/10 split if you'd like some beer. It's cheaper and 2 pieces of pizza are filling enough for most people - they're big, if thin.
2) Don't get extra sauce. It makes the crust a bit soggy.
3) Takeout can take forever, and whoever answers the phone needs some Valium. If you want takeout in a hurry from someone who actually wants to take your order, you might want to call elsewhere.
4) Be wary of ordering too many extra veggies for the same reason as #2, and because they really add up in price.
5) Bring your vegan friends and be amazed as they can actually eat "Notta Ricotta" and get something besides bread with tomato sauce at a pizza joint.
6) Be prepared to wait on a weekend night at dinner time.
7) Don't order the thick crust. If you want thick crust, go to Zachary's.
8) Don't wear a tuxedo. Do wear an ironic and authentic vintage tuxedo t-shirt.

In short: Good pizza is indeed had to find, and Lanesplitter definitely fits the bill.

Tanjia - 4905 Telegraph Ave

We'd been to Tanjia before this excursion, and wondered if we enjoyed it as much as we remembered or whether it might have been the belly dancing...

Tanja is a Moroccan restaurant, and has basically 2 per-person price structure for a prie fixe meal. We like the more expensive side of the menu because of this crazy chicken pie that comes in the middle. If the thought of powdered chicken and sugar sounds vaguely frightening, you have to try this pie. But I'm skipping ahead.

What we ordered: The expensive side of the menu (this is like $2 more). First trip: chicken with prunes and lamb on skewers. Second trip: chicken on skewers and lamb with prunes. Moroccan white wine and a French beer.
What came in the service: fresh sweetish white bread, plate of Moroccan salads (various pickled and non-pickled veggies), lentil soup, bizarre phyllo dough minced chicken pie with powdered sugar and cinnamon on top, the main meat you ordered with couscous, mint tea, fruit and fried banana.
Service: in the theme of the place - traditional Moroccan. I guess. Neither I nor my PIC have been to Morocco, but let's just say the servers aren't inked twentysomething hipsters in low-rider jeans and a-symmetrical haircuts.
Atmo: Moroccan - tent, belly dancers and servers in ethnic garb
Crowd: mixed
Spent: around $50.00 (with tip)
Overall rating: 4 sporks, mostly for the chicken pie + being able to make lamb and chicken well + belly dancers

The interesting: being inside Tanjia gives one the impression of being in a luxurious circus tent. It's also fun to sit on pillows and watch belly dancing, so overall the atmo is part of the Tanjia experience. The tapestries are a little tired these days, but somehow this didn't bother us.

The first thing they bring you is an groovy water urn and some towels. I wasn't sure what this was about, but somehow avoided embarrassment (rare) by resisting the urge to put my glass out when the dude started pouring. Turns out he was washing my hands for me. He then left us with fluffy white towels, which are nice to have during the meal seeing as how there's a complete lack of silverware. (Though they will bring it upon request.)

The courses build, and the very best thing about all of them is the chicken pie. You can also get other kinds of pies, but the chicken one was so good the first time we wouldn't dream of switching. Somehow the combo of phyllo, cinnamon, powdered sugar and chicken comes together to create a unique and utterly delicious combo. I was rather afeared of this pie on first glance - powdered sugar and chicken not being a mix that sounded appetizing - but one bite made me a convert. The bread is also surprisingly good - it's chewy and a little sweet, and they make it there.

These folks really know their meat. The first time I ordered chicken with prunes, and it was tender and just delicious. My PIC loved the lamb skewers; somehow Tanjia manages to do skewers without turning the lamb into dog food. Second trip, the lamb with prunes was of a cut that we'd never seen before (vertebrae?), but the meat was falling off the bones and PIC was having a little lambgasm. The chicken skewers were well-seasoned and great as well.

The cous cous was a little overcooked the second time we were there, but I'll forgive them. We were too late for belly dancing on this trip, but were entertained by the sudden, staggering appearance of a local bar patron who stumbled in and tried to steal a glass of water. (She was, as she made clear when the waitress tried to prevent this odd theft, very thirsty.) After some bellowing and a nice glass of water provided by the staff, she stumbled back out the door with and said "Thank you" in Chinese to our Asian waitress. Who isn't Chinese but appreciated the gesture.

In any case, we really like this place and only wish that we could just go in for the chicken pie. I'd also make sure to go in time to see the belly dancers again - that really adds to the whole experience.

Pyung Chang Tofu House - 4701 Telegraph Ave - 4.14.08

This place is really popular with the folks on Yelp. We didn't know this before we went - in fact, my Partner in Chow had already decided that there was to be no more Korean food on this journey, period.

However, I had a cold. And the Korean places in Koryo Plaza were an obvious skip, and this wasn't obviously Korean. Tofu could be anything, right?
I didn't realize it was Korean - the last place with Korean writing turned out to be Vietnamese.

And it smelled good from the outside, and there was rock star parking. And my PIC was on the phone and not paying close attention, so I was in and seated with barley tea before either of us realized that it was Korean.

Since the tea was out, we were stuck. And looking around I began to think that this place might actually be good. It was a Monday night, and there was a decent crowd. The sizzling stonewear serving bowls were impressive and so were the rustic, rough-hewn tree-trunk tables. And there was a nice mix of actual Korean people and neighborhood hipsters, leading me to believe that most people had been here before and were returning on purpose. All good signs.

One thing that we have discovered about Korean food: it is awfully difficult to be a vegetarian in a Korean restaurant. Seriously. Most the tofu dishes contained beef or seafood, and the one that didn't contained seaweed. Which isn't meat, but is on the "I hate it" list for PIC. Fortunately, she was able to order that without the seaweed.

I was also happy to find a chicken soup on the menu, since the reason I sat down was the sight of bowls of soupy-looking stuff and I had a nasty cold. It was a whole chicken for the whopping price of $13.99, and it was stuffed with ginseng. This sounded like a good coldbuster.

What we ordered: vegetarian tofu in sizzling pot thing, whole stewed chicken soup, large OB beer (to kill the cold germs)
Service: friendly and relaxed
Atmo: bad lighting, cool tables
Crowd: the neighborhood + local Koreans
Spent: around $30.00 (with tip)
Overall rating: 3.5 sporks

This place has the honor of reversing PIC's "I can't eat Korean food" stance. She really liked her tofu pot, which was brought out in molten bubbling form and didn't contain the hated seaweed. The tofu had great texture, the flavors were good, and nothing tasted fishy.

The little plates of stuff were interesting. We still don't know whether these are meant to be appetizers or condiments, but we tried them all. There was a bizarre parsley and tofu mixture that I for some reason liked, and we both like mung bean sprouts. These ones were a bit too marinated for my taste, but the dogs were thrilled when we brought the leftovers home.

I've recently discovered that these little plates are called banchans. The Kim Chee actually went down as the best Kim Chee we've had, but overall the banchans are better at Sam Won.

My chicken soup was exactly what I needed. Yes, I did have to do a lot of dissection - I loathe chicken skin and obviously one has to remove the bones and weird dark pieces and connective tissue and such. But I had a groovy little discard plate to put all this nonsense and we weren't in a hurry. The chicken was stuffed with rice, and I put extra rice into my soup.

The rice came sizzling in a clay pot and the waitress scooped it out for us. This left a film of charring rice on the sides, and when I made a move to eat it she hurried over and extracted it for me with a knife. (Thank you, nice lady.) In Ecuador, they call this residue "cocolon" and I've always loved it - it kind of tastes like popcorn. Mmm.

So I was perfectly content with three different consistencies of rice, lots of groovy banchans and a bubbling pot of chicken soup that I hoped would make me well. The ginseng tasted like ginseng - kind of mushy and bitter, but not so overwhelming that it ruined the soup. I ate it because I assume it's good for me, since it tastes medicinal. I wouldn't use it as a flavor element, but then again I'm not Korean.

Overall, we enjoyed this place a lot more than we thought we were going to, i.e. as my PIC was making defeated "maybe I'll just get rice" statements.

Oh - unlike every other Korean place we've tried, this place actually has windows. Go figure.

Still not entirely understanding Korean food, it seems that they're pften divided between BBQ places and "food served in a bowl" places. This is one of the "food served in a bowl" places, but unlike Seoul Gum Tang there's a variety of stuff on plates too.

So if you like Korean food, eat here and tell us what you think. It's kind of hard to rate Korean restaurants being that this project is our intro to Korean food, but hey. At least we're not biased.

KangNam Pho House - 4419 Telegraph Ave - 4.2.08

Since the Partner in Chow had at this point already decided that she didn't like Korean food, the Korean writing on the front of this brightly-lit Pho house scared her. One look at the menu and she was relieved to find that this seemed to be Vietnamese food.

I was feeling under the weather this day, so chicken Pho was the go-to dish. Admittedly, I'm not hugely familiar with Pho, and we didn't do the beef. So we'll review this as 2 white girls not enormously familiar with Pho or Vietnamese food (we've both eaten it previously, but not often).

What we ordered: tofu appetizer, Chicken Pho (Pho Ga), sauteed tofu & vegetable entree (we can't remember the name), shredded veggie salad with fried onions on top.
Service: very friendly - the Mom of the Mom 'n Pop
Atmo: nothing fancy, but not depressing and awful - the neighborhood joint
Crowd: Various Asian-speakers, the neighborood
Spent: around $30.00
Overall rating: 4.5 sporks

This place gets 4.5 sporks for having really fresh food in huge portions at incredibly really cheap prices and a nice Mom 'n Pop vibe.

The tofu appetizer was good - sort of the Korean-cooked-Vietnamese version of agedashi tofu. It had dipping sauces that we dug, but I liked dipping it in the dressing from the salad.

The shredded vegetable salad was delicious - sweet citrus dressing and fresh Durkee-style onions on top. It was fresh-tasting and we finished the whole thing.

I don't know if the Pho was the best Pho in the world, not having had chicken Pho previously. I can say that it was a GINORMOUS bowl of soup with a fresh-tasting broth and good rice noodles. It wasn't hugely flavorful - more light, but we got shit-tons of fresh bean sprouts and all the other fun groovy side items that one typically puts in this soup. The sauteed tofu & veggies were, again, fresh and light and the PIC was impressed. Not heavy at all, despite being in some sort of brown sauce.

We rate this as the best find on Telegraph thus far along with Cafe Eritrea d'Afrique. We'll be back.

KanSai sushi bar - 4345 Telegraph Avenue - 3.25.08

I will preface this by stating it's extremely difficult to impress us with sushi due to Sausalito's Sushi-Ran - though I was recently surprised on a business trip to find another spectacular find in Sake Club, so that gives me hope that phenomenal sushi isn't just a Marin occurrence.

Yoshi's is also great sushi, but I'd give it a 4.5 to a 5 for Sushi Ran and Sake Club. Do note, though, that all the places mentioned in this intro are considerably more expensive than KanSai.

Living around the corner from Drunken Fish, we generally get lazy about cruising elsewhere for sushi. Koryo Sushi is the sister restaurant, and it's across the street from KanSai.

KanSai gets extra bonus points for a parking lot. Word.

The exterior didn't indicate the actual attention to detail and relaxed atmosphere inside this joint. We were pleasantly susprised, particularly considering that Koryo has a godawful back room with fluorescent lighting, an annoying humming refrigerator and carpet that looks like something in your weird Aunt Irma's house that has more germs than a kitchen sponge.

Anyhoo...

Service was prompt and friendly, and the menu has a lot of interesting specialty rolls that differ from our usual Drunken Fish orders as well as your usual Bay Area mix of things like 49er rolls and such. There's also a full bar.

The tables have what I thought were decorations and, once we played with it sufficiently to push it, turned out to be a call button. I didn't feel like my server was a stewardess at that point, but I do wonder if *she feels like one when people start pushing those. Hmm...

This place seems to have more non-usual non-sushi items on the menu than DF/Koryo do; not just your usual "teriyaki chicken," there were bento boxes and you're able to order combination plates. They also bring you complimentary miso soup, salad and edamame, both of which taste just like DF's.

What we ordered: Agedashi tofu, mixed bento box with grilled salmon, maguro sashimi and veggie tempura, veggie gyoza, Katie Roll 2
Service: friendly and relaxed
Atmo: relaxed, good lighting, nice details - not a hipster feel, more of a higher-end japanese place without being stuffy
Crowd: the neighborhood
Spent: around $50.00 (with tip)
Overall rating: 4 sporks

The vegetable gyoza here seems to be the exact same gyoza as Drunken Fish. It's good, and the PIC orders this every time we go to DF.

The agedashi tofu was very good - light exterior, creamy inside, and the sauce wasn't sweet (DF's is), but more soy-sauce liked. We liked the tofu itself better than DF's but prefer the sweeter sauce. It had some weird roe-like stuff on top that wasn't roe. We think we liked it...

The tempura here was a major standout. Not greasy at all, the choice of veggies was great (mmm kambocha squash), the vegetables were perfectly cooked. Not being much of a fried food fan, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the tempura.

The salmon was nicely grilled and had a good smoky flavor.

Katie Roll 2 was an interesting mix of spicy hamachi (I think - was it maguro? I don't remember) and vegetables with softshell crab on top. This roll was very good and it has some sauces on it. Unfortunately one of the sauces was a bit creamy and overwhelming for me - I hate mayonnaise, and I fear that there was some involved. However, my bad for not reading the menu more closely. The PIC ate 2 pieces, and she generally hates rolls due to hating seaweed. So I guess the sauce has the upside of covering a seaweed taste...

In any case, we were pleasantly surprised to find another pretty-darn-good and affordable sushi place in our 'hood. We'll be back at some point, on a night when we're motivated to do more than walk around the corner.

Cafe Eritrea D'afrique - 4069 Telegraph Avenue

This place is currently holding the title as "Best Find" in our project thus far.

I'd wanted to try this place for a long time. The Partner in Chow wasn't so convinced that she'd like it - we weren't sure if this was Ethiopian food or more West African-style food, and she was still mourning the loss of Blue Nile.

From what we can gather, Ethiopia and Eritrea have similar/idential cuisine - or at least this place would indicate such.

We walked in to find a bunch of Ethiopian or Eritrean men at the bar hanging out. We took this as a good sign.

OK, the bad first: the atmo is lacking, it's true. Tile floors, uninspired takeout-type tables and chairs, and awful lighting. I'm someone very sensitive to lighting - fluorescent lighting in particular - so it's something worth noting.

However: the decor was made up for by our super nice waitress, the menu giving the heartfelt and compelling story of the restaurant (look up "The American Dream" and you pretty much have it), and the food.

Oh, the food. Such good Ethiopian food. Or Eritrean food. Whatever you want to call it, the food is fantastic and it's cheap. The menu warns you that the food is addictive, and we agree. We've already been back twice!

What we ordered (on all 3 trips): Vegetarian platter (for 1 feeds 2 people with a side; for 2 feeds 3), a side of the fava bean thing (it has feta on it)
Service: friendly and eager to answer questions, if not rushed in any way (even when you might be a little rushed)
Atmo: uninspired local Mom 'n Pop
Crowd: Ethiopians/Eritreans and local folks in-the-know
Spent: around $20.00
Overall rating: 4.5 sporks

We'd consider giving this place a 5 if it wasn't for the sterile atmo. But we haven't found better Ethiopian food elsewhere. Asmara wins on decor, but the food here is better.

Chef Yu's / YuYu Za Zang - 3919 Telegraph Ave

I'll note that we've actually eaten at this place twice now due to the really awesome fried rice and the homemade noodles.

This place has both Korean and Chinese food. I didn't realize that it was a Korean chef and that the noodle side of the menu was Korean food (not having had Za Zang before), but I was in the mood for soup and took a cue from the cartoon of Chef Yu making noodles that udon soup would be a good choice.

The PIC ordered pork dumplings, fried rice and some sort of chicken (we don't remember, and we lost the receipt).

The atmo inside is lacking - not as lacking as New Big Daddy's, but not somewhere you necessarily want to sit down and hang out. Takeout is probably the best bet here.

What we ordered (we'll combine both trips): Vegetarian udon soup, pork dumplings, chicken something, Hot and Sour soup, fried rice, Za Zang.
Service: friendly
Atmo: Chinese take-out
Crowd: the neighborhood
Spent: around $30.00
Overall rating: 4 sporks

We give Chef Yu's 4 sporks primarily for freshness. The ingredients seem fresher and cleaner than most Chinese food, and the fried rice was really delicious and not remotely greasy.

The Hot 'n Sour soup wasn't particularly hot or sour. It was good, but not a standout. The chicken was pretty good too; both these dishes merit a 3.

The pork dumplings were delicious and come with a dipping sauce that really brings out the flavor. They taste homemade, and we ordered them on both trips.

The noodles come separate from whatever you're putting them in - both zazang and udon soup had them packaged separately. I liked this because it means they don't leech starch while you're in transit, but if you wait too long they become a gluey mess and you have to throw them in water to have them separate and be able to be sauced (which is what happened on the Za Zang trip).

I've heard Za Zang described as Korean Mac 'n Cheese, and I can see why. This is starchy, slippery comfort food at its finest. I got the regular $4.95 Za Zang, not the made-to-order one (Yelp advised that the $2 price difference isn't worth it). I loved this dish, though I don't generally eat pasta as a main course. The PIC didn't like this dish - something about the black bean sauce struck her as "weird" and "ew."

The Udon tasted really healthy - the vegetables were fresh, the broth was clear and clean and this would be a perfect soup if one were feeling under the weather.

Overall, we were impressed by Chef Yu and glad to find a place where both of us have a couple stand-by orders on the menu.