Oakland restaurant news and notes 2016-17

This thread is inspired by ernie in berkeley’s “Berkeley: random news and notes” and is for general Oakland topics for items that don’t warrant their own thread.

SF Chronicle: West Oakland’s Dock restaurant prepares for closure, overhaul [to reopen in early 2017]

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Oakland-s-Dock-restaurant-prepares-for-closure-9187025.php#photo-10833076

Following service next Saturday, the Dock will close for a major overhaul as Syhabout, known for his other restaurants, Commis and Hawker Fare, plans to reopen the restaurant in early 2017, along with a new partner, Adam Lamoreaux, who had co-founded the brewery in 2009. (The Beer Shed, a smaller adjoining tasting room with a limited bar menu, will remain open during the renovation.)

According to Lamoreaux, Linden Street Brewery will be leaving the premises at the end of the year to move to a new location. The brewery did not return calls.

Great idea for a thread.

I just checked what’s new on Yalp and (despite being just over the border in San Leandro, the most interesting to me is Noodles Pho Me


a Lao operation serving a limited menu http://noodlesphome.weebly.com/menu.html for now.

This thread already exists.

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Sorry, didn’t remember seeing the original Oakland thread. I’ll ask the moderator to merge it or append it with the earlier thread.

Does anyone know if Siem Reap Sandwich Shop on International Boulevard serve Cambodian sandwiches? How is it different from banh mi if there is such a thing as a Cambodian sandwich?

I’ve never been to Cambodia, so I really don’t know, but I assume you’ve seen the post here.

When I was there they were using green papaya in lieu of the Vietnamese pickled daikon, but it seems like they are now using cabbage slaw. They also used a chili-spiced mayo. And the fillings weren’t more Cambodian than an imitation of traditional Vietnamese fillings.

The Cambodian places listed here http://www.movetocambodia.com/phnom-penh/cambodian-sandwich-face-off-nompang-versus-banh-mi-bros/ seem to share more in common with Vietnamese meat fillings, including the classic deli meats version.

The NYC version http://www.numpangnyc.com/menus/ shares use of chili mayo and lack of daikon with Siem Reap.

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Oh, I missed that post. Thanks!

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This is an Oakland tidbit, not really news, but I had the meatball sandwich recently at Hen House in Swan’s Market and it was delicious.

Also I tried Core Kitchen in the Oakland City Center Plaza and it was not bad for being a vegan no salt no sugar kind of place. A decent option if you need lots of veggies fast. I had their kale salad and also their pad thai zucchini noodles. The pad thai was the better of the two and tastes more like spring roll filling than pad thai.

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Sakura Bistro- Tapas and Sake Bar had a soft opening on October 15 and will be open for lunch only until a grand opening on November 12th.

It’s located in Oakland Chinatown in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza next to Peony Seafood on the second floor. I haven’t tried it yet but here are some photos I took on October 17 of the restaurant and the Plaza.

Looking at the menu, the “tapas” include poki salad and tataki. tempura skewers of kabocha squash and kushiyaki of yakitori and beef wrapped in bacon.

A quick search revealed that there are other restaurants in the Bay Area named “Sakura” but I didn’t see any indication that the Oakland site was connected to any other bistro.

The photos were taken with an Olympus XZ-1 compact camera, 10 MP, f1.8 lens and 28mm-102mm zoom with panorama, double exposure and art filter features.

The slideshow was done in ProShow Web slideshow software from Photodex. Some post processing of the photos was done with PicMonkey editor in SmugMug.

Sakura Bistro
388 9th Street Suite 268
Oakland CA

http://show-vid.com/view/x24xw2x4

What happened to C&M Bistro? Looks like its boarded up in your video?

Hi sck,

C&M Bistro is still there. They boarded up the entrance which was on the corner of the space facing southeast towards the plaza and built a new door closer to the meat counter and facing due south. You can barely see the new entrance starting at the 2:14 mark for a few seconds at the far left edge of the frame.

C&M Bistro is the place that took over the former Cafe 88 location and is next to Gum Kuo.

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Has anyone had the Gaeng Tai Pla/ Kaeng Tai Pla Southern Thai fish curry stew elsewhere in the Bay Area? Just noticed that dish on the Daughter Thai menu.

sakura bistro opened in Sebastopoole a few months ago.

business was slow when they opened. believe the boarding up was to change the Feng Shiu,.
true, menu was pricey when they opened. C & M now has a value menu for different hours of the day.

had the chirashi recently. (23.99) 20% off.
promotion helped fill Sakura.
quality of the sashimi was below average. thick enough, just not fresh, tasteless fish

miso soup didn’t taste like miso.

I haven’t noticed kaeng tai pla on any menus around here–Southern curries are quite rare and this fish innards funky one probably even more so. Sounds like an interesting addition to Montclair. Has anyone noticed places with other southern curries, like kaeng som?
I believe kaeng tai pla is what I picked up (unlabeled) at Roong Jin Jin a while ago.

I’ve had kang/kaeng/gaeng tai pla once at Pak Nam in the Tenderloin in SF, which I believe also specializes in southern Thai dishes, a while back. It’s been awhile since I had it but I do remember it being tasty (and spicy). The fish was mostly in little bits and had the texture of smashed anchovies.


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The mochi lady retired… No more Chinatown mochi.

Oh no! :frowning:

Darn.