Two Local Girls is a new takeout counter inside Rocky’s Market on Leimert Blvd in Oakland. They started out offering breakfast and lunch items like bagels, sandwiches and salads. This month they expanded the offering to dinner entrees as well.
I got a couple of dinner takeout boxes- the chicken (moroccan fig, orange, olive chicken served over cauliflower, quinoa, preserved lemon, herbs and dates) and the beef enchilada.
Chicken:
I enjoyed this dish very much. 3 or 4 large pieces of chicken, nicely flavored with a North African style of spice blend that’s balanced, subtle and aromatic. The herbal chicken spicing combined well with the citrus-y contributions from the preserved lemons and oranges, the tangy olives, and the sweet Moroccan figs, with the complex combined taste infused into the onions and carrots and the delightful broth at the bottom. The breast was quite succulent, and had a bit of bounce to it. So I surmised that the chicken was of a better quality than an average factory chicken. I’d be interested in the source.
Beef enchilada: i should caveat by saying that this enchilada comment was made by someone who have never generally been fond of the dish. So calibrate accordingly. (I got it because wife picked it, and the owner recommended it as well.) I think the enchilada was very well made. The wife liked it even more than the chicken. There was a certain herb or spice with a herby/ grassy tasty which I couldn’t identify that provided an interesting counterbalance to the savory ground beef and bold sauce and made the enchiladas stood out. The first enchilada was eaten without creme fraiche because I forgot about it in the bag, so I will try the second one and add to the report if its interesting.
Both dishes taste like someone would make at home, with care and skills, good ingredients, subtle and balanced spicing.
I was in somewhat of a hurry so I didn’t have a chance to ask questions about the ingredients, dishes, etc. Their menu indicated use of organic, local and sustainable ingredients where possible. Someone can obtain more details about this. My first impression at the counter was that the black takeout boxes didn’t stand out in appearance and I wondered whether the content was enough. But after eating them, I’d be delighted to buy these again given the abundance of taste and good quality ingredients that went into the dishes. I’d also be very interested if there are feedback about their other items. I didn’t get the sandwiches at the time even though I was interested, because I wasn’t sure what the intended bread texture was supposed to be. One of those things that I would come back to try during lunch hours.
They got other stuff like Beauty’s bagels, Straus yogurt, Tara’s icecream, though I didn’t get.
(same box size as enchiladas, some of the box’s content was transferred into the dish)
