Beast Blog

Temescal Street Fair - Saturday June 18th

This weekend offers up the Temescal Street Fair (Poster PDF), a celebration of North Oakland. Food, performances, art, and more. I'll be there with my camera.

Oakland's Newest Restaurant Sensation: Pizzaiolo

KQED's Bay Area Bites blog gives the low-down on PIzzaiolo, the yupscale pizzeria started by an ex Chez Panisse chef.

great sushi, no waiting!

looking for an alternative to sushi joints like kirala (with their long lines but yummy eats)?

bonsai is a japanese restaurant with sushi (& other items for the non-siushi lover- like teriyaki chicken & fish) that has amazingly fresh selections, friendly staff, and not enough patrons currently.

the economy affects small family-run businesses most of all, and i would hate to see an east bay diamond-in-the-rough like bonsai become the latest victim of george w bush's economy.

bonsai is on shattuck at 43rd street in oakland.

Photo of the BBQ 'Bago

A bit back we had a post about the Westbrooks BBQ RV.

The Slambassdor has submitted a photo of the establishment:

Move Over Taco Trucks, We've Got The BBQ 'Bago

Sorry for that post title. Anyway, The Slambassador just wrote in with the 411 on a good-to-go barbecue option:

So this totally funky converted RV has been in my neighborhood at 51st and Telegraph...Westbrooks BBQ makes some ultrafine dinners. A mobile operation unlike anything I've seen, they made me VERY happy this afternoon with a dinner of pork ribs and sides of beans and greens. The beans have
healthy amounts of links in them - not to be missed.

I don't know where else they hang out, but they are often at 51st and Telegraph on weekday lunchtimes. I'm hoping they settle in the triangular Caspers at 45th and Telegraph that seems to undergoing the slowest "remodeling" of all time....

They cater and deliver too - call Odell at 510-393-5076.

Considering that barbecue is a key element of the Beast's culinary stew, I'm surprised this is our first post about the cuisine!

(Side note: I must admit to having been underwhelmed by Beast BBQ. KC's - the meat was good, the sauce was terrible. Everett & Jones on San Pablo near University -- too dry, not moist. I did quite like the Everett and Jones at Jack London Square, but that's getting too fancy-pants for ribs, collards, and corn bread. What am I missing?)

Genova, all the way, baby!

for a great italian deli, it's hard to beat Genova.

They have been in the Temescal neighborhood for decades. they started in a small brick building right on Telegraph near 51st. when i first moved to Oakland, they were still at that location. the place was jam-packed with salamis hanging from the ceiling, and happy, boisterous customers & sandwich technicians.

today, the lines are still long, but they are worth it. they have moved into a larger space that has the unfortunate 1990's "we're a starbucks!" style architecture, but they have not changed their food- that's the important thing.

their "prociutto special" sandwich is yummy, as are their fried artichoke hearts. they have the "real deal" in sandwich meats, according to my italian philly-raised wife...

One AM Korean BBQ

In the summertime, when my band tends to play a lot of shows, we often wind up at 1 am packed up and starving. We used to resort sometimes to the culinary hell of Jack-in-the-Box - and I admit that I acquired a taste for their chicken fajita pitas. But last summer I discovered that Koryo Wood Charcoal BBQ on Telegraph at 43rd is open until 3 am, as is its sister establishment right next door, Koryo Sushi, which is decent if unexciting fare. Still, when it's that late and your other option is fast food, decent sushi gets pretty damn exciting.

Last night I went there with my family again. We got the four-person special, which translates to nearly a hundred dollars of meat - marinated beef, spicy pork, chicken, a heaping plate of tempura, the yummy green onion pancake, another dish of beef and mushroom over the thin vermicelli noodles, and all the kimchee dishes you can eat. In the Korean tradition, if you run out of sides, you can always ask for more. We stuck to the roasted barley? corn? tea, but it's customary of course to drink beer while eating barbecued beef. That's a tradition as religiously observed in Texas as in The Land of Morning Calm.

If you arrive before midnight, you can do your own cooking on glowing hot coals if you like; but if it's too late they won't let you handle the tongs. And frankly I think I prefer it that way when I'm tired and really hungry. It's wonderful to just sit there sipping Korean beer while they bring out dishes of beef. Wrap up bits of meat in fresh lettuce with a dab of the spicy miso paste and maybe a sliver of raw garlic and enjoy a luscious midnight snack.

Koryo BBQ contact information: (510) 652-6007 4390 Telegraph Ave # J