Beast Blog

my fave food court spots

food courts can be a great place to get cheap eats, and many of the spots have awesome ethnic food.

Emeryville Public Market has food of practically every ethnicity you can imagine- every configuarion of asian and pan-asian, middle eastern, american, european countries including greece, germany, and italy.

my fave two spots at this food court are:

Wazwan - an indian place with great chaat- samosas with killer cilantro chutney (my fave kind!), and masala dosa.

and Kashmir (i think that's the name), right across the aisle from Wazwan. they serve afghani food. their spinach bulani rocks. i was a little sad that they felt the need to change the name of their food from afghani to persian after 9-11 (perhaps they experienced a boneheaded decline in sales?), but the food remains as good as ever.

another food court worth mentioning is in berkeley, just east off the telegraph haze on durant. there are several places in the court, but i like the pho place. i am a creature of habit, and tend to get the seafood egg noodle soup there, which is great. fresh cilantro leaves really add a freshness to this wonderful soup, which is just as good in the summer as it is on rainy days when you need some warmth.

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.

Tokyo Fish Market!!!

OK_ i confess. i am a seafood snob. i'm also a sushi snob. but i'm also not always flush. my solution? go to Tokyo Fish Market. On San Pablo just north of Gilman in Berkeley, this little storefront backs a big briny wallop!

first off, everything is of the highest quality. sparkling seafood, tons of sashimi grade items, and all the stuff you need to go with it. (shiso leaf, quail eggs...)


every thursday, they currently have a live crab special: $3.99 a pound! they usually have uni ( i looooove uni), and last time i went, i got 1/2 a pound of monkfish liver (ankimo) for $6!!! (for the unintiated, ankimo is the foie gras of the sea...)

this makes me a very happy gal. oh yeah, they also have several flavors of gummies (litchi, muscat, pineapple, kiwi, etc...) & that makes my wife happy as well (gummies are her candy of choice while watching DVDs...)



my second fave place for seafood is berkeley bowl. less of a selection, but very decent, & the quality is great. become a regular & the fish counter people are very nice, getting super-fresh stuff for you from back.