Sunday, June 24, 2012

My favorite Oakland restaurant

Oakland, to outsiders near and far, has a lackluster reputation.  Sure, it's got problems, but some of the food there is stellar.

I went back to Hawker Fare for the second time this week for lunch, and was blown away, again.  The theme is Southeast Asian with a strong Chinese influence.  I'm not a "presentation" person but the entrees are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious.

Issan Sausage: Grilled spicy pork with braised skin, coriander, garlic and lemongrass, chili glaze.




Kao Mun Gai: Poached chicken with salted mung bean sauce, fresh cucumber, and cilantro.



Some of my other Oakland favorites include Geta (cheap Japanese), Adesso (pates), and Gum Kuo (rice porridge).

Photos source.

5 comments:

Lukas said...

No ice kachang!

Out of intrest, are those prices low, average or high round those parts?

Maxichamp said...

@Lukas. Hard to say. I think the cheapest lunch you can get is around $5-6. But for that quality food, $9-10 is very fair. A semi-fancy business lunch in that town is probably $14-17, excluding drinks.

Rich said...

Definitely one of my town favorites. I find the pricing very very fair, in light of nearby office-crowd Vietnamese places offering $8.95 lunch plates, but without the careful sourcing & thoughtful preparation.

mtc said...

food p0rn!

Danny Riddell said...

Based on your photo, the food looks delicious! Hawker Fare surely knows how to please their customers. It is always good to find restaurants that do not only offer delicious food, but who also gives customers the royal treatment.