Last weekend, I went over to the Rockridge neighborhood in Oakland twice. On Saturday, I went to the Conga Lounge for a SF Jezebel meet-up. The Conga Lounge is a cozy little tiki bar on College Ave, serving delicious Mai Tais along with many other tropical cocktails. (The Mai Tais, btw, are only $6 between 5-7pm everyday. A very good deal in these hard economic times!)
The mai tai at the Conga Lounge
On Sunday, I took KO out for a belated birthday dinner. We originally wanted to go to Soi 4, a Thai small plates place, but it was busy so we went over to Ouzen, a sushi restaurant. Unfortunately, Ouzen was closed so went across the street to À Côté. À Côté bills itself as a small plates restaurant, specializing in Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, using primarily locally-grown, seasonal, and organic foods.
We started off with the chicory salad with persimmons and hazelnuts in a pomegranate-tangerine vinaigrette. I liked how the sweetness of the persimmon balanced the bitterness of the chicory and vinaigrette. Plus, it was pretty.
Chicory salad
KO and I both ended up ordering the same main dish, a grilled fish called opah, which tasted sort of like swordfish but was more flaky in texture. It was served on a bed of lentils and broccoli and covered with “Chermoula,” a sauce made of cilantro and other green herbs that I couldn’t identify but who cares — it was delicious.
Grilled Opah
Recent Comments