Atop the world's plateau

What: Cafe Tibet

Why: For authentic Tibetan food

Where: University Ave (Downtown), Berkeley

Who: A very nice, helpful Tibetan lady runs this place (incidentally also our server of the day when we first visited one afternoon). Further details are unknown (her origin remains shrouded in mystery like the Himalayan kingdom itself) but I guess we should let the food do all the talking!

BayMonkey two cents: Misleading conceptions about Tibetan food (and for that matter, cuisine of any other Himalayan country sandwiched between India and China) is that how very often people refer to such cuisines as a cross between Indian and Chinese fare. So just to clear the air for once and for all (hopefully), Tibetan food ain't Indian or Chinese or a mish-mash of both! Its culturally distinct, unique and representative of the land, its resources and people. Its best enjoyed for the diversity it offers, and not a borrowed similarity.

Now that this private peeve of mine has been taken care of, lets move on to the food. I've been here twice (lunch and dinner) and have loved the meals every single time! The food has all the warmth of a home cooked meal and is authentically Tibetan. The appetizers are big enough to be ordered as a complete meal if you go for a couple and this is what we did on both occasions. First up, the eggplant chips (Dholooma Kamngoe) were amazing and bore an uncanny resemblance to the "beguni" (eggplant fritters), a popular street food in Kolkata, India. The chips were savory, gently laced with salt and spices and had a crispy, crunchy feel to them with a well cooked eggplant in the core. The accompanying red dip was pure delight! Next stop were the mouth-watering momos (Himalayan dumplings). The steamed variety is highly recommended and you can either order a combination platter of meat and vegetable momos or a single kind, my personal favorite being the chicken momos (adorably called Sha momo). The next order of the Cafe Tibet soup (tofu, chicken,oats, veggies) was exactly what was needed for that cold, rainy day; a hot flavorful broth overflowing with heartwarming goodness. Finally, we ended up sampling the famous Tibetan butter tea (remember the memorable scene in Seven Years in Tibet?)- a salty tea with the richness of butter; definitely go for it if you are in an adventurous mood. All items on the menu come in two avatars (lunch or dinner version) and although small, there are still plenty of items to choose from. Definitely worth repeat visits!

MONKEY METER

Food:



Green quotient (vegetarian friendly): Friendly indeed, with lots of choices!

Interior/decor: A small place decorated with Tibetan wall hangings, statues and a potrait of the Dalai Lama on one of the walls. Nothing fancy, but has a homely feel.

Service: Friendly, helpful and attentive.

For more details to fill your cranium, visit YELP.

Go Green With...Delight!

What: Vegetarian house

Why: For yummy vegetarian, no! make that VEGAN, food

Where: Downtown, San Jose

Who: The restaurant, inspired by the "Supreme Master" Ching Hai (the name sent me into a major Googling spiral), opened in 1994 and has been serving organic vegan food since then. Through the philosophy of non violence in food (i.e. no animal slaughter/animal product use), they aim to spread the message of harmonious and peaceful coexistence of all living beings.

BayMonkey two cents: True to the saying "the proof of the pudding lies in its eating", you have to let your tastebuds make the decision as you dig in to the amazing platter of nature's bounty, brought to your table by Vegetarian house. Who knew that food could taste this lip-smacking good without meat or diary products?  Vegetarians, lactose intolerants, vegans, gluten-intolerants (they have lots of soy dishes)-come as you are; There is plenty for everyone!

 On to the food. VH has a pretty extensive menu and showcases green food from almost all over the world (Americas, Europe, Asia). On my first visit,we picked a mango salad (to soothe my poor stomach's upset cart) and the spicy cha-cha (yam nuggets with veggies) and both were utterly delicious; light and flavorful and oh so satisfying! The mango salad (a seasonal dish) had lots of thinly sliced mango strings and the fruit was neither too ripe nor too tarty. The crushed peanuts and veggies complemented the sweet-sour taste of the mangoes. The spicy cha-cha, true to its name, packed a spicy punch in the crunchy red nuggets which was high on flavor and minimal on the fried,oily after taste. For the second time, a trio of us sampled even more food (Sizzling tofu, Szechuan strips and Pad thai) and all three items were finger-licking good! Special mention for the pad thai since it wasn't sweet-ish as is served in most Thai places. We finished off by sharing a soy vanilla flavored ice-cream akin to attaining perfect Nirvana! WILL BE BAAK (Arnie style)!

MONKEY METER

Overall impression:

Food:

Green quotient (vegetarian friendly): Restaurant serves organic, vegan food. Need I say more?

 Interior/decor: Here comes the interesting part. The place takes its name very seriously, as is evident from the house shaped restaurant (it literally looks like a house from outside). In an attempt to create a relaxing place with a bit of everything (including a a piano for the musically inclined), the interior looks like a mish mash of a lot of funky objects (painted glass panels on windows being one of them). Surprisingly though, the sitting arrangement is anything but ornate (regular table and chairs), but overall the dining areas (there are two separated by the welcoming corridor in  between) are huge and roomy. I guess, they were striving for a comfort zone for people to chill out/find their own "zen" without being too ostentatious with distracting wall and furniture decor.

Service:  We had friendly and attentive servers, even when the place was packed. Pretty good service!

For more reviews and  what-nots on Vegetarian house, visit the link on YELP.

On Thin Crust

What: Gialina pizzeria

Why: For some out-of-the-world thin crust Neopolitan pizza (and other equally delectable Italian fare)

Where: Glen Park, San Francisco

Who: Chef/Owner Sharon Ardiana, named this restaurant after her beloved grandma, Nonni "Lina". Gialina captures the essence of her family and homeland Italy and her way of sharing her love for cooking and food with other hungry kindred souls.

BayMonkey two cents: What can I say about Gialina, except that it is indeed a hidden gem tucked away in the small, nondescript neighborhood of Glen park. I stumbled upon this culinary discovery one fine, ravenous day. Needless to say, I was not disappointed and since that day of accidental "stumbling" in, have often come back for repeats!Food wise, Gialina is another SF joint serving Italian food/pizza. But the similarity ends right there. The menu is small, yet peppered with a little bit of everything (pasta, seasonal roasts, salads). There are some amazing salads, such as the Farro salad, which is a playful creation of tastes and textures with the avocado, fennel, ricotta and dill, all vying for the attention of your taste buds and creating a flavorful harmony. But it is their thin crust Neopolitano pizza which takes the cake! Although I dig deep dishes and Brooklyn styles and what not, there is something absolutely heavenly about those 600 degC baked, thin wheat discs that are served with some of the most interesting toppings I've ever had. From the simple Margherita to the "wildly" creative wild nettles with pancetta (Italian bacon), each pizza is a culinary delight. My favorite is the Atomica (mushrooms, bell peppers, chillies and onions on a tomato sauce smeared base) which has a smoky, spicy, tangy kick to it. If you feel that thin crusts cheat you off the divinity of cheese, then you can always go for the uber-creative butternut squash pizza with generous dollops of ricotta (It was a little heavy and bland for my taste, but is definitely worth a try if you are in the mood for something different). Their pizza (or as they lovingly say, "pie") menu keeps on changing, so you might find other new varieties upon your visit. And finally, since the thin crust pizzas never make you feel bloated or too full at the end, there is always room for some dessert. For that, the decadent Tiramisu is highly recommended!

MONKEY METER

Overall impression:

Food:

Green quotient (vegetarian friendly): Positively high, with salads (small or large size) and their mouth-watering pies.

Interior/decor: Very inviting indeed with burnt sienna/red walls with wood panels. Beautiful family pictures in black and white (I suspect they are of Sharon's family and her grandma) adorn the walls, giving the place a classy, vintage look. There is also bar-like seating for 2-3 at the table separating the eating area from the kitchen where you can perch on your bar stool and get a first hand look of the clay oven.

Service: Although almost always full (it is a wildly popular place, is small in size and does not take reservations), the servers are very nice and attentive. One of them has silvery white hair, a mysterious accent and somehow always reminds me of the white-haired twin brothers from the Matrix :-))

For details on Gialina (and for everything else under the sun), we have with us our faithful YELP.

A Southern Start

What: Criolla Kitchen

Why: For some lip-smacking Southern and soul (comfort) food

Where: Castro district, San Francisco

Who: Master mind of Chef Randy Lewis, who opened the restaurant in 2002. Hailing from New Orleans, Chef Lewis describes his food as southern memoirs served up with Nor Cal sensibilities.

BayMonkey two cents: Soul food, as the name implies, warms the soul. It is comfort food in a sense that it conjures beautiful memories of lost moments in time, be it of a warm sunny childhood day or the aroma of ma's kitchen or of a home far away. Criolla Kitchen was the lunch destination of choice on a crisp SF afternoon after a quick read of the SF chronicle's "Inside scoop" and a review check on the ever reliable "yelp.com". The restaurant was an easy find and although there was a small queue of hungry people outside, we did manage to get seats pretty quickly.
Now, on to the food. We started off with the yummilicious Yam Yam tater tots (golden orange nuggets) served along with a creamy aoili sauce that had a nice kick to it! The tater tots were crunchy on the outside and melt in the mouth soft on the inside. Slightly sweet, yet savory, they whetted our appetite enought to graduate onto entrees.
Then came our order of rice and black beans with fried chicken with a side of grits. The rice and beans were perfectly cooked and meshed really well and the fried chicken was just about perfect (not too deep fried or soggy soft).
My favorite though were the grits (my intrigue with grits started with "My Cousin Vinny"). The teeny weeny southern belle in me likes nothing more than her grits done right and she was not disappointed at all! The grits were buttery mushy intercepted by the coarseness imparted by the corn, but not overloaded with cheese.
Finally we stopped with the yummy and flavorful shrimp po' boy sandwich. Generous swigs of iced tea sweetened with simple syrup (came on the side in a fanciful container) helped wash down this delicious meal. Bursting at the seams, we did not wait for dessert (bread pudding or pecan pie), but will come back again for more of this southern fare.
MONKEY METER
Overall impression:



Food:

Green quotient (vegetarian friendly): Some appetizers and most side orders are vegetarian, but much cannot be said of entrees. I have been told that there exists a unicorn-like-myth of a vegan soul food restaurant in Oakland, so I guess there is fairness in this universe, after all.

Interior/decor: Clever use of the small space with clean wooden tables, small-ish wooden chairs. Forks and knives were prefolded with paper towels in glass jars on the tables (a nice touch!). The line of bottles standing on the kitchen ledge brought back sweet memories of Brasa, another amazing chow haven, in Minneapolis.

Service: OK. Could have been better in the sense that part of our order was kind of forgotten and we had to remind the server lady (she did apologize profusely though).

For more information (address, reservation policy, price listing, more reviews for statistical fairness and any other nit-picking detail that your cranium needs to fill on), you have YELP.