Avaliação de 4 estrelas de Daniel:
Grand Lake Kitchen, located on the northeastern tip of Lake Merritt, is a self-described "neighborhood deli" known for its brunch. We visited for dinner when it felt more like a New American bar and sit-down service restaurant. We enjoyed our meal. The food, drinks, and service were all good.
We booked our reservations on OpenTable. Book your reservations on OpenTable for free to earn dining points that can be used towards future discounts at any OpenTable restaurant (Grand Lake Kitchen included).
We parked along Grand (street metered parking) in front of the restaurant.
One side of the interior is the kitchen and deli and the other is the bar and dining room. The bar and dining room aren't all that big with about a dozen seats at the bar and I guesstimate table seating for about 30. They've got more seating outside. The decor is simple and contemporary.
The dinner menu begins at 5pm and contains a nice variety of food which includes fried pickled vegetables (I believe they do all their pickling in-house), deli meat, seafood, soup, salads, sandwiches (made with bread from Berkeley-based Acme), an assortment of entrees (e.g. roasted chicken, baked pasta, roasted pork belly), vegetable sides, and deli sides like tuna mac salad and farro and yam. Expect to spend about $10-15 each for most appetizers, soups, salads, and sandwiches, $15-25 for entrees, and $5-7 for most sides.
We went with the following:
Food:
* House pickles ($5)
* Burrata ($14) - baby beets, chili oil, herbs, grilled bread
* Bone marrow ($14) - roasted allium vinaigrette, crostini, herbs
* Mixed chicories ($12) - croutons, poached egg, Parmesan, anchovy dressing
* Short rib ($26) - potato and chard gratin, cippolini onions, jus
* Spiced chickpea stew ($15) - harissa, lacinato kale, almond yogurt, grilled bread
* Steamed mussels ($21) - savory broth, chorizo, red onion, French fries
* Smashed potatoes ($6.50) - horseradish, aioli
* Side salad ($3)
Drinks (from the bar):
* Jenny's chai toddy ($10) - aged Trinidadian rhum, blended bitters, rooibos chai, honey, cream, Saigon cinnamon, orange zest
* Zabriko punch ($8) - bourbon, Abricot du Roussillon, pineapple gum, lemon, seltzer, cinnamon
In general, I thought the food and drinks were delicious. The food was a bit on the heavy side.
The house pickles were fantastic. They included cauliflower, green beans, okra, and cucumber. If you like pickled vegetables, I highly recommend these. Great quality.
The burrata wasn't the best I've had, but it was still fine (I'd order it again). Five bite-size pieces were served alongside chopped beets. The grilled bread was hard and seemed to be overly buttered.
The bone marrow was very good. It was rich with nice umami flavor. Decent portion size too. Allium = onion and there were spring onions served with this dish. The crostini were much like the toast served with the burrata, crisp and heavily buttered.
We tried to order the winter chopped salad (savoy/winter cabbage, kale, apple, walnut, Vella dry jack cheese, balsamic vinaigrette), but they were out, so we went with the mixed chicories (a.k.a. endives) instead. The leafy veggies were fresh and crisp, tossed with plenty of salty (but not too salty) anchovy dressing and topped with lots of finely grated Parmesan. Tasty salad.
The short rib was A-OK. The short rib was served in one piece on the bone. The meat was tender and had terrific flavor. I just wish there was more meat. The cippolini onions were soaked in jus, which made them tastier.
I really liked the spiced chickpea stew, which was a relatively healthier entree. It was comforting and hearty with a hint of heat from the harissa. There wasn't a whole lot of kale in the stew. The same crispy, crunchy, and buttery grilled bread accompanied this entree as it did the burrata and bone marrow.
The mussels were delectable. I liked how these came with small chunks of savory chorizo. The mussels were fresh and the broth wasn't too strong. The fries that came with were the long, thick, golden kind (no skin), lightly salted, very starchy, and filling.
The smashed potatoes were scrumptious. They were served skin-on with delightful, crispy bits.
We tried to order the green goddess kale salad (with queso fresco, carrots, and pepitas), but they were out of this too. Instead, we got a generic side salad that consisted of one type of leafy green (I'm not sure exactly what it was) tossed in a light dressing. Like the other dishes, the veggies were fresh and yummy.
I'm not much of a drinker, but I thought both the Jenny's chai toddy and Zabriko punch cocktails were very good. The chai toddy was a mix between creamy chai tea and a hot toddy with its sweet honey and spices. The Zabriko punch was both sweet and sour and also cold and refreshing.
Our server was Evyn and he did a fine job. He was polite, informative, and attentive.
Grand Lake Kitchen opened in 2012. I would come back and would be interested in trying their popular brunch.