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(Pictures for this restaurant review taken with my Apple iPhone 3Gs.

For fun, I wrote this restaurant review of the Sunny Side Cafe as a choka (長歌). See the section below the review for more details.)

Up at 6:00am,
Sleep-fogged mind barely working.
Strange bed, no wife - Huh?
Disorientation and
confusion. Panic.
Relief when I realize
that I'm on a business trip.

Running for the BART.
Caffeine and adrenaline.
surging through my veins.
This irritation is too
familiar to me.
A nostalgia that I'd
rather do without.



Hello Berkeley,
I AM IN YOU!!! At some point,
this meme will get old.
But, that day is not today.
Sorry, Twitter friends.
Thanks for putting up with my
abuse of the CAPSLOCK key.



Hungry. I have time
before I need to reach the
office. Breakfast calls!
I have no idea where to eat.
First, I follow Yelp.
Then, I follow the students.
CAL is around the corner.



Sunny Side Cafe.
Navigation achievement
unlocked for teh win!
Only 30 minutes left
until I need to
get my ass to a meeting.
I can has tasty fuds now?



Fried Egg Sandwiches!!!
To Go only? *whimper* Sadness...
Time for Plan B.
The Raspberry Hanger Steak
Benedict special
looks interesting. Maybe
scary. You only live once.



Waitress super nice.
Open kitchen with counter.
How do the chefs not
feel like they are on display?
Students, locals, and
academics everywhere.
A real neighborhood joint.



Benny dished up fast.
Cloud-like eggs on pedestals
of toasted muffins
and caramelized meat, wreathed
in a buttery
shroud of luxurious, rich
Hollandaise. Be still my heart.



Cut into the egg.
Anticipation becomes
disappointment. Yolk,
an overcooked hockey puck.
Does not coat other
ingredients on the plate.
Was the special a mistake?



Citrus in sauce adds
way too much acidity.
Steak is drowned out by
raspberry, overpowers.
Potatoes are nice.
Laced with rosemary, lemon.
Crispy and fluffy.





The Sunny Side Cafe - Service is awesome, the portions are big, and the food is a decent value for Berkeley. They probably overreached on the special. The flavors clashed, but the overall dish was still tasty. However, Eggs Benedict is supposed to be one of the Sunny Side Cafe's signature items and my order was only one the two line cooks were working on. In addition to the hard boiled eggs, the muffins were under toasted and soggy because the eggs weren't drained properly. I'm not sure that was their best effort.


Bill:

Raspberry Hanger Steak Benedict - 12.50


Flavor: C-
Ambience: A
Service: A
ROI: C

Overall: B


The Sunny Side Cafe
2136 Oxford St.
Berkeley, CA 94704
1-510-845-9900
Restaurant website


Original Location:

1499 Solano Ave.
Albany, CA 94706
1-510-527-5383

What is a Choka (長歌)?

A choka is a form of waka (和歌) or Japanese poetry. Like the more commonly known haiku, choka are composed lines with 5 or 7 syllables (onji) arranged in a pattern. Each stanza has two couplets with a first line of 5 onji and a second line of 7 onji. The stanza is completed with a katuata of three lines. The first line in the katuata must be 5 onji and the second line must be 7. However the third line can be either 5 or 7 onji. So, each seven line stanza of a choka can have a series of 5-7-5-7-5-7-5 onji, or a series of 5-7-5-7-5-7-7 onji.

For example, this stanza from my choka is in the 5-7-5-7-5-7-7 onji pattern.

Sunny Side Cafe. - 5 onji
Navigation achievement - 7 onji
unlocked for teh win! - 5 onji
Only 30 minutes left - 7 onji
until I need to - 5 onji
get my ass to a meeting. - 7 onji
I can has tasty fuds now? - 7 onji

This stanza in the choka is in the 5-7-5-7-5-7-5 onji pattern.

Citrus in sauce adds - 5 onji
way too much acidity. - 7 onji
Steak is drowned out by - 5 onji
raspberry, overpowers. - 7 onji
Potatoes are nice. - 5 onji
Laced with rosemary, lemon. - 7 onji
Crispy and fluffy. - 5 onji

Cat's the poet, not me. However, I think choka are a lot of fun, even if you end up looking a bit silly counting out syllables on your fingers. I cheated a bit and used How Many Syllables.com. There's also a project called Choka On It dedicated to writing the world's longest choka by crowdsourcing it. Try contributing a couplet!

A real waka expert would probably have a field day with my choka, to which I reply with this haiku:
You pretentious prick.
Giving you the finger while
thunder roars outside.

(Pictures for this review taken with my Motorola Droid.)

With his shaggy hair tucked into a black baseball cap, he looks like a worn out roadie as he hunches over the sizzling hot griddle. A skilled flick of an oil-soaked cloth cleans each indentation, brushing a glistening layer over the ebony surface. Then, a thin, creamy batter is ladled on in a explosion of savory steam, filling the trays to the brim.

Large chunks of tender, stewed octopus are added next, unerringly dropped into the starch-shrouded wells and blanketed in a fragrant rain of thinly sliced green onions, fried tempura crisps, and pickled ginger. He waits patiently as the mixture thickens and puffs... then bursts back into motion, hands a blur as he criss-crosses the tray with a pointed metal skewer, neatly dividing each mound into squares.



A few deft twists, and each pallid serving is magically transformed into a golden orb of goodness. Another short wait as the takoyaki set up before they're nonchalantly flipped from the griddle into waiting boxes to cool.

Streams of Japanese mayonnaise and tart sauce, a dusting of seaweed powder, more sliced green onions, and the cooking is finally over. But not, alas, the waiting.



Inside each glorious sphere is a molten tide of mouth-searing custard waiting to gush forth in a tongue-blistering torrent. It's a test of wills. How long can one resist the maddening aromas? How long before the urge to satisfy lust overwhelms caution and rational thought? Unfortunately for me, it's never long enough...




Takoyaki Tanota - Ow! Mmmm...


Bill:

4 pieces - 3.00
6 pieces - 4.00
8 pieces - 5.00

Flavor: A
Ambience: A
Service: A
ROI: A

Overall: A


Takoyaki Tanota
(In front of Marukai most weekends)
2975 Harbor Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Takoyaki Tanota website

Their event schedule can be found here.

They also have a food truck that cruises Los Angeles. Follow them on Twitter!

(Pictures for this review taken with my Canon PowerShot SD800is.

This article is dedicated to Kelly von Hemert of Galley Girl for her friendly and persistent nagging. She's in your kitchen and my head!!!)

Valhalla - The Hall of the Slain. It’s the final resting place of the Einherjar, heroes felled in glorious combat and selected by Odin the All-Father to serve in his personal guard. Raftered using spears and thatched with golden shields, it was said to always have room, food, and drink sufficient for all within it. Only warriors brave of spirit and whole of body could reside there, feasting and drinking as they waited for the final battle of Ragnarok.

It was basically a giant sausage fest.


(Duck, Bacon, & Jalapeno Sausage with Caramelized Onions)

When the eponymously named Valhalla Table opened at the CAMP, I couldn't wait to try it. After all, it was owned by Liv Karnaga & Chef Ehrline Karnaga, the same dynamic duo of sisters responsible for Layer Cake Bakery. They'd already given me my favorite Orange County source for deliciously decadent desserts. Their paean to homemade, organic, tubular delights surely wouldn't disappoint. Surely...



Valhalla Table is decorated in the minimalist industrial style that seems popular amongst eateries trying to be chic. Everything is composed of clean lines and muted tones. Black, grays, and white are dominant, giving the small space a cavernous feeling. It's very sterile.


(They sloshed a bit out of the bowl.)

When your food arrives, the splashes of color are a relief. Presentation, like the decor, is sparse. The flavors, on the other hand, are vivid and bold. Their piping hot Cream of Tomato soup begged for a grilled cheese sidekick. It enveloped the inside of my mouth in a soothing blanket of rich sweetness with just the right balance of acidity.



The Currywurst, on the other hand, arrived at the table an already dead, cold, and rapidly congealing mass of meat and fluids. The tomato-based curry sauce liberally slathered on top was reminiscent of store-bought Tikka Masala, completely overwhelming the lightly fried sausage pieces drowning underneath.



Belgian Style Potato Fries came highly recommended on Yelp and various food blogs (see below). The thickly hewn, twice-fried timbers of tuber were reminiscent of In-N-Out's "well-done" fries. They were simple, crunchy, and honest, although they could have used salt.


(Chicken & Apple Sausage)

Sausages run about $6-$7 dollars and are served simply grilled on a toasted roll. Each order comes with a choice of caramelized onions, sauerkraut, sweet peppers, salsa verde, or Indonesian sambal. Additional toppings run $1 extra each. No sides are included.

The sausages that I tried were both imaginative, but varied in their execution. The Chicken and Apple sausage was mild, surprisingly moist, and laced with gentle sweetness. The hefty amount of cinnamon used to spice the sausage, however, threw both Cat and I for a loop.

The Duck, Bacon, & Jalapeno Sausage (picture second from top) had a strong presence, but the ingredients clashed more than they complimented. The distinctive aromas of duck and bacon warred against each other like the Einherjar against Fenrir the wolf. The battle was intense and epic. Ultimately, like Fenrir, the bacon dominated by devouring all that stood in its path. The jalapeno added a nice bit of zing to the experience.




Valhalla Table - The concept is fun and the service is excellent. The quality of the ingredients and the care taken with their preparation really shines through. Unfortunately, the food could use some polish and balance, and the prices are on the high side.


Bill:

Cream of Tomato - 4.75
Currywurst - 5.50
Belgian Style Potato Fries - 3.50
Chicken & Apple Sausage - 6.00
Duck, Bacon, & Jalapeno Sausage - 7.00

Flavor: C+
Ambience: C-
Service: B
ROI: D

Overall: C


Valhalla Table
2981 Bristol Street (The CAMP)
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
1-714-549-2960
Valhalla Table website


Don't Take My Word for It - Reviews from other food blogs:

• Valhalla Table Coming To The Camp in Costa Mesa by Edwin Goei of Stick a Fork in It


• Valhalla Table Opens at The Camp. Rasta Taco & Ecco? Not So Much by Edwin Goei of Stick a Fork in It


• Valhalla Table's Sausage House Concept Comes From LA, but the Most Inspired Items Hail From Indonesia by Edwin Goei of Stick a Fork in It


• the very essence of cool by ILA of i nom things


• Valhalla Table - Costa Mesa from Notes... from the napkin


• Viking Feast at Valhalla Table? by OCEater of Eating My Way through OC