49 - Powderface Cafe - Oakland

3411 E 12th St, Oakland, CA 94620, (510) 536-3223

Last visit: July, 2010

(Image source: Yelp.com) This seems like a great place to have a cup of coffee and enjoy a pastry. Their beignets are really good and reading from what others have said, it's becoming a bit of a phenomenon for east Oakland. Order a set up and you get three made for you then and there, not pulled out of a Cost-co tray. These are really good, and the powder sugar makes a fool out of your face.

Let's be real, this place can charge $5 bucks for their delicate sugar triangles if they are transplanted to College Avenue or Emeryville's Bay Street, but it's in East Oakland and it doesn't seem to be moving. I really want to urge people to go out there try the cafe regardless of your fears of the area. The Cafe is located in a plaza and the clientele ranges from construction workers hurrying for a cup of coffee to kids studying for their school work. The store is new and built with clean counters and comfy chairs. To give it character, the owner(s) lined the walls with photos of past customers who have enjoyed a powdered face. That face can be yours, so please give them a shot!

44 - Banh Mi Ba Le - Oakland

1909 International Blvd., Oakland, Ca. 94606, (510) 261 - 9800

I just can't give four stars to a little restaurant shop! It pains me to not do so though, because this place lives up to its hype.

This little shop for the frugal spender is a piece of heaven in east Oakland. They sell Vietnamese sandwiches and little snacks of all sorts. I've been there a couple of times now and every time more and more people seem to be there. They have about six small tables for people sit-ins, where they actually have pho' noodles as well as beef stew, but a majority of their operation runs on selling sandwiches to people on the go. Parking is getting more and more limited as more foodies have discovered this place. I mean, last time I went in, some guy ordered 18 sandwiches to go, so yeah, it might take awhile on bad days.

There are 10 primary sandwiches which you can order by number, but they have added six more unorthodox sandwiches to their menu. I mean, I don't necessarily want to have a sunny-side up egg sandwich or a grilled eel sandwich, but I'm glad I know where to get one now. They have blow-up pictures for all of them so you know what you're getting.

Lastly, I'll have to say that they brew a good cup of Vietnamese coffee. It's about $2.25 ($2.50 is the price of their sandwich, but with a $5 spot, you can get a nice meal). Definitely give this place a try if you're in the area or on a budget!

24 - Champa Gardens - Oakland

2102 8th. Ave, Oakland CA, 94606, (510) 238-8819

Last Visit - February 2009

Champa Gardens website

Champa Gardens is a small South-East Asian restaurant in East Oakland. It's not too far from Oakland Highschool, but is nestled in a deep residentual area, away from East 14th/International Ave. But it actually thrives. I have eaten food from there twice now, I guess it's Laotian or Cambodian flavors, and have no complaints. 

The food is amazingly fresh. The lettuce wrapped rice is really good for starters. And their curry is really good. We had the pumpkin curry, which was a part of their specials menu. Lastly we had the stuffed chickenwings. They're odd things, stuffed veggies and chicken used to remake a wing. It was quite tasty though. 

It just makes you wonder about what is Cambodian food? What kind of ethnic niche does it have against Chinese, Thai, and Indian. Or is it one of those types that are caught in the middle? I'll have to investigate this some more. 

As take-out goes, this would be a very safe choice.  

02 - the Pho King - East Oakland

the Pho King - 638 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94606, (510) 444-0448

Date of Visit: June 15th, 2008

Going to the Pho King gave me the motivation to blog about food. No not because of it's exquisite stature in the world of Vietnamese eateries, but instead just the shear number of Pho noodle houses in Oakland creates a need for people to recommend them. Ahh, the smell of beef boiling.

I went to the Pho King for lunch for the first time today. Yes, I've drove past it thousands of times, but never stepped in until today. It's really small! I think it had about 12 tables, but people were lined up out the door. They also had a really quick turnover. People came, ate, and left. It was a very homie place. The kitchen was in the back and they were not shy about showing it to you. You saw the staff preparing the beef and soups. Not a bad deal.

For pho' places I like to make judging plain and easy, if it's clean and it's fast, it's good. I really don't think there's a bad way to make pho if you follow those rules. They fulfilled those requirements, so they are on my good-list. I got their large beef noodle soup, I didn't want to get the XL, which would've been a cauldron of food. We ordered Drip-style coffees that got me wired for the rest of the day; but I 'm an addict for those.

They have a specialty there that's pho noodles with spicy pigs feet (or knuckles). I'll have to try that next time.

Yelp's two cents.