Uncle Willie's Bar-B-Que: beef links

Uncle Willie's Bar-B-Que: beef links

Uncle Willie's pork sandwich (an actual sandwich, not a "sandwich order," or smaller portion than a dinner order in common 'cue joint parlance) used to be one of the great, tasty bargains in the area, but I guess I was the only one eating 'em because they don't do it anymore, so nowadays I often go for the beef links.



Uncle Willie's links have a nice, coarse grind. They sport a light smoke ring and have more of a charcoal-grilled flavor than a smoked flavor, though the outer casing bears no obvious grill marks. The medium sauce (on top of the meat if you don't ask otherwise; I like sauce over my links but on the side of other barbecued meats) gets the heat right- the hot has a bit much red chile flakes, which compete with the meat, and I don't do mild.

Sandwich orders come with one side; I usually go with the collard greens. Uncle Willie's are chopped, peppery greens with just a bit of likker, probably canned but you know what? I don't care because they're tasty and I'm eating a large serving of a highly nutritious veg at lunchtime. That doesn't happen much away from Asian cuisine. 2 slices of regulation-issue wheat bread for sopping up sauce round out the order.

$9.73 all-in, and I had a half dozen slices of links left over for a snack later.

Uncle Willie's Original Bar-B-Que and Fish
614 14th
465.9200

Kai's Japanese Restaraunt opens in Old Oakland

Kai's Japanese Restaurant opens in Old Oakland



Strolling down Washington during my midday foraging I was startled to see that Kai's Japanese Restaurant, which had appeared to be on the verge of opening for months, had finally done so. This is the 2nd Kai's; the other is in Alameda (I have never been there). I settled on the chicken teriyaki bento as an opening foray, placed my order for takeout, and sat at the bar about 5 minutes as my order was prepared. The other bar denizens were eating sushi and seemingly enjoying it.


The grilled chicken is slightly smoky where charred, and topped with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. The slightly sweet teriyaki sauce is absorbed a bit by the bed of rice which nonetheless remained firm. The accompaniments are an iceberg lettuce salad with shredded carrot and red onion and lightly dressed in a sweet, mayo-based condiment, and a Hawaiian-esque macaroni salad (no potato) featuring carrots as well.

$5 all in- far, FAR better than the heat-lamp preserved offerings from Suruki's on the same block. The chicken teri bento was satisfying, and if it's any indication Kai's is certainly a worthwhile addition to the lunchtime rotation, particularly given the reasonable toll.

Kai's Japanese Restaurant
801 Washington
893.KAIS (893.5247)

Spices! 3 Szechuan Trenz Kung pao chicken!!

Spices! 3's Kung pao chicken, branded a 2-dot incendiary alarm on the menu, kicks ass.




I'm no Chinese food guru but I'll venture to say that if one were fishing around Chinatown for a benchmark of this classic though oft-bastardized Szechuan stalwart, one could do far worse than Spices! 3's tasty rendition.

The nuggets of chicken took a quick spin in the wok accompanied by no less than a dozen red chiles, a smattering of green onion, and a judicious number of large coins of ginger, along with a handful of whole peanuts. The chicken is glazed by a deliciously thick, dark, complex sauce flecked with tiny black bits, most likely from the more wok-scorched chiles- totally worth sitting at the desk in damp pants for an hour after dashing 3 long blocks through the pouring rain.

$7.10 all in.

Spices! 3
369 12th St
625.8889

Cam Huong BBQ Bacon Banh Mi

Cam Huong BBQ Bacon Banh Mi

Banh mi, or Vietnamese sandwiches on good crusty French bread and accesorized with a whole galaxy of contrasting flavors and textures, are the great value of downtown Oakland lunches.



Here we have Cam Huong's BBQ bacon banh mi, or banh mi ba chi. First, the bread- the outer crust is almost shatteringly crisp, quickly giving way to a soft, pillowy interior, moistened by a mayo-like condiment that doesn't taste like mayo down near the bottom of the roll.

Next, the meat- several strips of pleasantly chewy, meaty bacon, not smoky at all, bright pink/red on outer edge (I think that's why it gets labeled BBQ, I'm not sure how they cooked it but it results in soft and chewy rather than crispy bacon) with swathes of creamy white.

Finally, a glorious collision of freshness- the BBQ bacon is nestled beneath lightly-pickled strips of daikon & carrot, followed by cucumber sliced lengthwise, jalapenos sliced both lengthwise and crosswise into rounds, and cilantro sprigs.

When you eat a banh mi, layers of contrasting textures and flavors- crispy, soft, tangy, bright, salty, sweet, spicy, citrusy, meaty- party in your mouth.

At $2.50 for a legitimate, meal-sized sandwich which IMHO needs no adjuncts to form a satisfying lunch (note how it spans the diameter of a standard paper plate), banh mi such as Cam Huong's are one of the great bargains in town. And if you need something more, throw in a mere $3 for the goi cuon (fresh shrimp rolls) that kick the ass of the Le Cheval pretenders at a fraction of the price.

Try to go a little before noon, it can get hectic in this narrow storefront.

Cam Huong
920 Webster

Never mind the phone number, the sandwich is done in a minute or two.

Tamarindo Antojeria: La Torta Poblana

Tamarindo Antojeria: La Torta Poblana

Much to my chagrin the Fruitvale's plethora of excellent Mexican food is out of reach at lunchtime, but downtown does have a gem in Tamarindo. While Tamarindo's menu is better-suited to sitting down at an actual table and having a proper meal than eating while staring at the screens, their tortas are eminently portable for the desk-bound.




Tamarindo's torta poblana is an excellent sandwich. The bottom roll is spread with aioli, then gets a smear of not-quite-pureed, not-quite entire frijoles negros, atop which goes the grilled chicken breast, which is pounded thin, sports serious grill marks, and is not the least bit dry. Above the chicken is a layer of very-well-melted jack cheese, followed by rajas (roasted poblano chile, cut into strips), slices of avocado, shredded romaine lettuce and thinly sliced red onion, with the top roll again spread with aioli.

The chicken is very good, but it is the rajas and avocado which really elevate this torta. At $7.61 and a bit on the small side it's not a bargain, but considering the quality of the torta it is fairly priced. When dining in at Tamarindo I'd probably eat half a torta as part of an assortment of antojitos, but taken with the thick, fresh tortilla chips which accompany it, this is a delicious, satisfying lunch.

Tamarindo Antojeria
468 8th
444.1944

Rico's Diner Cheeseburger

Rico's Diner Cheeseburger


Conditions once again called for a cheeseburger so I hit up Rico's Diner, where I'd sampled the burger offerings once previously. I understand Rico is pretty proud of his burger, and rightly so- after one nit has been picked.

This burger brings "1/3 lb +" high-quality, well-seasoned ground chuck ensconced in a nice Acme bun, unseeded and toasted within. Its heartily beefy flavor is elaborated nicely with a thorough char, blushing a lovely deep pink within in medium-rare style as requested. The proper beef-to-bun-ratio is maintained; the patty fills this thing out well. The thick slice of cheddar melted nicely, bonding burger to bun up top; the toppings (a single dill pickle chip, a single thin slice tomato, thinly-sliced onion and lettuce) are underlings here, providing a bed for the patty. The bottom bun sogged out just a bit on the walk back but held up admirably to the last bite. The juices commingled with the mayo for a tasty condiment, making up for the fact that the advertised mustard was either absent or buried in the mix. They threw 2 ketchup packets in the sack too, wonder what those were for...

The only demerit to be handed out here is in regards to the shredded iceberg lettuce, which I find a little odd considering the proudly-offered Acme bun. Perhaps next time Rico can be persuaded to put leaf lettuce from one of the salads on there. $6.25 all-in. More than Rocky's, and justly so.

Rico's Diner
400 15th St, between Broadway & Franklin
444-8424

Spices! 3 Pork Trenz

Spices! 3 Pork Trenz

In my continuing exploration of the punctuation-laden "Szechuan Trenz" offered at Spices! 3 (sic), yesterday I found before me a plate of Szechuan pork. It can be found in the rice plates portion of the menu, where it is emblazoned with three (I guess that should be 3!) of the heat-signifying dots (why didn't they use !!! instead?).



Most of the kick comes from chile oil, which pools a bit beneath the white rice dome- until you discover the slender wedges of green chile, streamers of seeds intact, scattered about amidst the green onion. Red chile paste is also at the party. The dish is shot through with a pleasantly smoldering chile flavor working in concert, rather than in competition with, the julienned pork.

No actual pain, no mopping of the brow, but the 3! dot heat level is indeed spicy.

$7.10 all in.

Spices! 3
369 12th St
625.8889