Bay Area: Day 2

After, waking up to a pretty good breakfast with delicious cinnamon rolls (more on that later), it was time to eat again, this time at a Chinese Dimsum restaurant in Dublin, a 45 minute drive from Berkeley via I-580. The place is called Koi Garden. Even at 2 pm it was busy.

Koi Garden
Environment- 10/10 Classy, elegant and definitely Chinese-influenced. Natural light is abundant and the interior is very pretty, with paintings, and lanterns hanging from walls. It is also surrounded by a mini-Chinatown type mall which is spotless. 10s are hard to get, but this one deserved it.
Food- 9/10 There are a lot of vegetarian dishes with fake meat, and altogether quite a few items on a paper menu where you mark the actual menu and hand it in. Most food doesn't come from the carts, but on trays straight from the kitchen, except non-hot items (genius), meaning hot food is actually hot, unlike other Dimsum places. Food is great, but some of the stuff is typical Dimsum-too salty. Dishes are unique and definitely a step above your average Dimsum joint.
Service- 8/10 The waiter and hostess were very efficient, almost too much so, and friendly enough. What they lacked in friendliness was made up for by speed. Food comes pretty darn fast. However, drinks were not attended to enough, nor was our table. It seems as if there weren't enough staff on hand, and the waiters and waitresses seemed overworked. Considering this, the staff did pretty well.
Price- The food is expectedly pricy, as one would see if they walked in. The price is well spent though, for the quality of food and the quality of the place.

To work off a heavy lunch, we went to Indian Rock Park. It is essentially a massive rock structure that you can scramble, walk, or climb up with a stunning view at the top. The pictures speak for themselves.
Golden Gate Bridge

Indian rock
We then ate at Cafe Callouci, an Ethiopian Restaurant in Oakland on Telegraph Ave.

Cafe Callouci
Environment- 8/10 Some of the tables have a glass sheet over a bed of the different Ethiopian seeds and spices. The music blares Ethiopian music (I'm beginning to think it wasn't really authentic Ethiopian music though). A lot of attention is given to the environment of the restaurant and it is largely successful in transporting you to an oasis of Africa in urban Oakland. Towards the back of the restaurant the tables get dangerously close to the bathroom at the back. The smell in the back half of the restaurant can inhibit on the environment. The floors of the restaurant are sometimes sticky for some reason. The menus also are flimsy.
Food- 7/10 Although mainly vegetarian, the menu also has around 10 meat dishes. The vegetarian portions are pretty good, but the meat portions are pricey and downright small. All of the food looks great as it is unified onto one huge platter, but the meat really disappointed. Hope you like vegetables. The flavor is fiery and strong. The flavor is explosive. It's great. Just be wary of portions. All tables are given a basket of special, room temperature bread.
Service- 9/10 The servers are very friendly. Always willing to give more of the flax seed bread and smiling. Only lost point on not noticing new customers at first.
Price-  Kindof expensive, but worth it if you want to experience Ethiopian food. Otherwise don't bother. And if you only rely on eating meat. Don't bother.
Overall-8/10. Very good.

Because of the small portions, we had a big desert at Fenton's, a local speciality. It's a desert emphasis place but also serves burgers, fries, salads, and other grilled foods.

Fenton's
Environment- 10/10 Noisy as heck. Busy as heck. But, it's so appealing. Fenton's feels like a happening place where the whole crowd sings happy birthday to one person, where people shout, laugh, and overall have a great time. It's hard not to smile in this crazy environment. Maybe not the best for romantic getaways...if you're looking for that they do have outside seating.
Food- 9/10 The burger was surprisingly very good, and the desserts blew me away. The taste was the best ice cream ever, and the presentation was there. Only thing missing was the ease of eating, as the ice cream was held in a large tall cup making it really hard to eat and a lot ended up falling on the table. Ice cream portions are HUGE.
Service- 9/10 All servers were enthusiastic and contributed to the environment. They really seemed to enjoy working there. Drinks were abundant as were smiles.
Price- The burgers and grill stuff is reasonably priced, but the ice cream can be viewed as ridiculous pricing. Around $10 for one ice cream dish. And that's the lower end. It's your choice whether the price is worth it.
Overall- 9.66/10

Bay Area: Day 1

The purpose of this trip was to visit my sister who goes to college in Berkeley.
Vacation finally rolled around again. Ecstatic, a mad dash was made from the house to the airport. After parking at MasterPark, we rushed through the long check in line of Southwest and the also long line of security at the Central Checkpoint at SEA (Seattle, WA). With just 5 minutes to spare to departure, we reached gate B12, and boarded the waiting Southwest 364 flight, a 73G (737-700), with service from SEA-OAK (Seattle-Oakland).

The flight was decidedly average, two packets of peanuts and a drink were handed out. There was a salted peanut packet and honey peanut. In my opinion, pathetic. Almost more impressive to give nothing. Subsequent to landing in a foggy Oakland, we took the shuttle to the rental car center and got our Nissan Versa. 

The car doesn't provide much power, but it gets the job done. Interior is surprisingly spacious and trunk space is adequate. The car comfortably sits 4, and in a pinch 5, but with 5 it is squishy. After checking into the Holiday Inn Express at Berkeley, we drove to Grand Ave in Oakland for a dinner at Neecha Thai. 

Neecha Thai

Environment- 9.5/10 I have to give it to them on this one. Nestled in a slightly posh, but antique neighborhood full of history, this thai restaurant is clean, elegant, and sets the perfect balance between romantic and family-friendly. Floors are spotless, tables spotless, and real flowers garnish the tables. Menus are a little flimsy and slightly old, which is the only downpoint.  

Food- 8/10 Portions are enormous, but sometimes the flavor was slightly too strong. This is of course personal opinion, but solid chunks of ginger and garlic were meshed into my Pad See Ew. The flavor was overpowering. The ginger and garlic belonged on the side. Lots of vegetarian options which is good for the setting the restaurant is in. 

Service- 8/10 The waitress was friendly, but didn't shock or amaze. She wasn't attentive enough as drinks ran dry, but when she came she always had a pleasant smile. Food came very fast, earning some points. 

Price- Dishes were in the $10-$15 range, which is good for the food they serve. 

Favs- Pad See Ew (Rice noodles with soy sauce and egg) Pad Thai (Noodles with traditional orange colored thai sauce)
Least Favs- Water with lemon (personal opinion, this could go in the faves if you like lemon)

The best part of the night was meeting my older sister and watching the olympics.