Saturday, December 17, 2005

Berkeley Gourmet Ghetto West

There is no trepidation cruising the ghettos of Berkeley. Maybe a little scary traffic and parking problems but little to fear and much to enjoy. The Tokyo Fish Market is located at 1220 San Pablo, Berkeley. It seems they have moved to a brand new location directly behind the old location. We carefully made our way through the tight parking lot between the two buildings. Once inside the store is large, bright and inviting. All kinds of fish, meat and Asian products. Got questions, just asked the staff. All are friendly and knowledgable. They deserve very high ratings for customer service and great products. We scored some Bluefin Tuna, soba noodles, and some white miso.
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lots of fish
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prepared foods too
Down the street in the 1600 block of San Pablo is a austere building that houses a trio of shops known as Gourmet Ghetto West. Acme bread, Cafe Fanny, and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant beckon. At noon on Saturday the lines for Acme look like lines for Rolling Stones tickets or the queue for the new Xbox 360. The wait is worthwhile. I ducked into Kermit Lynch while my bride held forth for bread. I know not about French wine so I placed my trust in Richard a happy looking wine guy. I told him I had a nice piece tuna on ice. After a moment of thought Richard proffered a Chateau du Trigonon 2003 Rasteau Cotes-du-Rhone Villages($18). Don't ask me to pronounce that. It was outstanding by the way. About the time I reached the door wifey had bread in hand.
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Salad with Meyer Lemon dressing and tuna
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the bread that made it home
Cafe Fanny was slammed. A whole bunch of beautiful, well dressed people eating extraordinary looking egg dishes. It looked like a photo shoot from Gourmet Magazine. No time to wait, we have to meet my daughter for lunch later. Well ok, we sacrificed a loaf of French bread for an appetizer. Note to self, eat at Cafe Fanny another day.

4 comments:

Mona said...

Great pictures! That bread looks great!!

cookiecrumb said...

I'm so glad your daughter's at Cal, because then you get to teach me things about Berkeley. I mean, I do know about some things in Berkeley (like for instance Berkeley Bowl, which -- hangs head in shame -- I've never been to). But I hadn't heard of this great fish market.

Guy said...

The area near Cafe Fanny and down south a bit is also known as Ho Row, heh. But that's another story.

Biggles

Greg said...

Mona Thanks two loaves were sacraficed before the photo.
Cookiecrumb Yeah I check out the east bay everytime I see the kids.
Dr B San Pablo in Oaktown. Ho Ho Ho