Robert P. wrote: >Olivetto and Bay Wolf come to mind. I'm not sure about wheelchair >accessibility for Olivetto, however, as its main dining room is at the >top of a pretty steep staircase. Bay Wolf is a wonderful restaurant. Been there a number of times and always enjoy it. The food is good and the service is first rate. Except. Except when we order fish. I've had one bad experience after another there ordering fish and have stopped doing so.
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Good fish or other place in Oakland wanted
Someone wrote: [snip] > >People still like fried fish--the deep-fried halibut's a big seller a >few blocks away at Pyramid. They just have higher standards. > Though not much higher. I would hesitate to send somebody to Pyramid for the food. It's adequate to absorb some of their excellent beers, but I would hardly describe it as good.
Pete F. wrote: > Someone wrote: > >People still like fried fish--the deep-fried halibut's a big seller a > >few blocks away at Pyramid. They just have higher standards. > > > Though not much higher. I would hesitate to send somebody to Pyramid > for the food. It's adequate to absorb some of their excellent beers, > but I would hardly describe it as good. FWIW, I think the food at Pyramid is pretty decent. I eat there once a month with a group that meets there. I usually have the fish and chips which are at least fresh tasting (I'm picky about that). Recently I had the shrimp louie salad which was huge and very nice, though it had iceberg lettuce (bleh). I would recommend Pyramid as a good place to go with a large group (ask for the banquet room upstairs (there's an elevator) and be sure to reserve it in advance). There is a variety of foods on the menu, and prices are decent (full meals run $8-12 and lighter meals are $6-10). I don't drink, and they don't brew non-alcoholic beverages, so I can't comment on how they are as a brewery, but other people seem happy. Cyndi _______________________________________________________________________________ "There's nothing wrong with me. Maybe there's Cyndi Norman something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG) [email removed] Owner of the Immune Lists: http://www.best.com/~immune _________________________________________________ http://www.consultclarity.com
I basically agree. The menu and kitchen are both spotty. Some dishes are always bad. The halibut's usually great, but if you hit them on an off day everything may be mediocre or worse. Pete F. wrote: > > Someone wrote: > > [snip] > > > > >People still like fried fish--the deep-fried halibut's a big seller a > >few blocks away at Pyramid. They just have higher standards. > > > Though not much higher. I would hesitate to send somebody to Pyramid > for the food. It's adequate to absorb some of their excellent beers, > but I would hardly describe it as good. > > -- > Pete Fraser
NNTP-Posting-User: spp Xref: ba.food:32916 Robert L. wrote: >Spenger's problem isn't just that their *style* is old-fashioned, but >that they haven't kept up with improvements in *quality*. Yep. > Though the style's a problem, too. In an era when people have been > demanding fresher, better fish cooked more carefully, they've stuck > with the 50s approach of heavy breading, deep frying, and overcooking. A minor quibble, the typical fish preparation at Spenger's isn't deep fried; it is pan fried. This actually make Spenger's fish and chips less greasy than typical fish and chips. Some things, like the scallops, are deep-fried but all the non-shellfish fish is pan fried. (In fact, the Spenger's preparation approach is essentially identical to that at the Fishwife in Pacific Grove, a restaurant many ba.food'ers like. The Fishwife just uses a thinner batter an otherwise pays more attention to quality. Both serve battered, pan-fried fish in the usual case. I place these restaurants in the same genre.) >People still like fried fish--the deep-fried halibut's a big seller a >few blocks away at Pyramid. They just have higher standards. I would hesitate to hold out Pyramid as an example of higher food standards. I haven't had good luck with the food there. I like the beer though. I can't say I've tried the halibut since I generally avoid halibut. The original poster may indeed want to take her relatives to Spengers, since it is still a potentially good restaurant which is not going to be around much longer. But if so, order carefully. Avoid floury menu items such as New England clam chowder or Crab Newburg. It won't be an impeccable dinner but it may well be enjoyable. Steve