Eat Your Way Around the East Bay for Under $10, $15, and $20

Living in the food-obsessed age that we do, enlightened dining options are almost as common as Chez Panisse was once rare. Of course, paying for these enlightened options often have the effect of, well, lightening the wallet. But not necessarily. Challenged by our economic times, along with just wanting a spirited game of foodie sport, we endeavored to find excellent meals for prices that wouldn’t break the bank.   We wanted the gamut, across a gamut of possibilities: We wanted diverse cuisines, diverse neighborhoods and diverse presentations. For the most part, we wanted our choices to be filling. And we wanted all of them to be made with a decidedly uneconomical amount of scrumptious ingredients. What follows is what we found for under $10, under $15 and under $20. And while it’s nowhere near complete (sorry Shan Dong, your $1 pork and vegetable buns are perhaps the best in Oakland’s Chinatown, and a full meal to boot) just think of it as a starting point for your own search for frugal foodie eats.

$10 and Under

$2.75
Grilled Pork Banh Mi

Cam Huong, 920 Webster St., Oakland, (510) 444-8800

Too often when it comes to food, a bang for your buck means a sucker-punch to the belly. And arteries. And cholesterol. But at Cam Huong, a cramped deli wedged into the parking-challenged section of Oakland’s Chinatown, the goods are filling, fresh and by all means, frugal. Cam Huong’s banh mi — Vietnamese sandwiches — have been the rage of dialed-in foodies for years now, and for good reason. Served on fresh French baguettes made at the Cam Huong bakery down the street and filled with fistfuls of cilantro, jalapeños, a strata of pickled carrots and daikon and finished with your choice of meat (grilled pork just edges out the curried chicken), the whole butcher-paper wrapped creation makes the $5 footlong at Subway look boorish, lumpen and wayyyyy overpriced.

$8.50
Ka Moo Over Rice

Chai Thai Noodles, 545-B International Blvd., Oakland, (510) 832-2500

Give us a restaurant with 102 choices of dishes, and we’ll give you a really mediocre breakfast from someplace like Denny’s, whose menu has about that many selections and none of them worth choosing. Not so at Chai Thai Noodles, the tiny purple storefront tucked away on International Boulevard. Despite its length, the Chai Thai Noodle menu needs no surveyors’ equipment to navigate, because just about every dish from this 2½-year-old restaurant is savory and thoughtfully put together. Forced to pick just one meal, though, we gravitate every time to the ka moo: a fork-tender pork leg stew, scented flawlessly with star anise and served with a spicy garlic-lime sauce. Though the ka moo comes à la carte (for a higher price), get it over rice; it’s the perfect bed for the sauce that comes from the commingling of the pork’s natural juices and that garlic-lime sauce.

$7
Pork Siu Mai

East Ocean Seafood Restaurant, 1713 Webster St., Alameda, (510) 865-3381

Here’s where the protocol of the Frugal Foodies Guide set-up fails us: Because East Ocean isn’t really about one dish, it’s about all the dishes in this neighborhood joint known best for its dim sum served up at raucously affordable prices (in a group, a full, belly-busting meal can easily total less than $20 per person). A dim sum spot that does it right — with the waitstaff pushing rickety metal carts up and down the aisles and offering what’s best, at that moment — the food is at its best when the proportion of steamed dishes outnumbers those that are fried. To that end, steer toward the Chinese broccoli when it’s available, the baked custard bun as an end-of-meal treat, and most definitely, any siu mai. Served in an envelope of chewy dough, the pork siu mai, in particular, is succulent and definitely worth having that cart stop at the table twice. Don’t see any siu mai on the floor? Then by all means, corral a cart lady, make your request, and she’ll radio it in to the kitchen. Now that’s some dim sum.

$5
Crispy Hot Dog

Scolari’s, 1303 Park St., Alameda, (510) 521-2400

These days, and especially at county fairs, it’s all the rage to fry things. Or rather, EVERYthing. Fried Twinkies? Check. Fried Oreos? Check. Fried avocados, Klondike bars and peanut butter sandwiches? Check cubed, and hey, you best toss down a Tagamet with that mess. Still, we’d yet to see the day of the fried hot dog. Apparently Scolari’s — a venture started about a half-year ago by chef/restaurant consultant Michael Boyd along with the owner of the neighboring Lucky 13 bar — saw the culinary hole and has gone for it. A foot-long thing of beauty, this dog doesn’t have a pedigree, but it’s certainly pampered after taking a bath in hot oil and then cooking on the grill till it’s charred on the outside and nearly velvet on the inside. For an even heftier meal, throw in an order of everyone’s favorite Buffalo fries — thin-sliced spuds lathered in hot sauce and topped with matchsticks of carrot and celery and a fistful of blue cheese crumbles …  and whoa! Tell all those county fairs to shelve their deep fryers —because it’s hard to believe it can get more sinful than this.

$15 and Under

$14
Sashimi Bento

Kakui Sushi, 2060 Mountain Blvd., Oakland,  (510) 338-1188

A story for another day is precisely why Montclair has turned into Little Japantown with its three, count ’em, three Japanese restaurants, but no one’s complaining ever since Kakui swept into the ’hood and raised the bar, pun intended. Boasting the freshest fish in the area, if not all of Oakland, Kakui also has a large selection. Nice, because we get really irritated when cooked tako, ika and horrors, ebi (octopus, squid and shrimp) make their way onto our sashimi plate. No worries at Kakui, especially with the lunchtime sashimi bento, which comes with two pieces each of sake, maguro and hamachi (salmon, tuna and yellowtail), rice, miso soup, salad, fruit and one California roll. While we’d love the option of a little more diversity in the bento considering the state of overfishing, not to mention the wonderful suzuki (striped bass) and aji (mackerel) we’ve enjoyed here, we won’t hop up on our bento box and pontificate just now.

$15
Parsnip Soup With Chestnuts and Pear and a glass of Berger Grüner Veltliner

Plum, 2214 Broadway, Oakland, (510) 444-7586

Not every dish should leave one so stuffed that those crazy ads for the Perfect Fit Button, that instrument of denial that allows one to add inches to one’s waistband without going up a size, seem sane. Enter Plum’s parsnip soup. The creation of Plum’s new executive chef Charlie Parker, who’s now heading the kitchen for two-star Michelin chef Daniel Patterson, this cream-based soup makes up for its small gastronomic stature with what it delivers in umami, that esoteric Japanese term for a fifth taste that is neither salty nor sweet nor sour nor bitter and raises a dish to another dimension. As much as it dazzles on the palate, the presentation is pretty nifty too: A server delivers a bowl of shaved, crisped chestnuts, julienned Asian pear and a chervil garnish; presents a laboratory beaker of puréed parsnip soup that’s been cooked down with onion, garlic and shallot, and then pours it, tableside. Accented with the notes of nut oils, lime and green rhubarb from a chilled glass of Berger Grüner Veltliner and you have a meal … especially if you live by that ancient East Asian maxim: “For long life, eat until you’re 70 percent full.” And if this soup is no longer on the menu — Plum, like many of Bay Area’s best restaurants, prides itself on its seasonal menu — we’re betting you can’t go wrong with almost any daily pairing the kitchen is offering.

$13
Salumi and a Cold Menebrea Bionda

Adesso, Oakland, 4395 Piedmont Ave., (510) 601-0305

We see you there, thinking, “Hmm. Cold cuts and a beer. Not much of a meal.” Not so fast, friend. Because this is Adesso, home of the not one, but two, happy hours where the happy comes not from libations but from noshing. So go ahead, order a plate of prosciutto cotto (brined and cooked leg of pork), which on its own is not so much cold cut as it is craftsmanship. Order a Menebrea Bionda Italian birra. Because as long as you’ve bellied up when the apertivo bar is open, you can supplement your meal like a Cal student taking advantage of the math club-sponsored pizza study break. Load up on the green salad, the Parmesan, the olives, the piadine (Italy’s answer to quesadillas), the panini, the pasta or bean salad, some shrimp and seared tuna, and even more salumi. If only college study breaks could really be like this.

$15
Spinach Lasagna

Angela’s Bistro and Bar, 2301 Central Ave., Alameda, (510) 522-5822

When it comes to lasagna, there are a few different camps in which people stake their noodles. To wit: There is the meat versus the veggie crowd (should the lasagna feature a savory bolognese, or perhaps a fresh, quick-cooked vegetable?) and then there’s the béchamel versus red sauce crowd (should the layers of pasta be bound with a creamy white sauce, or a red sauce with dollops of ricotta?). After trying it every which way, Angela’s has settled on its spinach lasagna: A four-layer, red-sauce and ricotta extravaganza that fills you up but doesn’t make you feel like you’ve filled out. And, unlike some lasagnas that have the consistency of a masonry brick, Angela’s lasagna — with its shock of fresh thyme, parsley and basil plucked from the garden at Alameda’s Rock Wall Wine Co. — gets a moist, delicate quality from fresh Mozzarella that helps the noodles complete their cooking in the oven, and surprisingly, frozen spinach. No matter. It’s perfetto.

$20 and Under

$18
Regular Pizza (Margherita)

Emilia’s Pizzeria, 2995 Shattuck, Berkeley, (510) 704-1794

So is a pizza worth a dollar an inch? It is at Emilia’s in South Berkeley, and even at those ridiculous pizza real estate prices, it’s still a meal for two, even three people. And what a meal it is. Put together by chef and owner Keith Freilich (East Coast pizza lovers, take note: Freilich worked at New Jersey’s venerated Grimaldi’s), this pizza is eight slices of heaven, if heaven comes on a blistered and bubbly wafer-thin crust that still imparts the flavor of yeast and olive oil, is topped with a sparing hand of sauce that tastes like a summer tomato just plucked from the vine, and scattered with fresh Mozzarella and basil and finished with a scattering of Parmesan after it comes out of the gas oven. A little more flush in the wallet? Then select from the limited add-on list, like red onions ($1) or sopressata ($4). Of course, this heaven comes with a few rules: While there is very, very spare seating, most diners call shortly after 4 p.m., the day they want their pizza, and reserve their pie and pick-up time. Emilia’s is civilized and organized and serving up perfect pizzas — just like we always thought heaven would be.

$17.90 (for two)
Pozole (Pork with red chile broth and chicken with green chile broth)

Taco Grill, Fruitvale Public Market, 3340 E. 12th St., Ste 11, Oakland, (510) 534-3752

So, you know the best shops for burritos, the best taco trucks for, well, tacos. But do you know the best place for pozole? Do you even know what pozole is? Hey, the iPhone generation likely doesn’t — each time “pozole” is typed into a Mac device, it’s automatically corrected to “puzzle.” Pozole, simply put, is a hearty meat and hominy soup with a base of chile broth that comes in the colors of the Mexican flag — white, red or green — and if you ask us, the best in the Bay is served at Taco Grill in the Fruitvale Public Market. Served so piping hot it rivals the temperature of the surface of the sun, the pozole at Taco Grill is an explosion of flavor. We favor the Niman Ranch pork with the earthy and peppery red broth, as well as the Rocky Free Range chicken with the rich, yet bright, green broth. Toss in the condiments — cabbage, onion, radish, tostada, lemon and extra hot sauce — and you have the salty, sweet, crunchy, tangy and heat elements also familiar in a bowl of Vietnamese pho. Don’t know pho? Uh oh.

$20
Paprika Chicken and Side of Roasted Beets

Pizza Rustica, 6106 La Salle Ave., Oakland, (510) 339-7878.

In the ’70s, it was all about paprika. Paprika on beef. Paprika on potatoes. Paprika in rice. Fast forward to 2011 and paprika is making a comeback in the kitchen of Pizza Rustica. And thank goodness, because the paprika rotisserie chicken is a beauty. The full chicken, formerly a bird that ranged freely on the rolling hills of Sonoma, comes fresh and hot straight from the rotisserie, juices running clear, with a bountiful dusting of a kosher salt and paprika blend. Take one home and divvy it up — Rustica pre-cuts the chicken making it easy to rend with even your bare hands. And for a complete meal, add a side. While Rustica offers roasted and mashed potatoes, baked beans and various salads, we love the roasted beets, served room temperature. For slow food served sort of fast, this is truly living.

$15
Any Daily Pappardelle

Pizzaiolo, 5008 Telegraph Ave., Oakland,  (510) 652-4888

We first visited Pizzaiolo for the pizza. Who wouldn’t? Chef and owner Charlie Hallowell has helped change the landscape of Bay Area pizzas since opening in 2005, marrying what could be just conventional pizza dough with everything from nettles to salt cod to soft-cooked eggs. The result was a pie elevated to work-of-art status, resulting in long lines and table after table photographing their food so much (this is a trend we could see go the way of the 8-track any time now), the menu now requests that no electronic devices be wielded at tables. And while the pizza is indeed all that, what we discovered after several visits, was Pizzaiolo’s dirty little secret: That the pappardelle, when on the menu, is pure deliciousness in a bowl. A recent favorite married leeks, crème fraîche and thinly sliced wild mushrooms along with a toothsome tangle of those pappardelle ribbons. For a pizza joint, it ain’t half bad.

This article appears in the March-April 2011 issue of Alameda Magazine
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