Exotic Mushroom

Le Cheval - Best Vietnamese? Ugh. I utterly fail to see what people like about that place. I have eaten there probably 6 or 7 times and tasted every dish that came to the table each time and I have yet to find one dish that impressive me. I asked a friend about this when I saw the list (and every time he drags me there) and he said he thinks it's because "it's so good and cheap and you get really large portions." Yuck. Aside from the fact that it is actually not good, nor particularly cheap, I can't stand those kinds of explanations. That's what people tell you when they're trying to convince you to go to chain restaurants. If you want good Vietnamese food in Oakland try Pho 84 on 17th and Franklin downtown. I seriously wish people would wake up and drop the East Bay-wide fixation with Le Cheval.

I'm disappointed to hear so many people have had bad experiences at Oliveto. Every time I've eaten there everything has been absolutely fantastic - impeccable service, amazing food. My only complaint is the wine list - I think it's fairly limited. I wish they would try to stock a little more in the way of older vintages. But I've still had many great wines there, and even been introduced to some of my now-favorites. I think some of the best service I've ever had was the first time I ate there. I was a poor college student, and a friend and I saved up for a couple of months to take a long weekend in Oakland and be decadent. We sat at that little bar area upstairs, and the waiter was incredibly attentive to us all night, making suggestions, bringing out little tastes of stuff from the kitchen, and so on all night. It was amazing.