Check, Please! Bay Area, season 19, episode 15, airs Thursday, February 20, at 7:30 pm, on KQED 9. See other television airtimes.

This week’s culinary adventure begins at Bhan Mae Vane in Alameda, a vibrant eatery specializing in bold, aromatic Laotian cuisine. Highlights include tangy, refreshing papaya salad, spicy and savory pad kee mao noodles, and perfectly crisped pork belly. Next, Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack in San Francisco’s Mission District combines a quirky, eclectic vibe with satisfying Italian-American comfort food. Guests enjoy their hearty five-layer Cadillac lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, and their juicy, flavorful steak dinners served with red peppercorn jus and pesto spaghetti. Lastly, District in downtown Oakland brings an elegant yet approachable dining experience, offering expertly crafted shareable plates designed to pair with an artfully curated selection of wines and cocktails. From classic Margherita pizza and crispy arancini romano to tender lamb meatballs and elote topped with roasted chili crema and cotija cheese, District’s menu thrills both wine enthusiasts and food lovers alike.

Host Leslie Sbrocco joins guests Richard Hsu, Tonya Thomas and Jeff Hunt from KQED in San Francisco.

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Host Leslie Sbrocco sipping wine (Courtesy of Leslie Sbrocco)

My name is Leslie Sbrocco, and I’m the host of Check, Please! Bay Area. Each week, I’ll share my tasting notes about the wine, beer and spirits the guests and I drank on set during the taping of the show.

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Episode Transcript

Leslie Sbrocco: Bold Laotian and Thai flavors in Alameda…

Jeff Hunt: Hands on. I like to touch my food.

Michael Irish: Cheers, cheers, cheers.

Leslie Sbrocco: …a quirky Italian spot in San Francisco…

Tonya Thomas: I’m kind of wishing that I had the Caesar salad.

Leslie Sbrocco: …and a hip wine and whiskey lounge in Oakland…

Richard Hsu: Trust me, that dish did not last long.

Leslie Sbrocco: …just ahead on Check, Please! Bay Area.

Richard Hsu: Oh.

Leslie Sbrocco: Tell us.

[music playing]

Leslie Sbrocco: Hi, I’m Leslie Sbrocco. Welcome to Check, Please! Bay Area, the show where Bay Area residents review and talk about their favorite restaurants. Now, we have three guests, and each one recommends one of their favorite spots, and the other two go check them out to see what they think. Joining me at the Check, Please! table today are retired lawyer and podcaster Richard Hsu, podcaster and editor Jeff Hunt, and senior analyst Tonya Thomas. Well, welcome, everyone. Are you ready to party?

All: Yes!

Leslie Sbrocco: Richard’s up first with his favorite date-night spot. It’s a casual little eatery founded by two sisters, bringing their own modern twist to traditional Thai and Laotian dishes. Nestled in the heart of Alameda, it’s Bhan Mae Vane.

Thip Tran: Welcome, guys.

Bebe Lach: Bhan Mae Vane is a Lao and Thai restaurant in the heart of Alameda, family-run business.

Thip Tran: When we created this business, we created it in honor of our mom. My family came from Vientiane, which is the capital of Laos.

Bebe Lach: Growing up, my mom ran a family restaurant. But back in those days, it was Thai food. It wasn’t Laotian food. My mom was afraid to really bring that out because nobody knew anything about Laos. Lao food, some ingredients are pungent, like anchovy sauce and shrimp paste sauce, so it adds a little bit more depth of flavor.

Bebe Lach: Nam Khao is our crispy rice ball salad that is a traditional Laotian dish, but it’s my mom’s twist to things—like add a little bit of this to give it more flavor here—because people don’t do that. So we’ve learned those little tips and tricks from her. My favorite item on the menu is the sakoo. Sakoo is savory tapioca balls. It’s ground pork with fresh shallots, onions, garlic, peanuts, wrapped with tapioca dough. Back in the day before we opened our restaurant, you’d get lucky if you’d get it from a little old lady selling it at the temple. It’s just a dish that you just can’t find anywhere. You wrap it all up in a bite-size and just pop it in, and it’s like, the best thing ever.

Thip Tran: People are actually coming in and ordering the Thai food and exploring the Lao food…

Bebe Lach: Yeah.

Thip Tran: …and also loving it.

Bebe Lach: If my mom was here and she could see what we’ve done with this restaurant in honor of her, I think she would be proud. My mom did get a chance to try my food, and one of the last things that she asked for before she passed away was, um… [voice breaking] my Pad Thai. She loved my food. And if she were to be looking down, she’d be very proud.

All: Bhan Mae Vane!

[cheering]

Leslie Sbrocco: All right, Richard, you live in San Francisco, but you make that trek to Alameda. Is it worth it?

Richard Hsu: It’s totally worth it for Bhan Mae Vane. My girlfriend grew up in Alameda. She discovered this restaurant. It’s very family-friendly. You can have large groups of people there. It’s bright and airy, it’s modern. It’s really a fun place to have dinner.

Leslie Sbrocco: And what do you start with?

Richard Hsu: So we always start with the sakoo, which is this amazing dish that’s served in a bamboo platter. And actually, eating it is kind of like a project. You take the tapioca ball, you put the mint leaf on top, you wrap it in lettuce, and then you eat it like a little burrito, maybe. And then you just get this wonderful sensation of chewiness and crispiness.

Leslie Sbrocco: It’s one of those dishes we call “you can play with your food,” right?

Richard Hsu: Totally.

Leslie Sbrocco: Did you have that dish?

Jeff Hunt: I did. Hands on. I like to touch my food. And there’s no manual, so you’re just kind of making it up as you go. It was just perfect.

Tonya Thomas: I ended up getting the pineapple khao pad. It was a beautiful dish. It had raisins. It had pineapple. Oh, and I can’t forget the cashews. That was just delicious and made everything come together very, very well. Then we ordered the garlic noodles. The noodles were buttery, which was absolutely delicious. It wasn’t overly garlicky. Very creamy. They came out hot. It was just perfect.

Richard Hsu: It’s good to hear that.

Leslie Sbrocco: All right. What about you, Jeff?

Jeff Hunt: Fried tofu. Yum! With the Thai-style peanut sauce. I will never kick fried anything—especially tofu—out of bed. And it was delicious. I don’t know if it had to do with the way they cut it in triangles, but the fry was perfect.

Leslie Sbrocco: Because triangles maybe give more fry sides?

Jeff Hunt: On the outsides. And the inside stayed soft and delicious and creamy.

Richard Hsu: Did you notice how generous the portions were there?

Jeff Hunt: Yes, I did.

Richard Hsu: That’s one thing—you really get good bang for your buck at this restaurant. There’s often leftovers.

Jeff Hunt: Oh, yeah.

Tonya Thomas: Absolutely.

Richard Hsu: The main dish that we like that’s really excellent is their papaya salad, which is hand-shredded papaya. They make two styles. There’s a Thai style and a Laotian style. Now, the Thai style a lot of people have had—that’s just with standard fish sauce. But the Laotian style has a shrimp paste, so it makes it a little bit more seafoody. And Laotian food can be extremely spicy, so you have to specify which level of spiciness you want. It’s served with crunchy pork rinds, some soft noodles, as well as some cabbage, so it’s just an interesting experience. I’ve never been to Thailand or Laos, but it just makes me want to go there.

Leslie Sbrocco: Well, they’re right next to each other, right? So the cuisines are very, very similar. But as you said, just those minor differences make quite a difference in what you’re getting on the plate.

Richard Hsu: Totally.

Leslie Sbrocco: Absolutely.

Jeff Hunt: I actually visited Laos, and one of the things I loved the most was the food. And larb, in Thai, is one of my favorite Thai dishes. At this place, I believe it’s the same thing, called laab.

Server: I have Laab Seen for you guys.

Jeff Hunt: And I was asked about the spice, and I said medium. I’m adventurous. And it was a little more than what I would call medium. I’ll just put it that way.

Richard Hsu: It was probably a killer.

Jeff Hunt: [laughs] Yeah, right, right. But it was delicious all the same. It’s minced chicken meat and then herbs and peppers, and it’s so flavorful and just a really good dish.

Leslie Sbrocco: Any other dishes that you had?

Tonya Thomas: I did. I tried the red curry, and the protein that we used was the chicken. It came in this beautiful dish. It had lots of vegetables—bell peppers, radish. It had a whole lot of different vegetables in there that just merged very nicely together. The only thing, I just wish they had a little bit more chicken.

Richard Hsu: Okay, okay.

Tonya Thomas: And the sauce was a little spicy, but the dish itself was delicious, so yeah.

Leslie Sbrocco: Okay.

Jeff Hunt: I don’t want to leave this restaurant discussion without talking about the pork belly.

Richard Hsu: Oh.

Leslie Sbrocco: Tell us. Tell us. ‘Cause I’m a pork belly fan.

Jeff Hunt: Good morning, good afternoon, and good night. I mean, I also won’t kick any pork belly out of bed, but what I really loved is that the crispiness was crisp.

Richard Hsu: Yeah.

Jeff Hunt: And the belly was soft. So you had that texture experience in your mouth, and the flavors—oh my goodness.

Richard Hsu: Wow.

Jeff Hunt: It’s just so, so, so good.

Richard Hsu: So one of the drinks that I don’t know if you guys got to try is called the Thai iced green tea.

Jeff Hunt: Oh, wow. No.

Richard Hsu: Which is not like a regular Thai iced tea. This is actually a green-colored drink with maybe a little bit of matcha in it. And it was layered so that the milk was on top and the green part was on the bottom, but it was very floral and fragrant.

Leslie Sbrocco: And did you get any dessert?

Richard Hsu: They only have two desserts there.

Woman: Wow.

Richard Hsu: One is a sticky rice mango dish.

Jeff Hunt: Oh, yum.

Richard Hsu: And one is an egg custard purple rice dish. And they’re both served with this coconut creamy sauce, which makes it kind of a little savory and kind of a little bit sweet, and in both cases, you have the contrast of the rice, which is warm, and then you’ve got the cold mango, and then you have the warm purple rice with kind of a cold egg custard. So it just makes a beautiful kind of a soft dessert. But it really kind of rounds out the meal.

Leslie Sbrocco: Definitely cleanses your palate after.

Richard Hsu: It cleanses your palate. It’s just kind of perfect, nice.

Jeff Hunt: It’s like a goodbye kiss from the restaurant.

Richard Hsu: Yeah, that’s exactly what it’s like.

Leslie Sbrocco: I love that. Would you stop by again?

Tonya Thomas: Oh, absolutely. The service was good. We got there about lunchtime, and it wasn’t that many folks. We got seated pretty quickly. But I kid you not, within about 15 minutes, it started getting very full, to the point where they needed a wait list. So it just kind of attests to it being a very popular place to go to.

Leslie Sbrocco: And it sounded like you’ll go back just for those desserts.

Jeff Hunt: Especially after this conversation, I’m going back, yeah. I’ll find a way to get to Alameda.

Leslie Sbrocco: You need that little kiss of dessert there.

Jeff Hunt: Correct.

Leslie Sbrocco: All right. If you would like to try Bhan Mae Vane, it’s located on Webster Street in Alameda, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $30.

Leslie Sbrocco: As a podcaster, Jeff has a passion for telling stories of the unique people and places you can only find in the city by the Bay. Case in point—the eclectic spot that’s become his go-to for Italian comfort food. Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, it’s Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack.

Michael Irish: The vibe of Emmy’s is super laid back, a little quirky. And I think it’s really, really hard to not have fun in this place.

[Cheering]

Emmy Kaplan: I founded the restaurant in 2001. I was a server at the time in some pretty fancy places. We wanted somewhere to eat after work at 10:00, 11:00. We wanted music, we wanted good food, and a place where we could all feel like we belonged and we didn’t have to dress up and get fancy.

Michael Irish: We don’t shy away from the portions here at Emmy’s. Italian-American comfort food, top to bottom. It’s big spaghetti and meatballs. It’s a big lasagna. You can share it with your friends. You can eat it yourself. No judgment, whatever you want to do.

Emmy Kaplan: The thing I’m most proud of on the menu is the Cadillac Lasagna—vodka sauce, ricotta, sunflower seed pesto. We do a pork and beef ragu. You don’t get a lot of al dente lasagna. It’s not easy to do it. You should never be baking your lasagna. You’re baking your lasagna, you’re going the wrong direction.

Michael Irish: The clientele at Emmy’s is all over the place, and I love that. It’s young, old. The servers—they’re always really nice people. They’re gonna be smiling. We’ll tell jokes. We’ll do shots if that’s your thing.

Irish: Cheers, cheers, cheers, prost, yeah!

Michael Irish: It’s really a community place. And that’s the thing that Emmy did, and I’m gonna keep going with. It’s one of my favorite things about this place.

Leslie Sbrocco: You know, to use the word unique about Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack, why do you think that is?

Jeff Hunt: I think of the place as part art gallery, part little kids’ playground, and part delicious, warm, comforting, hugging food.

Leslie Sbrocco: Right.

Jeff Hunt: Yeah.

Leslie Sbrocco: In a shack.

Jeff Hunt: In a shack, yeah. I mean, yeah, and also the alliteration. Spaghetti Shack—who doesn’t want to go there?

Leslie Sbrocco: That’s right. Okay, you walk in the door. What do you order?

Jeff Hunt: The first thing I usually order is their Caesar salad, which I think of as kind of a deconstructed Caesar. They’ve got the long strips of romaine covered with toasted Parmesan, and I don’t know what they do to their croutons, but they stay crunchy through the dressing, which is an anchovy dressing. And, hello, hello, hello, hello. Get in my mouth, you know?

Leslie Sbrocco: Right. It checks all those boxes.

Jeff Hunt: All of the boxes.

Leslie Sbrocco: And what about you, Tonya? What did you start with?

Tonya Thomas: So I started with the butter lettuce salad. I’m a little disappointed now that I didn’t get the Caesar salad. The butter lettuce salad was basic. It had some radishes on it, and it had a citrusy dressing. It was good, but I’m kind of wishing that I had the Caesar salad.

Jeff Hunt: You gotta be a little naughty at Emmy’s.

Tonya Thomas: Exactly, exactly.

Leslie Sbrocco: Okay. What did you start with, Richard?

Richard Hsu: Well, I started with their spaghetti and meatballs. That’s what—they’re famous for it.

Tonya Thomas: Skip the salad.

Richard Hsu: Yeah, exactly. The spaghetti and meatballs. And I have to say, like, you know, I’m not a really big spaghetti person, but this spaghetti was just—it tasted like homemade. The meatballs were gigantic. This made me remember, like, how my mom might have made it. Or maybe my grandma made it. And I think that’s why people really love this restaurant.

Leslie Sbrocco: Jeff, did you get the spaghetti and meatballs this time?

Jeff Hunt: Because the spaghetti and meatballs is one of my best friends in the city, I chose not to get that this time.

Leslie Sbrocco: But do you agree, when you have gotten it, with Richard’s assessment?

Jeff Hunt: It’s one of my good friends. I like to hang out with him. Him and her. No, because in general, I love lasagna. It’s one of my best comfort foods. And I had never had their lasagna. But it’s a different sauce than the spaghetti. It’s a light red vodka sauce.

Richard Hsu: Yes, I remember that.

Jeff Hunt: Also delicious. And then they do a little dollop of pesto and a little dollop of ricotta. So it’s got that Margherita, tricolore kind of Italian thing going on, and it was out of this world.

Tonya Thomas: I had the lasagna as well, and I wholeheartedly agree. It was delicious. What I also enjoyed, too, was that the noodle itself was al dente, because sometimes people make it a little mushy. It was perfect, and you get a lot.

Richard Hsu: Did either of you get the garlic bread on the side, by any chance?

Jeff Hunt: I didn’t on this last trip, but I know exactly that of which you speak.

Richard Hsu: It was so funny, because we ordered that kind of accidentally at the very end. And when that came out, we went with a group of friends, and they just wolfed that thing down. [laughs] I mean, this might be the best dish here. So I didn’t know. I just thought, “Maybe we should have a little garlic bread with spaghetti, you know?”

Jeff Hunt: To sop it up.

Jeff Hunt: And it was—people just loved it.

Leslie Sbrocco: No garlic bread for you?

Tonya Thomas: No garlic bread. I had the focaccia bread that came with my dish. So that piece of bread came in handy. Was able to sop it up and finish it all. I literally—there was nothing left on my plate.

Jeff Hunt: Perfect.

Richard Hsu: Well, we had the lasagna also, but the dish that we also had on top of that—we had a lot of people—was the peppercorn steak and the pesto spaghetti that goes on the side. And what’s amazing about the steak—it’s very tender and grilled and everything—is they put peppercorns in the steak, which I think tenderizes it. I’d never had that before.

Jeff Hunt: It’s also a peppercorn au jus.

Richard Hsu: Oh, is that what it is?

Jeff Hunt: Yeah.

Richard Hsu: Got it, got it. And I wasn’t expecting that at a Spaghetti Shack, but it was really a nice dish. And we were really thrilled that we ordered that.

Leslie Sbrocco: And did you have anything to sip on?

Richard Hsu: I had this really interesting drink called Lupe Under the Sun, and it was served with a little orange, and it had an umbrella in it, and it was a spicy mango tequila. Really hit the spot.

Jeff Hunt: Wow.

Leslie Sbrocco: You would definitely be on the beach under the sun.

Richard Hsu: For sure, for sure.

Leslie Sbrocco: And dessert?

Richard Hsu: They have two off-the-menu desserts. There are actually no desserts on the menu, but we saw two desserts go by us as we were sitting there. So we, you know, pulled off the waiter and said, “Hey, what are those?” And then they told us it’s this decadent, decadent brownie with two scoops of ice cream, and they have a peanut butter bar with two scoops of ice cream. So when he said, “Look, these are the only two desserts,” we said, “We’ll take them both.”

Jeff Hunt: Yeah!

Leslie Sbrocco: I’m gonna call you my dessert guy.

Richard Hsu: I know. I’m your dessert guy. We went all out on the desserts.

Leslie Sbrocco: Mm-hmm. And you did not have dessert, did you?

Tonya Thomas: No, I did not.

Leslie Sbrocco: Okay. You did not see the desserts go by?

Tonya Thomas: No.

Richard Hsu: They’re off-menu, so…

Leslie Sbrocco: Think of the calories you saved yourself.

Tonya Thomas: Oh, lots. Although I think I made up with it with the wine because I absolutely had wine with my dinner. And I actually made it for happy hour, which was nice. I went on a Tuesday. So what I didn’t realize was that on Tuesdays, kids eat free. And I just kept seeing all these little kids coming. I’m like, “Oh, they’re cute.” I’m all, “Oh, there’s a lot of them.” And then I go, “Oh, it’s…” you know, they said, “Yes, it’s Kids Eat Free night.”

Leslie Sbrocco: That’s a beautiful thing to have in that neighborhood, especially with the cost of food and taking your family out.

Tonya Thomas: Absolutely.

Jeff Hunt: Yeah.

Leslie Sbrocco: And you go back repeatedly, so you obviously feel the prices are fair?

Jeff Hunt: I do, and I don’t always finish my meal. So sometimes it’s two meals, so even more bang for your buck. It’s a comforting food and a comforting place.

Leslie Sbrocco: All right, if you would like to try Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack, it’s located on Mission Street in San Francisco, and the average dinner tab per person without drinks is around $50.

Leslie Sbrocco: Tonya’s a girl after my own heart. Give her a glass of Pinot paired with some globally inspired small plates, and she’s all set for the perfect night out. She’s found her happy place in the heart of Old Oakland at District.

[music playing]

Josn Marsh: When you walk into District, it’s so fun, energetic, good food, good conversation. It’s a wonderful place to hang out and enjoy downtown Oakland.

Host: We need a spot for two?

Josn Marsh: All right. Let’s see what we can do.

Josn Marsh: Our original location in San Francisco was solely a wine bar. When we opened up the Oakland location, our concept expanded into a wine and whiskey bar. We do flights of whiskey as well as single portions, and we have a large amount of allocated whiskeys you really can’t find almost anywhere else.

Guest: Cheers to District.

Guest #2: Absolutely.

Josn Marsh: Here at District, we do love our strong flavors. Our executive chef, Bob Cina, has a globally inspired menu of small plates—flavors from Mediterranean, Asian, and Peruvian influences. And it’s also seasonally done to create a different experience every time you walk into District.

Host: Welcome. Come on in.

Josn Marsh: My favorite thing on the menu—charcuterie and cheese. I think it’s a beautiful offering. It pairs so well with both whiskey and wine. It’s a delicious place to start your evening at District.

Josn Marsh: Old Oakland, hence the name, is the oldest part of downtown Oakland. Beautiful architecture, tree-lined streets. It’s a wonderful community down here. We have so many regulars who support us. People enjoy coming here after work.

Guest #3: So good.

Guest #4: So good.

Josn Marsh: And then in the evening time, we turn into a more vibrant lounge with exciting music and just a lot of fun entertainment. Walk in on any Friday night, I know half the people at the bar, and they know each other. It’s really a wonderful place to be.

Guest #5: That’s the town biz, baby. Uh!

Leslie Sbrocco: Now, Tonya, this place looks like a good spot to watch a game, right, or sit at the bar. What brings you there?

Tonya Thomas: So not only can you watch the game. There might be a birthday party going on, an anniversary. There’s a lot of different things that go on at District. People think, “Oh, it’s a bar.” But when you look at the menu, you’re like, “Okay, these aren’t typical things that you could see at a bar per se.”

I always start with the Arancini Romano. It has a nice breadcrumb crust on the outside, and inside, nice cheesy risotto and spinach. Really delicious. It also is plated very nicely. It has this little garnish that comes on top. And then there’s this delicious smoked tomato sauce. Oh, my goodness. You have to get that and put it on there. It’s absolutely delicious.

Leslie Sbrocco: Okay, Jeff, what was your experience at District?

Jeff Hunt: Big fan of deviled eggs.

Richard Hsu: Oh, they have the deviled eggs, yes.

Jeff Hunt: Fermented chili and pickled radish is what’s inside. And it just filled my mouth with experience, flavor, and happiness. Yeah, wonderful way to start.

Leslie Sbrocco: Happy eggs.

Jeff Hunt: Yeah.

Richard Hsu: We had the lamb meatballs with the garlic bread. I don’t know if you’ve tried that, but they were really delicious. You know, lamb can be gamey sometimes, but what they do is they put mint leaves into the lamb. So it really makes it a nice flavor. And then the garlic bread to go with it—it was just the perfect contrast.

Tonya Thomas: Yes. Absolutely.

Leslie Sbrocco: Yeah.

Tonya Thomas: Because I go there often, I got the dinner for two. The dinner for two is actually a great value. It comes with a starter, entrée, and it also comes with a salad. So it’s a perfect thing to get when you go there and you don’t want to spend a whole lot of money.

The organic greens—oh, my goodness. It’s probably one of the best salads that I’ve had any place. They have the avocados, the spicy sunflower seeds, the citrus, the watermelon radish. It’s just a beautiful salad and absolutely delicious.

And then recently, I ordered their pizza. I’m not sure if you guys got a chance to try their pizza.

Richard Hsu: Oh, yes.

Tonya Thomas: It’s a very simple pizza. It’s on a thin crust. Very cheesy. I love the Margherita and the basil on there, so it’s really good. But you can definitely order all kinds of different varieties on there.

Richard Hsu: We did have that pizza, and we actually added prosciutto to that…

Tonya Thomas: Yes.

Richard Hsu: …which they said was one of the most common things…

Tonya Thomas: Good choice. Yes, it is.

Richard Hsu: Our waiter said, “This is one of the most popular dishes.” So, yes, that was really terrific.

Tonya Thomas: Yes.

Jeff Hunt: I’m also a big fan of a Spanish dish called gambas al ajillo. And it’s prawns and garlic—that’s kind of the base of it. The way that District did it was very special. It’s served on a lemon risotto, so full of flavor and so bright and beautiful yellow, which contrasts with the redness of the prawns. They were grilled perfectly, and there were fried capers that were kind of dotted all around it. I didn’t know that existed, and now I do.

Leslie Sbrocco: They add a nice little pop of herbal…

Jeff Hunt: A pop, and that beautiful—yes. So good. My companion that day is vegan, so the Brussels sprouts that we ordered…

Tonya Thomas: Oh, gosh.

Jeff Hunt: …we had to get them without the pork, and he also has a pine nut allergy.

Tonya Thomas: Yeah.

Jeff Hunt: Still amazing.

Tonya Thomas: Okay.

Jeff Hunt: I think Brussels sprouts aren’t easy, I’m gonna say. But they did them absolutely perfectly.

Tonya Thomas: Yeah.

Jeff Hunt: And I felt like all the food was on a level above. Really good.

Richard Hsu: Well, and since I’m the dessert guy, apparently…

Leslie Sbrocco: I know. I was waiting to get to dessert. Richard, what did you have?

Richard Hsu: They had a pear and black currant crisp.

Jeff Hunt: Yum!

Richard Hsu: Okay? It had that oat crisp, served hot with, of course, cold ice cream on top, which melted over the edges. Anyway, it was fantastic.

Leslie Sbrocco: Now, how many spoons were ordered with that one?

Richard Hsu: We had four spoons. And trust me, that dish did not last long. The ice cream didn’t even have time to melt.

Leslie Sbrocco: That’s good! And with all that food, did you feel like, hey, this is affordable? This is a place I could come back to?

Richard Hsu: Definitely. I mean, definitely. I’m not sure about bringing, like, a family, because it’s kind of more of an adult place, but definitely for coworkers to come after work and kind of decompress after a long week, I think it’s perfect.

Tonya Thomas: Absolutely.

Jeff Hunt: Yeah. I’m a city kid, but I love Oakland. And I especially—you know, it’s BART-able.

Tonya Thomas: Yes.

Jeff Hunt: Short walk from BART. I love that little part of Oakland. Old Oakland is a really cool section, so I will definitely be going back.

Tonya Thomas: Yes.

Richard Hsu: Fantastic choice.

Leslie Sbrocco: If you would like to try District, it’s located on Washington Street in Old Oakland, and the average tab per person without drinks is around $45.

Leslie Sbrocco: Looking for more Bay Area bites you’ve just got to try? Check out “Cecilia Tries It”, online at kqed.org/checkplease.

I have to thank my fabulous guests on this week’s show—Richard Hsu, who savors the sakoo at Bhan Mae Vane in Alameda, Jeff Hunt, who slurps down the spaghetti and meatballs at Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack in San Francisco, and Tonya Thomas, who adores the Arancini Romano at District in Oakland.

Join us next time when three more guests will recommend their favorite spots right here on “Check, Please! Bay Area.” I’m Leslie Sbrocco, and I’ll see you then.

Cheers, and cheers to you!

Richard Hsu: Cheers.

Leslie Sbrocco: Great job, great job, great job.

[Indistinct conversation]

Michael Irish: The space has been here about 24 years now. When I first walked in three years ago, I thought this place was so awesome. Behind me, there’s, like, a cat shrine, which is, I guess, bizarre. We have a Dolly Parton booth, you know. We have a lot of kind of funny stuff.

In the front room, we have a disco ball, a lot of leopard print and unicorn, cat stuff. That’s just kind of everything we’ve found on the street over the years, really.

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[Laughs] Yeah.

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