Ed U.
Yelp
Yet again, here's another place I've walked by dozens of times, but I didn't realize it was a place to stop by until I saw a recent episode of "Check, Please! Bay Area" where the craft cocktails were uniformly praised while the Indian-based food was a point of contention. My curiosity was piqued, so I decided to stop by one weekday afternoon and decided a late lunch here might be in order as well.
The bar has charcoal walls with dark wood accents and an impressive wall of liquor bottles with a tall ceiling that accommodates a separate mezzanine loft for dining. As I expected, there was a robust menu of craft cocktails but also a good selection of bar snacks and curry plates. I started with a $10 Watermelon Daiquiri (Happy Hour priced), a sweet mix of rum, lime, watermelon, and sugar (photo: https://yelp.to/fVL8meve4m).
It was a bit puckery for my taste, but it went down smooth. I ordered the $17 Chicken Korma and thought it was delicious, quite creamy with plenty of chicken and a huge half of grilled naan (photo: https://yelp.to/T0ikTA77rk). I ended the meal with a dessert-like cocktail, the $14 Lassi Come Home with dry gin, mango, cream, cinnamon, ginger, and lime (photo: https://yelp.to/zhdrcJHgSw). It was a bit like a South Asian smoothie with an attitude.
I was impressed by my experience that I came back with Jamie W. a couple of weeks later. He ordered the $10 Masala Daiquiri (Happy Hour-priced) which switched out the watermelon for garam masala, definitely an improvement over the one I had (photo: https://yelp.to/jFika5feU7). This time I went for the $14 Trinidad Ting, a tangy blend of tequila, amaro, bitters, pineapple, and lemon (photo: https://yelp.to/IwafNo1xwB). We were both pleased with our choices.
We decided to try the $9 Center St. Samosas, a Happy Hour offer that mixed potato, onion, peas, and Indian spices that ended up being rather bland (photo: https://yelp.to/1Z2y6iHgc0). Better was the $15 Original Tikka Masala Flatbread, really a vegetarian Indian-style pizza with onion, cilantro, mozzarella, and a housemade tikka masala sauce (photo: https://yelp.to/aJt1FPFWBg). With all the grilled veggies on top, it turned out to be quite satisfying.
COCKTAILS - 4 stars...some standouts with the occasional slight miss
FOOD - 4.5 stars...the curry and flatbread were well executed
AMBIANCE - 4 stars...nice chill vibe even as it got crowded
SERVICE - 4 stars...pretty good, quality of the bartenders slightly varied
TOTAL - 4 stars...pretty nice find for both libations and Indian-style edible delights
RELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2CbVh8u