Daniel B.
Yelp
We had a wonderful lunch at Kitchen Story in Oakland. The food and drink were delicious, the portions were generous, and the service was phenomenal. Five stars.
This place serves what I'd describe as Korean-American brunch food. The restaurant describes the cuisine as having a combination of "California (spicy, avocados, and cilantro) and Asian influences." If you're in Oakland or Berkeley, this place is definitely worth checking out. They're open daily, 9am to 2:30 or 3:00pm. They do not serve dinner.
There are two Kitchen Story locations: (1) the original location in San Francisco, in the Mission Dolores and Castro area, and (2) this location in Oakland, in the Rockridge neighborhood just south of Berkeley. The original location in SF opened in November 2012. This location in the East Bay opened in January 2020.
We visited on an ordinary Monday around 12:45pm. When we arrived, the dining room was busy and there was a short wait. We put our party on the Yelp Waitlist via a tablet inside the entrance. When we left about an hour later, the place had emptied out and there were plenty of open tables. Of course, by then, it was also about 45 minutes until closing time.
Kitchen Story Oakland takes reservations for weekdays via Yelp. They don't take reservations for Saturdays and Sundays -- it's first come, first served.
We parked near the restaurant on College Ave. This stretch is metered/paid parking, but for whatever reason (I forgot), we didn't have to pay this time.
The storefront and interior are beautiful. Outside, there are planters that run up the two-story building facade. Inside, the dining room and bar have a contemporary, homey, diner-like feel to it. They have a limited amount of outdoor sidewalk patio and COVID street seating as well (not sure how long the latter will last). This is kind of a small restaurant, but not tiny.
During our weekday visit, the menu contained American/Canadian dishes like Avocado Toast ($12) and Tater (Tot) Poutine ($12), Korean brunch specials such as Sprout Bibimbap ($17) and Korean Fried Chicken and Waffles ($21), a large assortment of egg dishes, salads, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, and burgers. Drink-wise, they had a variety of coffee and tea plus a full bar featuring "Morning Cocktails" (e.g., Irish Coffee, Espresso Martinis), draft beer, and wine.
Here's what we had:
Brunch Specials
* Open Face ($21) - Wagyu patty, spinach, vegetables, white cheddar, fried egg, ginger rice, demi-glace
* Jjapaguri ($21) - Jjapaghetti and Neoguri udon, Millionaire's Bacon, vegetables, minced pork, and egg
Coffee
* Green Tea Latte ($5.50) - two shots of espresso
Morning Cocktails
* Millionaire's Mary ($15) - vodka, house spicy bloody, spice rim, house pickles, and Millionaire's Bacon
Everything was fantastic. The Open Face was served on a hot skillet with a wooden base, reminiscent of how traditional Korean restaurants serve galbi (beef short ribs). The Wagyu patty was hidden underneath layers of egg, spinach, cabbage, onions, carrots, and rice.
The Jjapaguri was inspired by 2019 Best Picture "Parasite." I remember after my wife and I watched Parasite, we immediately went out and got Korean food. I love that Kitchen Story actually has a menu item inspired by the noodles in that movie. When we saw it on the menu, we had to get it.
Jjapaghetti, a.k.a. "chapagetti," is a Korean brand of jajangmyeon instant noodles. Neoguri is a Korean brand of ramen instant noodles. Both Chapagetti and Neoguri are produced by Nongshim, the biggest instant noodle producer in South Korea. In the movie Parasite, Chapagetti and Neoguri are mixed together to produce "ram-don." So, the Jjapaguri on the menu here is Kitchen Story's take on Parasite's ram-don.
Both the Open Face and Jjapaguri were packed with a good balance of flavors, well-made with fresh, quality ingredients, and the portion sizes were very filling. The Wagyu patty was hearty and savory. Overall, the Open Face was a really satisfying and comforting dish. The Jjapaguri was dressed up with Kitchen Story's signature "Millionaire's Bacon," a big, thick slice of bacon, made from free-range pig and baked with brown sugar and various peppers. It's outstanding.
A slice of the Millionaire's Bacon was also included with our Millionaire's Mary, Kitchen Story's house Bloody Mary with bacon. I've had similarly "upgraded" Bloody Marys at other brunch restaurants, but Kitchen Story's version probably takes the cake. It's one of the best I've had anywhere. There was celery and a lemon wedge and the house pickles consisted of peperoncini and red onion. There may have been more pickles (olives?), but I don't remember. Anyway, I highly recommend it. It's mouth-watering.
I decided we had to order a Green Tea Latte after seeing pictures of it on Yelp. It tasted as good as it looked. Kitchen Story's Green Tea Latte has an overflowing dose of whipped cream, with matcha, on top. It makes for a beautiful and eye-popping presentation. Decadent.