dining out Oakland-style

I think Emmanuel and I found a 'new' favorite in Oakland: Mezze. We've been there before and forgot how good their food was. We went there two weeks ago and went there again recently. I love how they change the menu constantly. The previous time I had the tuna tartare (it was better than Hawthorne Lane) and this time I had the baby beet salad. I had the lamb shank for my main this time (I swear it brought back memories of when I was in Avignon last year eating lamb shank and fine couscous at Grand Cafe) and it was amazing. Emmanuel had the duck with puy lentils (which I had the previous time) and he too loved it. We were undecided on whether to bring a bottle of wine. We opted not to but had a hard time deciding on which wine to order. Our waitperson, who was very nice and patient, had us taste the two wines we were considering and then came back with a third one to taste. Overall an A+.

Saturday afternoon, we found ourselves on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. As it was lunchtime, we were figuring out where to eat. Too bad Jojo was not open for lunch. We ended up going to Ninna. We used to come here often but stopped because the food wasn't up to what it used to be. The lunch menu is quite different from the dinner. Emmanuel had the lamb shank braised in kaffir and lemongrass broth. The meat was tender but the lemongrass and kaffir flavors were lacking. (I remember the very first time I had this, I was so impressed that I replicated it at home.) I had the chicken and zucchini in red curry sauce and it was good and spicy. I keep remembering someone somewhere posted a review of Ninna and said that it's just overpriced Thai food. Overall a B-.