EAST BAY INSOMNIAC

DAIMO

3288 Pierce St, (in Pacific East Mall parking lot) Richmond • 527-3888

SERVING: authentic and family-style Chinese food

OPEN UNTIL: 3AM

PARKING: lot

THE EBI REVIEW: I’ve been here several times and one thing you can’t fault Daimo for is consistency: The food is good (when they bring you what you actually order), the portion size is plentiful (just be patient while you wait a while) and the customer service sucks (somewhere between a language barrier and a lack of caring). If you aren’t easily irritated by communication breakdowns and/or in a rush, you will appreciate the expansive menu and late hours that Daimo has to offer. Whenever I’m here late, it’s always crowded. The majority of diners are Asian, which some people take for a sign of a restaurant’s authenticity. Most of the tables have lazy susans and drop-leaves to accommodate large parties. When I was at Daimo in a party of three, we dropped down the extra leaves to make dining more intimate (and hear each other above the din of dialog). The staff seemed suspicious and displeased by this. Of course, there is a dominating vibe of aloofness among the servers at the restaurant. Asking clarifying questions about menu items does not always go over well. Nor does explaining that you’ve been served the wrong item–or your order is incomplete. All that said, a carnivore, a vegetarian and one of those types of vegetarians who eat fish all managed to have an enjoyable meal at Daimo, plus leftovers for the next day’s lunch. Can’t be beat for a full Chinese menu until 3AM in the East Bay.

MORE REVIEWS: yelp

COLONIAL DONUTS

3318 Lakeshore, Oakland • 893-2503

SERVING:

• donuts
• coffee

Here’s a great snippet from “L. Boogie” on yelp: “You gotta love a donut shop that misspells it’s own name! In 2004, they raised a new sign that read “Coloinal Donuts”. Let me count the ways: They’re always open. The donuts are goooooood. Sometimes they put the wrong donut in my bag, but it’s usually an upgrade from whatever I asked for. Thank you Coloinal Donuts for your “upcoming” movie posters that are always 6 months late, your introspective and stoic homeless patrons, your superficially intense college study groups, and your chess-loving curmudgeons who never seem to make a move.”

OPEN UNTIL: 24 HOURS!

PARKING: street

REVIEWS: yelp

FENTONS CREAMERY & RESTAURANT

4226 Piedmont Ave, Oakland • 658-7000

SERVING:

• delicious creamy old-fashioned ice cream, sherbets and sundaes (see menu)
• sandwiches and burgers from the grill (see menu)

OPEN UNTIL: 11PM (Sun -Thu) • 12AM (Fri & Sat)

PARKING: small lot and street

WEBSITE: Fentons Creamery

THE EBI REVIEW: Fentons reminds me of the East Coast. They serve gigantic creamy scoops of brilliant hard-to-find flavors like: Black Walnut, Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch, Coffee Cookie Dream, Heath Bar, Toasted Almond and my all-time favorite: Butter Brickle. Definitely a kid-friendly establishment, the place is often packed loud, sprawling families. Fentons offers burgers, sandwiches and salads on its traditional American fare menu, but it takes a true American diner to follow that up with a Fudgeanna. I don’t do well with the crowd so I normally get my treats to go and sit at the tables outside or walk along Piedmont. I also invariably get the Butter Brickle each and every time. Nicole concurs that it could use a little more ‘brickle,’ but we’re both psyched that they have it at all. Fentons is a Bay Area landmark and an EBI Munchies Category champ. Wish it were open a little later.

MORE REVIEWS AND PHOTOS: Read the rest of this entry »

CHARGERS™ CHOCOLATE COVERED ESPRESSO BEANS

WHAT ARE THEY?

Chargers™ are dark-chocolate (and red dye #40) covered Arabica Columbian roasted coffee beans. They are “naturally caffeinated” to provide energy in small sustained bursts.

HOW MUCH CAFFEINE?

The Chargers™ website is vague about this, saying only that: “Our candy is made from real espresso beans and therefore the caffeine content in each bean varies. We do not add any extra caffeine. Therefore, we cannot measure the caffeine in each bean. However, our customers tell us that about 4 or 5 beans makes them feel like they had a cup of coffee.” For another caffeine comparison (and the reigning Caffeine Champ), check out my review of FOOSH™ Seriously Caffeinated Energy Mints.

WHAT ELSE IS IN IT?

Dark Chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor (processed with potassium carbonate), cocoa butter, butter oil, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), pure vanilla), whole bean coffee, sugar, corn syrup, tapioca dextrin, confectioner’s glaze. Read the rest of this entry »

KANSAI

4345 Telegraph Ave, Oakland • 658-7273

SERVING (See full menu):

• sashimi and sushi
• hand rolls
• bento boxes
• Japanese entrees

OPEN UNTIL: 2AM (Fri & Sat) • 12AM (Mon-Thurs) • 10PM (Sunday)

PARKING: street (easy)

THE EBI REVIEW:

I’d been trying to get friends to check this place out for a while, but in Temescal, Koryo Sushi reigns supreme. So it took a visit from an out-of-towner to get this review.

Background/Disclaimer: Sushi, like the post-Twin Peaks work of David Lynch, is something that I really want to like, but ultimately have a bit of trouble coming to grips with. My girlfriend says I’m getting better (though we disagree on the merits of Inland Empire: quite possibly my favorite since Wild At Heart). But I digress.

Kansai has a swanky motif: mod patterns with warm colors and creative lighting. Geeks will enjoy the tabletop “call” buttons that send signals to the (possibly) Japanese and (definitely) friendly waitstaff. Dinner for two with wine was under $50 with leftovers to feed a particularly epicurean neighborhood panhandler.

We ordered the following: Read the rest of this entry »