A Taste of North Berkeley

As a member of the Berkeley Lions Club, I’m so excited for the Annual Taste of North Berkeley every year! A few members of the club work so hard to put on this fundaiser for the local community and they do great job highlighting the restaurants in North Berkeley.
For under $ 30, you get a small taste of various goods up, down, and around the Shattuck. You get a lovely stroll on, get to sample almost all of the restaurants on the street, and finally get a good excuse to visit that store you’ve yet to step foot in.
You even get a nice bag and wooden cooking spoon to go with your ticket to taste all of these restaurants!
The 7^th Annual one is coming up soon and tickets start selling on April 2, 2016! Tickets can be bought online or you can walk up if they aren’t sold out yet!

A fun self-​guided tour of some of the mainstay restaurants in North Berkeley, and all for a good cause.
I had not heard of this annual event prior to this year, but I am already looking forward to next year’s. For $ 25, you get to try samples and snacks from 21 of Berkeley’s restaurants and business. Unfortunately, some of the business ran out items (or did not offer them at all), but in the end it was still worth it. All proceeds go t the Berkeley Lions Community Fund, so it is for a good cause.
There is no tour guide or formal tour group. You get a booklet with certificates for samples from each participating business (as well as some extra coupons) and you then decide on your plan of attack. You will run into fellow participants along the way. Having a few friends with you not only makes it more fun, but it can also prove handy, as while some wait in line at a popular spot, others can go the the neighboring business for a quick snack. You only have 3 hours, so you need to be efficient.
The quality, quantity, and availability of the samples varied, so these are my thoughts for all stops!
1. Sol y Luna Taqueria: one of the best stops! a nice taco piled high with plenty of meat on a home-​pressed tortilla. I had not been here before, but will definitely come back! You could also sit down inside and enjoy some cucumber water if you needed to rehydrate.
2. Bistro Liason: another good stop. Salmon soufflé with a cognac and cream sauce. Tasty.
3. Oggi: disappointingly, only a skimpy strip of focaccia garlic bread. Both before and after the name change, it seems generous portions are just not their thing.
4. Firehouse North Gallery: definitely the strangest stop, considering they were not letting people into the business and there was only a sign reading ‘No Kambucha Here’ (yes it was misspelled) to greet us on the door.
5. Foxglove Boutique: they were serving a refreshing carbonated wine drink. Cute store.
6. Taste of the Himalayas: a mini buffet of naan, chana masala, and very tasty pakora. It was great. I felt a little bad for the people paying for dinner that day…
7. YogaKula Healing Arts Center: they ran out of apple cider, but I got a coupon for a free pilates class, so not bad.
8. Poulet: a tasty piece of lemon chilli chicken. We sat inside for another water break.
9. Philz Coffee: they were serving coffee accompanied by live singing and guitar.
10. Barney’s: a ridiculously generous portion of their delicious curly fries. This was definitely when the tour got serious and when we started to get full.
11. The Local Butcher Shop: a nice plate of ham, pork rillette on toasty, and pickled fennel and carrots. Very Nice.
12. Gregoire: The wait was long, as their ‘surprise dessert’ was coming out in increments. The apple turnover-​like surprise was hot and tasty, eventually.
13. Dara Thai/​Lao Cuisine: two lettuce leaves stuffed with a gingery salad and something else. Refreshing!
14. Cha-​Am: a friendly greeting and a generous portion of their tasty tofu pad thai.
15. M. Lowe & Co. Jewelers: they ran out of chocolate, but they had plenty of wine…
16. Mint Leaf: they ran out of samosas. Boo, it would have hit the spot.
17. Alegio Chocolate: a taste of their 73.5 percent chocolate.
18. Kirala 2: a plate with a fried croquette, a shrimp mini shumai, and a california roll piece. Not bad.
19. Lush Gelato: a full scoop of any flavor! I tried the balsamic mascarpone, which I found pretty good.
20. Soop: a generous serving of their red lentil soup. I will definitely come back for some soup to go. I love having soup for dinner.
21. A Priori: cute store and a chocolate-​dipped pretzel. No complaints here!
22. Peet’s Coffee and Tea: a second cup of coffee and some nice coupons.
23. La Fable: they were a little disorganized and ran out of their pastry. We got a piece of toast with some truffle butter. Just like Chester’s it seems they are a bit understaffed.
24. Saul’s Deli: a tasty, yet smallish portion of their pastrami.
As mentioned before, it was fun and totally worth more than the $ 25 it cost. Check it out!