Berkeley Dining Passport

The Berkeley Dining Passport sounds like a great way to try local restaurants and support the Berkeley Food and Housing Project. For $20 a person, you get a dining card good for special offers and discounts at select restaurants until May 31, 2011. You can use the card as many times as you want at each location, but each restaurant may have certain restrictions, such as not valid for drinks or prix fixe menus.

The BDP is a non-profit organization created to help local business and the community by donating to the Berkeley Food and Housing Project, which helps alleviate homelessness and hunger.

Like any dining program, there are some hits and misses. Anh Hong and Dig's Bistro are on Restaurant.com, which has better deals when you use the promo code SUMMER, good until June 24. Instead of $5 off a bottle of wine at Anh Hong, go to Restaurant.com for a $10 gift certificate for $2. Bypass the free dessert with your entree from BDP and go to Restaurant.com for a $25 Dig's dining credit for $3.

The dining passport site says offers can change throughout the year and more restaurants may be added, but below are my highlights.

The much talked about and well-reviewed eVe: 50% off a third course with purchase of $25 2-course prix fixe

The equally buzz-worth FIVE: 10% off lunch or breakfast (drinks not included)

The charming if not kitschy Caffe Venezia: Free dessert with the purchase of an entree.

Classic French fare at Bistro Liasion: 10% off (drinks not included)

Family-style Chinese food at King Tsin: 20% off (drinks not included)

Average Italian fare at Filippos but maybe worth the $1 bottomless glass of wine with entree

Hidden Italian gem Riva Cucina: $1 glass of wine or free dessert with entree

The only drawback is that each dining card is good for one person, so everyone in the party needs the passport to get the special. It's not quite clear how it works at restaurants where you get a percentage off the bill, but I imagine it works on the whole tab.

For $20 and a year of use, I think it's a bargain for people who dine at least once a month. Purchase yours online, at the visitors bureau or at any participating restaurant.

Photo: www.berkeleydiningpassport.com

Manpuku in Oakland

With rolls as cheap as $2, the sushi at Manpuku is the draw but not the highlight. The first two times I went to the College Avenue eatery in the Elmwood district, I was indifferent about the sushi. Good for the price, but I got what I paid for. Rolls are heavy on the rice and not always properly made so the filling is loose. But, I cannot complain about 12 pieces of California and spicy tuna rolls for $6.

Over the weekend, I returned to Manpuku skipping the so-so sushi and ordering the beef yaki soba. Eating here can be confusing, crowded and hectic. Space is tight, so whether ordering takeout or dine-in, everyone orders at the cashier. If dining in, check your receipt for your number, grab free water or tea across from the register, and take a seat, if you can find one. Seating is limited to the sushi bar, several two-seaters and a couple of four-seaters in the back, so I would avoid eating here with groups. The no-frills dining matches the inexpensive prices. With a few scattered posters on the walls and tidy tables with only napkin holders, chopsticks and soy sauce bottles, the atmosphere is more like a cafeteria than a five-star restaurant.

Once ordered, the food arrives quickly but staggered. They bring out orders when they are done, never all at once, which can be a problem if you are in a group. So, while my boyfriend was enjoying his unagi donburi, I was wondering whether my yaki soba was worth the wait. Five minutes later, my noodle dish arrived slightly glistening in oil but topped with a perfect combination of beef yaki, shredded cabbage, carrots and picked vegetables. The noodles were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of sauce so that they were not drowning in oil or dry and bland. The dish was well balanced, seasoned and tasted exactly like yaki soba. Best of all, it cost $6.50.

We also ordered the Manpuku roll of yellow tail and avocado with unagi on top, which was consistent with the rest of the sushi I have had there: good, but nothing great for $6.75. I also tried the unagi don, which tasted just like the sushi roll and cost just as much but was presented beautifully in a decorative bowl with bright, colorful pickled vegetables placed artfully.

While Manupuku has amazingly low prices on sushi favorites like spinach and shiitake mushroom ($2), California ($2.85) and caterpillar ($6.95) rolls, I would return for the noodle and rice dishes. They are more complete meals, cost as much as specialty rolls and are presented so well that you may forget you are eating in a hole-in-the-wall. With some rain predicted later this week, I will be heading back to try the ramen.

Manpuku
2977 College Ave., Oakland

Souley Vegan in Oakland

Yes, even vegan soul food can give you the itis. After a surprisingly satisfying lunch of collard greens, potato salad, cornbread and other soul food standards sans meat, my coworkers and I were dreading returning to work. I could never be vegan but Souley Vegan in Oakland is one of the few vegan places I would revisit.

Unimpressive from the outside, the restaurant blends with the other white-washed, barred storefronts on Broadway. But do not judge a restaurant by how it looks as the inside is large, clean and organized. With a mini banquet hall in the back with enough room for groups of 10 and more, the space is hardly a hole in the wall

Once inside, you are greeted by owner Tamearra Dyson, who works the front of the house taking orders and serving food. With a small staff, there is no waiter service. Rather, you order at the register, get a number and take a seat. The staff will deliver water, utensils and your food. Service is friendly and fast as it actually took longer for us all to order than it did to get our food.

The menu, written on a blackboard behind the register, is simple, and tax is included in the price. Choose from three types of tofu burgers or side dishes a la carte. Burgers start at $6 and add $2 for any side. If you want a la carte, the first two items are $4 and any others are $2. Sides include collard greens, black eye peas, yams, lentils, mac and cheese, potato salad, okra, BBQ tofu, southern fried tofu and beans and rice. If you want a bit of everything, get the aptly named Everything Platter for $19. It easily feeds two and you get what I consider the best the restaurant offers. The highlight for me was the BBQ tofu that looked and tasted like BBQ meat, sweet and tangy, which may not be for some vegans.

For those who do not want their food to resemble meat at all, order the sides, which are as creamy and flavorful as any soul food I have had. I was anxious to try the mac and cheese, and it did not disappoint. The vegan variation had the creaminess I would expect from real cheese and a heavy hand of garlic. The only thing that would have made it better was if it were baked with a breadcrumb top.

While the sides were delicious, the burgers were a letdown. After seeing amazing pictures on Yelp, I ordered the crispy tofu burger. The tofu was about a half-inch think and the other 2 inches batter. There were too many carbs, from the bun to the breaded batter, that it was like eating a breadcrumb burger. My advice is to skip the burger and stick with the Everything Platter.

The idea of vegan soul food seems like an oxymoron, but it works at this Oakland eatery. The food is flavorful, delicious and filling, and the price is a bargain with dinner for two less than $20. Vegan food doesn't have to be raw, tasteless or expensive, and Souley Vegan proves that.

Souley Vegan
301 Broadway, Oakland

Photo: Carren E.

Welcome

Many people know San Francisco is a great city for dining, but few venture east, across the bay, for anything other than Chez Panisse. I live in Berkeley and love finding great deals and memorable spots, high-end or low, gourmet or hole-in-the-wall. I want to share my adventures and learn from others who enjoy food just as much as I do.