Burdell - Oakland

Got tipped off to a new soul food place by a friend, and so off we went…

Menu
(Slightly out of date, some ingredients may have changed.)

Marinated Cauliflower
Maybe the best cauliflower prep I’ve ever had.
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Lady Edison Ham Plate
Really fantastic pears, some of which were pickled (also fantastic). Turnips made sense.
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Local Albacore Tartare
The tomatillo really hit. Fairly minimalist but super effective.
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‘BBQ’ Whole Shrimp
Interesting prep. Shrimp were very snappy. Toast was extremely buttery.
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Glazed Heirloom Carrots
Dressing was interesting, if perhaps somewhat less in-your-face then the rest of the menu might lead one to expect. Still, pretty good.
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Aged Charleston Gold Rice
Good rice, but, you know. Rice.
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Cathead Sourdough Biscuits
Really great biscuits. Really great butter. (And I almost never eat butter.)
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Slow Cooked Lamb Ribs
Astonishingly tender. Fantastic long beans & jus, too. Get this.
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Klingeman Pork Neck
Quite good, once again with a relatively restrained saucing (to its benefit). I probably would’ve preferred it to be a smidge rarer but it wasn’t overcooked by any stretch.
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Apple Cheddar Brown Betty
As one of my dining companions put it, “like applie pie, but good”. (No shade on apple pie from me, but it was indeed better than 99% of apple pies that I’ve had.)
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Devil’s Food Cake
Decent, and better-than-decent cream, but ultimately it is what it says on the tin.
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Overall - a surprising knockout. My expectations were already reasonably high just from looking at the menu, and were handily exceeded. Overheard the table next to me being told that the “Family Dinner” tasting menu option came with an off-menu main (some sort of rabbit dish, which sounded incredible). Really hope this place sticks around.

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The food looks pretty epic. How was service? The plates look pretty good too.

Service was good. Unobtrusive, decent pacing. Plates (& plating) were indeed on point.

The sauce was quite delicate and subtle. Not what I expected from the description on the menu.

Good, though not as good as similar salads I had at Rustic Canyon and Leopardo the other week.

Chicken-fried pork chop with chanterelle gravy was excellent.

My serving was mostly romano beans, which I love. Also had some celery and per the server Blue Lake and long beans. Delicious. Rice was excellent, good rice flavor and nice texture.

Cornbread was excellent but for me a bit sweet to eat with the savory pork.

After all that I was happy for the dessert being light and a small portion.

Great wine list, great service, great restaurant.

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Had the cornbread for dessert tonight. It’s quite reminiscent of banana bread (minus the banana).

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Well deserved. My timing was good!

I believe Omar White should have gotten at least some credit for the wine list.

How can Burdell win Restaurant of the Year when the best restaurant in Oakland is down the street at Snail Bar

(just joshing — i hear Burdell is great)

Still easier to get into than it should be.


Best hush puppies I’ve ever had. And how does he get his greens so tender?

The food is so modestly priced compared with the wines. Delicious Soave.

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https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/bay-area-burdell-oakland-ranked-best-restaurant-us-20255380.php

Yep, I walked in tonight (Saturday) at 8:15 and got a hightop to myself. Thankfully, it was mostly full.

(Sorry for the mixed photo quality, the lighting was a bit dim and I wasn’t trying that hard.)

Everything good or better. Highlights were the pimento cheese on cracker, salad, rabbit(!), tomato stewed pole beans, cornbread, and panna cotta. Took a decent bit of leftovers home.

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Tomato salad came as a first course.

All good but the blood sausage (with rice) was the best I’ve ever had.

Had a rouind of Rolling Rocks and drank a bottle of the Gamay from the BTG list. Great meal.

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That is some herby-looking mayo

At first I thought it was creamy guacamole! It was a lot like Green Goddess dressing.

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Last year I recall seeing Paul Bertolli tomatoes on the menu. Being one of my favorite chefs ever it really sparked my interest. I was tempted to message Burdell through Instagram and inquire.

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One night at Burdell I asked Chef his favorite cookbooks and one of them mentioned was Bertolli’s Cooking By Hand. The other two were The Dooky Chase Cookbook and And Still I Cook by Leah Chase.

related to Bertolli, a recent interview:

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It is a very special cookbook. And maybe more a how to lead a good life book then just a cookbook.

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Could have been this:

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https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/bay-area-burdell-reviews-21336111.php

Lunacy. I’m glad he’s not changing anything in response to pressure from the online mob.

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