Grocery Cafe--Burmese Cuisine in Jack London Square in Oakland

Ginger Salad, before & during tossing. 

I've learned that Grocery Cafe, not a Grocery, nor a Cafe, but a regular restaurant serving outstanding Burmese cuisine, is a resurrection of a restaurant that used to be on 10th Street in Oakland. Burmese cuisine is every bit as hot as Poke and Lao in the Bay Area now, this being the 4th such opening in the last year (that I know of). And this is, without a doubt, the best I've ever had.

Above and below: Tea Leaf Salad with fresh and dried chile garnishes in separate bowls. Perfect when you need to bring extra heat on a very hot day.

I've never had Burmese cuisine that wasn't at least good, and every place I've been to in the Bay Area in the last 4 years has been outstanding. And even though Grocery Cafe is in "soft opening" mode (grand opening is this Monday, i.e. Labor Day), you wouldn't know it from the high level of sophistication in these Vegan Salads. 

The interplay between fried and roasted seeds and nuts with the ginger, vegetables, lime and fermented tea leaves in terms of texture and flavor contrast is as nuanced as the highest expressions of the great cuisines of the world. We both thought the combination of the slightly fermented tea leaf and the nuts was reminscent of Blue Cheese and Walnuts on a salad. There's unmistakeable signs that this is essentially home-made food served at a restaurant--the Ginger and Tea Leaf salads didn't taste like any we've ever had before, even the cut of the cabbage, rectangular rather than slender juliennes, speaks of a signature particular to Grocery Cafe. The chile garnishes were more than just spicy hot accents, these chiles have a particular flavor component that figures as part of the overall blend.

Grocery Cafe

Jack London Square

90 Franklin Street

Oakland, CA

925-566-4877