angeline's kitchen

at first glance, angeline's doesn't appear to be much more than another of the multifarious restaurants that line shattuck avenue. once one peeks inside, however, the dining room is sophisticated without being pretentious or losing its sense of bourbon street fun. we arrived on a monday evening, a bit early so that we could catch a movie across the street. we were pleasantly surprised when our host informed us that red wines were all at half price. we each ordered the quite and quite good, a deal at four dollars a glass. to start, we ordered the crab cakes about which i was wary. a few minutes later, two lovely cakes arrived at our table drizzled with a mustard based sauce and served with a small arugula salad. they were absolutely wonderful. at first bite i was already wishing that we had ordered nothing but crab cakes for the entire meal. the outside was crunchy and salty with a distinct fresh crab flavor and large chunks of crab throughout. the sauce they were served with perfectly accented the dish. quick on its heels came an order of the house gumbo. the flavors were good, smoky, spicy, and solid. the andouille sausage stood out as being especially tasty, however the dish lacked pizazz, which was accentuated by the fact that it followed such outstanding crab cakes. the main course that we chose, however, ended the meal on a perfect note. buttermilk fried chicken– piping hot– served with a ginger sweet potato mash (though i would swear they were yams), green beans, and gravy. the chicken and gravy combo was true win, especially with a few drops of the louisiana hot sauce that graced every tabletop splashed onto it. the mash was sweet with a kick from the ginger, and was also well complemented by the gravy. parmesan dusted the tops of perfectly steamed green beans to balance the more brown and orange colors on the plate. sadly, we had to run catch our movie and had to forgo dessert, but our helpful waitress assured us that we were missing out. service in general was prompt and friendly, if not always decorous to the utmost. the restaurant had a line of patrons continually at the door, but the staff managed never to seem frazzled. overall, it was a lovely evening, from the flickering candlelight on the bare brick walls, to the fun music pumping loudly– but not too loudly. while the fare was excellent, i'd say the prices are typical of downtown berkeley, and those crab cakes will keep me coming back for more.



decision: if i were a food writer i would be forced to kill myself by hanging, this is painful