The place was packed.  Luckily we got the last table and didn’t have to wait… I ordered the Bacon Scramble which was one of the specials for the day.  It came with home fries and a side of toast (sourdough).

The dish kind of threw me off guard but in an ok way… I was expecting more of just eggs scrambled around with bacon… this was more like a veggie omelet with bacon in it too… there were olives, peppers, green onion, tomatoes and avocado on top.  It was good but not what I expected.  Cost about $11.

My friend got the strawberry ricotta stuffed french toast (with 2 slices of bacon).  I took a bite and it was REALLY GOOD.  I’m not a huge french toast person but I would definitely go back to this place to get this dish.

719 Washington St
(between 7th St & 8th St)
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 465-5400
www.cockadoodlecafe.com

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I started off with the Chilaquiles. This is probably the best dish at this Tamarindo. The chips are homemade and the amazing thing about them is that they are thick enough so that the chili sauce softens the outside of the chip but the inside still remains crunchy, so when you eat the chip, it’s still crispy, which to me is very important. The sauce is a little more than mild in spice but it also has a hint of sweetness. The cheese also adds a mild touch – this dish is perfect.

The plantains and rice at Tamarindo are the bomb. The rice is unlike any other rice you’d have anywhere. I don’t know what it’s cooked in but it has a fresh essence and is salty. The combination of the salty rice and the sweet plantains is to die for.

Today’s aqua fresca was PINEAPPLE! I had 2, this drink was sweet, fresh, fruity and awesome!

The elote is the corn on the cob with the chili sauce and white cheese. It was good, but I dont know if I wuld get it again because I think it needed butter…

These are custom vegetarian sopacitas that were made for Havilah, since she is vegetarian. It had poblano peppers, corn and a tomatillo salsa on them. They were spicy hot but really good!

I don’t remember what this was called and it is not listed on the Tamarindo online menu. It is basically beef, cheese, guacamole, diced tomatoes inside 2 tortillas. It was very fresh tasting. I kind of wish it had more spices or the meat was marinated longer, it was good but not amazing.

Lastly we had the coconut custard (flan). It was AMAZING. I could have easily shoveled the entire thing in my little fryhole but I had to share it… there was toasted coconut on the top which gave it a little extra crunch, and the sauce was sweet and light. This was one of my favorite desserts I’ve ever had!

Tamarindo Antojeria
468 8th St
(between Broadway & Washington St)
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 444-1944
www.tamarindoantojeria.com

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I started off with Tamarindo’s daily aqua fresca – it was cucumber melon. The most amazing cucumber melon aqua fresca I’ve ever had… you could taste the freshness of the cucumbers and the sweetness of the melons… AMAZING…!! (I had 2)

Since “antojeria” means “place of little cravings” you can simply say it’s Mexican tapas. We ordered a bunch of different things, starting with (above) the sopecitos. OMG I’m freaking out right now, these aren’t on the online menu, I wonder if they took them off?! Anyhow, I can’t tell you offically what’s on them, but I can try to remember…. There were 3 different ones. the first one was vegetarian and had potatoes, spices, onion and cotija cheese, the second one had chicken asada and the third had carne asada, all topped with some onion and cotija. These little puppies were amazing!! The mini sopas are all warm, and the sopa itself is warm a little crispy on the bottom. The carne asade one was really really spicy…

Next we have the chilequiles. What are Chilequiles you ask? Well, at this place, they are heaven meets my last meal in jail. They are not nachos — basically they are tortilla chips, tossed in chipotle puree and topped with cotija (white cheese) and cilantro. At some other taquerias the chips come doused in red sauce, but not at Tamarindo. First of all, the chips are the thick, crunchy homemade kind. They are awesome because they’re the kind that stay crunchy through the meal… no sogginess here! And even though the chips are covered in sauce and cheese and the outsie might get a little soggy, the inside is still crunchy! If you go to Tamarindo, you HAVE to get this dish. In the time we were eating dinner, I think almost every table had a plate of them – they looked so good coming out of the kitchen that everyone started ordering it!!

This is the rice and plantains side dish. Now, words can’t really describe how delicious this side dish is. I could probably eat 2 or 3 of them as my meal. The rice was special. It wasn’t just a scoop of regular white rice. They definitely cook it with spices and maybe some coconut milk or something sweet, because it is a light, slightly salty sweet rice. The plantains were soft and warm, and very plantain-like… nothing over the top there… it was the rice that really sent this dish over the edge.

Here is the Sopa Azteca. This wasn’t one of my choices but I tasted it and took a pic anyway. This is one of the vegetarian options. It’s a chili puree soup and has chunks of cheese and avocado in it. It’s spicy and has a very rich and spicy flavor… spicy in the heavy, smokey way.

Lastly, some nachos and guacamole. I was still hungry so I ordered this, and boy was it good!! I think it’s the chips that finally did me in — after I ate half a plate of those chilequiles and then an order of nachos… The chips are the addictive kind, the kind that are buttery, salty and super crunchy – the kind when you eat one, you need to eat another and another and it snowballs until you’re left swiping the crumbs up with your finger to eat them too. The guacamole was really good – the mushy sweet kind with chunks of diced tomato and sprinkled with white cheese.

Tamarindo definitely gets a slam dunk for this meal, thanks to the chilequiles, the rice and plantains and the chips. Woo hoo!!

Tamarindo Antojeria
468 8th St
(between Broadway & Washington St)
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 444-1944
www.tamarindoantojeria.com

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