407 Clement St, San Francisco CA 94118
(415) 668-7882
702 Webster St, Oakland CA 94607
(510) 839-6223
Parking: street parking
Last Visited: August 1, 2004
Food: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Atmosphere: 1 to 2 stars
Price: $ to $$
D&A Café is a busy place, no matter the time of day. The main attraction at D&A is good food at even better prices. It’s an excellent value that really can’t be beat. D&A specializes in Chinese food and Chinese food American style. Examples of food that is Chinese, but prepared American style include deep fried French toast, macaroni with ham in broth, and Russian borscht. Think American food made to Asian tastes.
The most excellent bargain is food offered between 3pm to 6pm. At already incredible prices, the food is a bargain, but between 3pm and 6pm, D&A has Happy Hour prices where certain dishes are discounted. You can get a bowl of soup noodles for only $2, a dish of gai-lan for $3.50 and other similar items. There are even a selection of drinks available for only $1 each.
There are so many dishes, it’s difficult to highlight them. There are noodle dishes – both in soup or pan fried, seafood, and so much more. It’s virtually impossible to list everything I have tried. They have great oysters in a clay pot, excellent deep fried food (from chicken to calamari to bananas), and lots of drink selections (tapioca, red bean ice, milk tea etc). On my most recent visit, I did find that the gai lan was not as tender as it could be, but for the most part, since there are so many customers, their food turnover rate is very high, so the majority of the food is typically very fresh.
- Field snails – This is a seasonal item. I was lucky enough to find them available. A bowl is filled with snails in their shell served in a rich spicy sauce. The flavor is very good, especially if after you remove the snails from the shell, you dip the meat into the sauce – that’s the best way to eat them. The dish is served with a lot of toothpicks (for removing the meat from the shells) and a lot of napkins. $5.50 (Happy Hour price: $2.80 - incredible!)
- Fried Chicken Wings – Five chicken wings are lightly coated in a seasoned batter and deep fried. The wings are then accompanied by a scoop of potato salad. The chicken wings taste great. The quality of the potato salad varies. The first time I tried this dish, the potato salad wasn’t very good, but the second time, it was creamy and average. The focus really is on the wings themselves. Good.
- Iced Honey Lemon Tea – This is one of my favorite drinks. Iced Tea is served with about 5 slices of lemon with honey as a sweetener. The lemon flavor is very strong, but not overly acidic. Great. If you’ve never tried one, it’s very refreshing, and different from American style iced tea.
- Boil Chicken Lai-Fun Soup – Lai-Fun is a rice noodle that is much like spaghetti in shape, but with different consistency. It’s softer and served less al dente than spaghetti. This noodle also tends to be shorter in length. The lai-fun is served in chicken broth with a seasonal vegetable, (in today’s case, it was lettuce). A dish of chicken accompanies the lai-fun. Finely chopped ginger and green onions are blended with oil and salt to create a dipping sauce. It’s an incredible bargain, and if you like breast meat, the chicken served will suit you perfectly. I prefer dark meat, and there are few pieces of dark meat. Good. $4.75
Another incredible bargain is the menu that allows you to select three items for $15.99. Individually, these dishes are $5.50 each, still an incredible bargain. Here’s an example of what you might find.
- Deep Fried Flounder – An entire flounder is breaded and deep fried and served with sweetened light soy sauce and chopped green onions. It’s incredibly fresh. The breading is light and though the fish is not particularly thick, it’s still quite meaty. With minimal bones, it’s easy to eat.
I have visited D&A multiple times. Some words of warning. The atmosphere is far from one of ambiance. In fact, if you’re lucky, it will be that of a fast food restaurant. The hustle and bustle atmosphere fills the room. At the San Francisco location, you’ll find more small tables and booths, and televisions show the latest Chinese pop star. In the Oakland location, you’ll find several more large tables available, but still limited seating. Also, if you can help it, don’t look in the kitchen and don’t go to the bathroom. The San Francisco bathrooms are slightly more hygienic (though not much more) than the Oakland bathrooms, but don’t go if you don’t have to; it might spoil your meal. As for the kitchen, be grateful that everything is cooked under high heat or deep fried.
Service is typically not very attentive. It’s not always the most polite, but typically it’s bearable. They give you your food, and if you need something, flag someone down. These people are overworked, but they’re fast and efficient.
Great food for excellent prices – D&A is the place to go for both.
No comments:
Post a Comment