Old Oakland Dishcrawl

Last week K and I joined a bunch of food enthusiasts for a Dishcrawl of Old Oakland. A Dishcrawl means you don't know which restaurants you'll be going to, just the general location.

We started at El Gusano for some tasty Mexican food, then walked down the block to Breads of India. There they had a small buffet set up where we could sample some of their food. Then it was around the block to Miss Ollie's for some Carribean tastes. Then for dessert we headed over to Tamarindo. At each location we had a chance to try a variety of foods, chat with each other, or order drinks. One thing that makes a Dishcrawl different is that we also got a chance to hear from the owners and/or chefs of each restaurant about the food, and what inspires and motivates them.

I also met some people in person that I've only met online or on the phone before: Christina of the wonderful East Bay Dish site, Geneva of Savor Oakland Food Tours (a recent Oakland Indie Award winner), and Lindsay and her co-workers from Visit Oakland. I also met several other people who are regular Our Oakland readers! (Despite knowing from site stats that I get lots of visitors, it's always nice to meet them in person.)

All in all, it's a great experience, which K and I will try again. A word of warning: pace yourself. We were offered up lots of tasty food to try at all four restaurants. But it's hard to remember there are three more restaurants when you find something really tasty at the first!

More pictures from the Dishcrawl:


Also check out the post on Dishcrawl, and the Facebook album with some great pictures from Jonathan Fong.