You ever cast an eye around town and think, “There aren’t enough places serving food on sticks”?
Well, that pointy deficit has been partly countered by the arrival of Tada Ramen & Yakitori, a soup-slinging restaurant that offers skewers grilled over coals. Opened this July in Oakland’s Grand Lake neighborhood, Tada serves traditional as well as some rather unusual Japanese cuisine. Its name when translated means — sorry to any magicians out there — not “surprise” but “loyalty,” as in loyalty to fine ingredients and cooking.
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“We believe that every bowl of ramen should be a masterpiece, crafted with the freshest ingredients, using techniques that honor traditional Japanese culinary while infusing a touch of modern creativity,” reads Tada’s website. “Our mouthwatering ramen, rice bowls and perfectly grilled yakitori skewers will transport you straight to the bustling streets of Japan.”
The ramen includes a tonkotsu version in a paitan (chicken) bone broth and a yuzu ramen with shrimp tempura and pea shoots in niboshi (anchovy) broth. Less typical are the Soy Cream Zen Ramen with a creamy vegan broth and spinach noodles, and a Tada Men with 24-hour slow-cooked beef, limes and crispy noodles in a Thai curry-inspired broth.
The yakitori come two to an order and highlight different parts of the chicken, from thigh to heart to liver, as well as more decadent things like mochi-bacon and a seafood combo with scallop, shrimp and eel.
A portion of the menu is given over to rice bowls, which are topped with pork chashu and soft-boiled egg, chicken thigh and seaweed salad and karaage (fried chicken) with house mayo and pickled ginger. These meals can be served on savory jet-black rice made with squid ink and garlic, if you so wish.
Smaller dishes include izakaya classics like a whole grilled squid presented sliced with lemon and mayo and takoyaki, those piping-hot octopus balls with a semi-liquid center. The enoki chips are a fun version of potato chips, made from fried mushrooms and spicy seasoning, and there are also steamed buns with pork belly and chicken-vegetable gyoza.
The restaurant is awaiting its liquor license. In the meantime, diners can sip on Ramune soda and sparkling matcha white-strawberry drinks. And for dessert, there’s yuza or matcha cheesecake, fruit-flavored mochi ice cream and hojicha panna cotta, made with charcoal-roasted green-tea syrup and fresh strawberries with whipped cream.
Details: Open 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily at 3415 Grand Ave., Oakland; tadaramen.com.
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