photo: Christina Mitchell
I have good news and bad news. The bad news is vandals set a trash can on fire outside Hawker Fare a couple weeks ago. The electrical meters were damaged, as well as the kitchen so the restaurant announced it would be closed indefinitely. And now the good news: according to East Bay Express, everything was repaired and the restaurant was ready to reopen less than a week after the fire. To show our support, a friend and I had lunch the other day and I’m happy to report the food is better than ever. We started with the sweet-tart Pineapple-Spiced Rum Jello Shots ($1.50). Be careful with those things – they’re addictive. Then we shared the smokey Blistered Green Beans (tossed in prik king curry paste with pork bacon and dried shrimp, $7), the moist Kao Mun Gai (poached chicken served with a salted mung bean sauce, fresh cucumber and cilantro, $9.50) and the salty 24hr Pork Belly (Duroc pork “tom kiem” style, five spice and sweet soy broth with fermented mustard greens, $9.50). My favorite dish was the Bowl of Mussels (coconut broth with charred chili jam, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass, $9). It was so complex and balanced…really magical. Even with all of these delicious options on the menu, please don’t forget to save room for dessert because the Hawker Sundae (salted palm sugar caramel with candied red beans and puffed rice, lime whip topping, $6) is a delicious combination of contrasting textures and flavors: crunchy, creamy, gooey, sweet and tart. Yum!
2300 Webster St, Oakland
Christina Mitchell
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