Saul’s, the King of Gourmet Ghetto

Alright, this is Caliber’s first restaurant review, and not a fully cooked one at that, so let me try my hand (and tastebuds) at this venture.

It takes place in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto off north Shattuck Avenue, where you’ll see culinary fanfare in the likes of Crepevine, Barney’s, Love at First Bite, Cha Am, Gregoire’s and of course that one thin crust pizza place with the mile-long line. For (non)adventurous palates, this could be Sin City.

For a lazy Thursday dinner, my friend and I were thinking Kirala 2, the north Berkeley branch of the famous southside Japanese restaurant. Upon arrival around 6 pm, however, we realized that the take-out bento boxes and sushi rolls had hefty price tags, and their popular “day-old” party trays were all gone — Berkeleyans sure know their discounts.

So we walked a block up to Saul’s Restaurant and Deli, a big eatery by Berkeley standards that practically dominates the Gourmet Ghetto, in my opinion. (If you’ve ever passed by northside’s Safeway along Shattuck, you’ve most likely glimpsed the imposing red storefront across the street!)

In addition to having a deli and an artistic candy counter (with mouthwatering black and white cookies and jars of gummies), Saul’s Restaurant serves Jewish cuisine, diner-style with a black-white-checkered ambience, vinyl booths and framed photos along the wall. Not so diner-like was the high-up ivory ceiling, which was a geometrical wonder in itself.

But my description doesn’t do the appetizing interior much justice. Entering Saul’s was falling into a whole new world (cue Aladdin theme…). It’s the type of restaurant you would find in the Midwest (cue my childhood), with large families and their kids, whose ancestors hailed from pre-university Berkeley, if that makes any sense. Though Saul’s is set in a university city, I saw very few students. It’s definitely not the type of restaurant where you’d find a student hunched over his laptop, coffee in hand — this is a compliment, in case you were wondering.

Once we ordered, the waitress brought us sliced pickles. Well, that piqued our appetite. We scrutinized the menu, which features daily dinner specials, and ordered. Big eyes and empty stomachs led to this line-up:

• stuffed cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes and vegetables;
• the “LEO (or TEO),” a platter of salmon scrambled with eggs and carmelized onions, latke (like a hashbrown) and challah toast; and
• for dessert, bread pudding with chocolate and warm whipped cream.

How can one go wrong with comfort food? Everything had its flavor and warmth. I especially liked the applesauce that went with the mixed greens in the LEO entree. Granted, the carmelization in the onions might have been too strong, but then again, I like salmon a bit on the garlicky side. We even spent a couple of minutes poking at the mustard bottle on the table but never got around to tasting it.

Next time?

Photos courtesy of saulsdeli.com, epicurean.com and betweenthebreadblog.com.