The service was good and the food was phenomenal, except for the catfish. The catfish was incredibly disappointing and underwhelming. It was 3 small strips of catfish coated and fried with a light sauce on top. It was the most expensive plate we bought, but I could have gotten a larger portion and more flavor from a fish fry place for less money. Hell, to be honest, for the $23 charge for the 3 little catfish sticks here, I could have gotten a whole catfish meal with 5 large filets of catfish, French fries, and a soda from a fish fry place!The peashoot salad was delightful! The chickpea and tofu was incredible! The roti... the roti was dammed near perfect! We also got a chicken plate that was really good, but I forgot what it was called! All together, I think we got like 6 different plates, 2 bowls of coconut rice, 2 orders of roti and drinks.Again, everything was definitely worth our time and money, except for the catfish.
I wish I could give more than 5 stars! We were originally planning to go to another local Burmese restaurant but when we found out they were out of their tea leaf salad, we scrambled to find another place that would have it and we are so glad we did!!! What a gem this place is. Every single dish was absolutely delicious, the service was great, we'll be back whenever we're back in Oakland to visit!
Food is good, but the place has really bad acoustics. It gets very loud even when relatively empty.
The food is outstanding!!
So they subbed out my brown rice for some sort of sweet dessert rice. Not really a big deal. But the portions were mean for the money. And the cumin chicken was dry. And the Burmese tofu was bizarre. There was something in there that was amped up to 11. It was just unpleasant. I mean, I haven't had Burmese food in Burma, but I've had it *near* Burma, cooked by a Burmese chef. This wasn't it. One star for the good roti (including the one with ice cream). One because my wife liked it.
Pea shoot salad (3.75 out of 5): The menu said this is Teni's signature salad. For what it is, it's good, with light fresh pea shoots and a light dressing. But since in general I love Tea Leaf salads, I would probably not pass it up for pea shoots next time. I generally like robust salads with everything but the kitchen sink in it. The pea shoots is more of a light and fresh salad.Chick pea tofu (4.5 out of 5): Really rich and creamy curry with soft chickpea tofu.Roti with curry (5 out of 5): GET THIS. And eat it while it's hot. The roti is warm fluffy and flakey, and the curry it comes with is really really good.Pork belly (4 out of 5): Reminds me of "mongolian beef". Pork belly in a sweet shoyu glaze sauce, really good, but maybe a tad too salty.Fried catfish (3.5 out of 5): Conflicted. The catfish and batter were great, and I've never had such tender catfish. But the mix of spices they use for the batter just was a bit funky.
Takeout was a bit slow but the food was delicious! Definitely my favorite tea leaf salad in the Bay Area.
Pea shoot salad (3.75 out of 5): The menu said this is Teni's signature salad. For what it is, it's good, with light fresh pea shoots and a light dressing. But since in general I love Tea Leaf salads, I would probably not pass it up for pea shoots next time. I generally like robust salads with everything but the kitchen sink in it. The pea shoots is more of a light and fresh salad.Chick pea tofu (4.5 out of 5): Really rich and creamy curry with soft chickpea tofu.Roti with curry (5 out of 5): GET THIS. And eat it while it's hot. The roti is warm fluffy and flakey, and the curry it comes with is really really good.Pork belly (4 out of 5): Reminds me of "mongolian beef". Pork belly in a sweet shoyu glaze sauce, really good, but maybe a tad too salty.Fried catfish (3.5 out of 5): Conflicted. The catfish and batter were great, and I've never had such tender catfish. But the mix of spices they use for the batter just was a bit funky.
Food was delicious! And out fast. I had the Vegetable Coconut Curry with Roti. Really good. And the salad is exciting too. Will definitely be back.
Very rich food and full of flavor. Much better than Burma Superstar.