Nom nom nom. Berkeley Restaurant Week! I tend to always miss it, but this year my friend invited me to a special kick-off event, and I actually made dinner date plans with my girlfriends to try a new restaurant in town. All the noms below.

BRW Kick-off

The special kick-off event was held at the Double Tree in Berkeley. Visit Berkeley hosted and invited influencers from the area. I met a travel writer, restaurant and art gallery owners, and overall nice people!

There were bites from the Boathouse and wine from local wineries. I was seen without a glass of wine and someone brought me one! First class! If you get to visit the Boathouse I highly recommend the Brussels sprouts and the chocolate ginger crème brûlée.

To top off the evening, Trumer Pils etched custom pint glasses! I got Crafterateur printed on mine.

Shout out to my friend Jerico for inviting me to the kick-off! It was so fun!

Fish and Bird Sousaku Izakaya

Later in the week my friends and I enjoyed the prix fixe dinner at Fish and Bird Sousaku Izakaya – four courses plus a drink.

Course one: We tried the smoked mentaiko potato salad (served with smoked spicy cod roe) and padron peppers. Course two: chicken karaage (bone in) and vegetable tempura with matcha salt. The tempura was my favorite dish.

Course three: kurobuta nabe (a Berkshire pork hotpot with clear noodles) and the tai chazuke (seabream with rice and a tea/dashi broth). Course four (dessert): hojicha ice cream. I washed it all down with a kaffir limeade.

So yum, and I even ran into the Visit Berkeley staff during dinner!

Have you tried any fun new spots for your local restaurant week? Share, share!