Tamarindo

Who said it could rain tonight? I thought the rain wouldn't start until tomorrow night - no rain coat, shoes or umbrella. Walking down to the bus station, 15 minutes in the rain would not be pleasant. So I called my trusty taxi service: Husband Taxi, "we pick up because you don't want to". Husband Taxi met me at Lake Merrit BART and drove me promptly to Tamarindo--a hop, skip and jump straight down 8th street, along the station.

Monday nights in downtown Oakland are a dream. The streets are empy, and parking is plentiful. We got Rock Star parking and sat right down to enjoy a fabulous meal of tapas (empenadas with goat cheese and mushrooms; arroz con plantanos; sopas de tortillas, con queso, and a lovely "salad" of jicama, pineapple and cucumber--Delicious. For dessert, I had a cup of the most delicious hot chocolate. It's made with steamed milk, ground almonds, ground cinnamon, vanilla bean and a little chile (though they couldn't tell me which kind). I left feeling completely sated.

Tamarindo isn't cheap, but the food is fantastic. We didn't gorge ourselves, and had no alcohol, and it was $40 with tip. We may have to start budgeting for these little Monday night excursions.

Fun: 3 (dinner doesn't rate high on the fun scale, but spending the evening with the hubby is always wonderful)

Easy to implement: 1 (what's hard about walking into a restaurant)

Worthy of repetition: 4 (YUM)

Try This: 5 (one of the best restaurants in the Bay Area)

Cost: 3 (not cheap)