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Category: Restaurants [Edit]
1329 Gilman StMon. 5:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tue-Thu. 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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I've been to Lalime's many times in my life, mostly for special occasions. I remember the days when it had just started up on Solano Avenue and going there was a special thrill, the thrill of trying something new and genuinely innovative. Over the years, Lalime's evolved into a comfortable place to get very high quality dinners at prices that could be considered as reasonable. The service is impeccable, the house runs smoothly -- we're talking about a class operation here. Have they been pushing the envelope? Well, not most of the time.
I came to dinner this past Saturday night pretty much on a whim. When we arrived, the house was packed, and everything was humming. The majority of the people around us were slightly drunk Bear Backers who were savoring Cal's close victory over Arizona State, or whoever. The big surprise of the evening was the presence in the kitchen of George Morrone, the new executive chef of Lalime's restaurant group -- this is the George Morrone from Aqua, One Market, Fifth Floor and other places in the City.
The guy is the real thing. I ordered "George's ahi tuna tartare, habanero-infused sesame oil, Asian pear, pine nuts, mint" ($15) as my appetizer and want to say right here that it was very definitely in the "best thing I ever ate" category. It totally blew me away. And, believe me, I can be Mr. Jaded Palate. For my main course, I got the "Olive oil poached wild striped bass, manila clams, porcini mushrooms, fresh coriander" ($26), which would have blown me away had I not been blown away already. I drank a beer with all this -- it was a great dinner!
Lalime's restaurant group, now known as the K2 Restaurant Group, has just hired Russell Bass, formerly of Cafe de la Paz, to manage their catering and events. Sounds like they're humming along!
For my inaugural Yelp review, I've chosen this neighborhood gem that I've only recently stumbled upon by chance.
Although the facade of this restaurant is quite unassuming, nestled amongst a block of retail on a quiet section on Gilman Street, do not let the appearances fool you. I've dined here twice in the past month, and most recently, this past weekend. On both occasions, my experience was nothing less than superb.
Both times, I ordered the crisped sweetbreads as my first course. Very lightly breaded, the sweetbreads were accompanied with a lemon butter sauce and capers, which added a slightly tangy taste. I'm a big fan of sweetbreads, and this is among my favorite preparations of late.
A companion of mine ordered the heirloom tomatoes baked with epoisses, which was also fantastic. Although I'm typically not a fan of epoisses as I find the smell rather overwhelming, the combination with the tomatoes made the aroma tolerable and actually rather sweet. The resulting combination was something akin to a bisque in texture, with a rich, cheesy taste that was complimented by a hint of the sweetness from heirloom tomatoes. I saw this as some sort of French homage to caprese, while markedly different, delicious all the same.
On the first occasion, I ordered the crisped duck-leg confit. While I don't recall the various accoutrements, I do remember that the texture of the skin was almost impeccably crisp, and that the buttery meat peeled off the bone in a manner that would make a rib aficionado jealous.
Now before you guys go out and order this, I am regretful to inform you that this is no longer on their menu as of my last visit this weekend. However, I did try the "replacement" duck entree, which was a red-wine braised duck leg along with papardelle and watercress. The duck leg was every bit as tender as I had remembered, with equal peel-off-the-bone-ness as the first time, so there were definitely no complaints there. Interestingly, when coupled with the red-wine sauce and pappardelle, this entree had a beef stroganoff-esque vibe, which is awesome because I love beef stroganoff.
Anyways, this restaurant is on top of my list for upper-tier East Bay cuisine. A good place for a date or to take someone and impress them with your foody-ness.
Summary based on 1 recent dinner and several past dinners:
--good, creative food
--decent value
--downstairs can be noisy
--wine prices ok
--parking only so so
--good service
--reservations on Opentable.
I showed up in Levi's, because I'm lazy, but most people were dressed better, even though it was Berkeley.
I've been to Lalime's numerous times over many years and have usually enjoyed the food and the service. However in recent years we had found the quality to be somewhat variable and this past summer we had a meal that was poor - we decided that we wouldn't be coming back - as the quality of the food no longer justified the prices. As an aside we also felt the other K2 Restaurants had slipped in quality.
Well, we heard that George Morrone had taken over as the executive chef of the group and that he was focusing on Lalime's as a start. So we decided to give it another try and all I can say is that I'm so glad we did. This was easily the best meal either of us has ever had at Lalime's - every single item was outstanding.
To echo what Kenneth R said, we started with the Ahi Tuna Tartare and it was amazing. The presentation is great too - they bring out a plate with a pretty large serving of tuna tartare in the middle, topped by a raw quail egg, and around the edge of the plate are red and green habaneros, asian pear, pine nuts and mint - each in a delicate pile. The server mixes them up and then you have at it.
Then we had a side dish of chanterelles as our next course, and then the Striped Bass with clams and mushrooms, and the Squab 'under a brick', parsnip purèe, wild rice ravioli, fresh laurel. Each was fantastic... the bass was perfectly cooked and flavored from the poaching.... the Squab had a delicious crunchy crust and the parsnip purèe was simply out of this world.
All in all, there wasn't a missed step in either the food or the service. As always, it's not inexpensive, but this time it was more than worth the price. Now we can't wait for George Morrone to start showing his influence at the other restaurants in the K2 Group.
Okay, to be honest I haven't been here for many months but so many people seem to rave about it I have to throw my two cents in. For starters, every single one of this group's other restaurants are substantially better, even T-Rex--which hasn't exactly blown me away.
Secondly, for the cost and staff attitude, I'd rather go to an actual gourmet establishment such as the profoundly more superior Chez Panisse, which is kind of what they're trying to be.
The food seems to aim at being gourmet rather than tasty and fails a bit on both ends. It's not bad, but certainly not great by any stretch of the imagination. And it's overpriced. Bad combo!
Also, note to management--having a snotty waitress blow you off halfway through your drink without saying a word is off-putting.
I highly recommend Sea Salt and Fonda, but can't imagine what would possibly drive me to returning to this over-heralded dining spot.
Went last night and found the food and service better than ever! Love to sit at the bar and get the latest from Stacy. She describes the food and will suggest wine/apertifs to go with each course. I love the new tasting menu. And the restaurant was hopping!
We love to sit at the bar where Stacy the bartender works! She is super knowledgeable about… Read more »
Quaintly hidden away on Gilman, next to Auto Repair shop. Oxymoron indeed. Charming interior. Great neighborhood location. Nice date place! *wink*
Started with mussels and they were good. They had rack of lamb, I had Yellowtail. Small portions but good quality. Cool wine list!
Strong Suggestion: 2007 Setzer, Grüner Veltliner, Austria
Lalime's is in a cool "building". Its like you are eating in someone's craftsman home. I love the vibe (very comfortable and non-pretentious), and the waitstaff are well trained and very nice.
The food is very good. Not great, but very good. My only real complaint is that the menu feels conservative and expected. For a restaurant with a great chef and reputation (not to mention fairly expensive), I expected the menu to be more inspired. The food was very good, but compared so some of the other higher end places in East Bay (Rivoli, Chez Panisse Cafe, Citron), they play it safe. Great for non adventurous people with expensive taste.
Special kudos to Lalime's for amazing service. When my 93 year old mother-in-law dined at Lalime's last week she paid by credit card. Somehow she transposed some numbers when signing the receipt and suddenly Lalime's was paid several hundred dollars OVER what they expected! It might have been easier to say nothing but Lalime's called us the next day and credited back the error.
We are impressed and thankful to Lalime's for taking good care of our family in ways that go even beyond great food.
I took my friend to Lalime's to celebrate her birthday. I'd never been before (she had) and was very impressed. The wine list was reasonably priced and had some excellent choices. They also have a nice list of cocktails (my friend is more of a cocktail person). The food: we shared the foie gras appetizer. It comes two ways: a foie mousse and a seared lobe. A very generous portion and very nicely done. The main courses were also delicious: seared tuna and an enormous pork shank. We shared the persimmon budino for dessert and were very happy with the choice. George Morrone recently started at Lalime's and was in the dining room last night. He checked in twice to see how we liked our food. Really nice guy. I'm looking forward to a return trip soon!
Tucked away in a more quieter part of Gilman Street in Berkeley, Lalime is easily missed by the non-local. Inside is a unique two-level layout of what seems to be a convered garage/living room, but done in a charming way. It is uscale dinning with out the upscale attire required and a staff that is more than accomodating when needing to attend a local event.
Each dish was enjoyable in it's own right and with our limited time, we opted for several appetizers rather than adding a main course. We both really enjoyed the Crisped Sweetbreads with porcini mushrooms and cream, as well as the Grilled sardines covered with guindilla vinaigrette. The dessert takes the cake, litterally! I did like the idea of foie gras in the mini kobe burger, but I've had bigger and better for the same price. The Warm chocolate fondant cake was amazing, not too sweet with a bit of a salty edge to it. The Creamy frozen strawberry soufflé was good, but just not as good as the fondant cake.
Having missed the main dishes and a large portion of the menu, we are planning a return visit for more culinary exploration.
Everything i had there was great. We had a reservation and were seated right away even though we were early. The waiter was very informative and quick. I had the Halibut which was really amazing. It had cilantro and these little biscuits. I tried the steak which was perfect and a couple of the appetizers. All good. The only thing i was questioning was the gespacho, but i don't really have a taste for cold soup. I don't know how to spell gespacho. I look forward to going back.
I've been to Lalime's at least a dozen times (thank you generous employer who took me out to dinner when she didn't feel like cooking!). That said, I would not have come here that often if I was the one footing the bill.
I suppose that perhaps since I am not into pretentious places with no parking offered and super duper expensive yet small meals, I am not the biggest fan of Lalime's. However, I can't give them a bad review because they have always been very friendly, thoughtful, and considerate to our needs. Consistently. Every time. And I assume that people who go here who actually do pay the bill know what they are getting themselves into (ie expensive food, small portions).
That said, I appreciate how the staff at Lalime's has always remembered my dining preferences and that I am a vegetarian. They also always went out of their way to make kid friendly food for the 3rd grader we used to bring along with us. They also have great weekly specials and always have vegetarian options (again, though small portions). Mix that with a clean, beautiful restaurant and full bar and you have a lovely weekday dinner location. Oh, and their house salad, which is some kind of yummy lettuce, parm, and dressing, is OUT OF THIS WORLD yummy.
That is, if you are OK with paying $30 for dinner. For one person. Drinks not included.
Good wine list, good food. A bit too imaginative for traditional french food. Large portions. Great service. Nice place to go if you want to splurge. If a date suggests it, he has good taste and probably wants to get lucky.
If ambiance and quality and taste of the food were the only criteria for a restaurant to earn 5 stars, that is what I would rate Lalime's.
Unfortunately, unless you are very wealthy, there are other, equally important factors to consider: value, portion size, etc. This is where Lalime's falls short. I do not mind paying a high price for exceptional cuisine (i.e. Chez Panisse or similar) but I simply feel that this place cheats its customers in portion sizes when considering the prices.
For example, my date ordered rack of lamb for approx. $40 and received 3 tiny, tiny pieces of meat. Unacceptable in my opinion. We ordered an a spring roll appetizer, which was fabulously delicious. Only problem? The 2 spring rolls were the size of cocktail wieners! Ha!
I ordered the cassoulet, which I enjoyed very much. The dish was small--about the size of a small soup bowl--but it is perfectly acceptable for a rich, hearty dish like cassoulet to be served conservatively. Too bad all of the other entrees seem to be just as small. It's practically like tapas.
Overall, this place was excellent. The best California cuisine I've had in a while. it is a little expensive, but a good place for a special occasion.
Lalime's is located in this cute little neighborhood in Berkeley. It's in a little house. They have a small private room if you have a party of maybe 6-8, but I guess you'd have to call to request it.
Now for the food...first let me start by saying everything we had was excellent. I usually don't go to restaurants that I like all of the food, but I just kept saying the entire meal "this place is great."
They have a tasting menu that looked excellent - $42 for 4 selections including rib eye, oysters, cheeses, papparadelle. No one at our table ordered but I think I would have enjoyed.
Appetizers...we had the Artichoke hearts, citrus, red onion, mint ($10). Tender artichoke hearts with oranges and grapefruit - excellent citrus and mint flavor. We also had the Hawaiian tuna involtino with jicama, cucumber, avocado, arbol chile ($12).
Starters...The BEST red butter lettuce salad - Blue Heron Farm red butter lettuces with lemon and Spanish extra virgin olive oil ($8.50). The soup was a non-vegetarian vegetable soup with white beans and French pesto. It was also very tasty.
Wine...we had an excellent Argentinian cab, unfortunately I don't remember the name of it.
Main courses...I had the Grilled Duroc pork chop, yam, potato, grilled pineapple ($23). Tender pork, savory sauce. Francis had the rib eye with buttermilk fried spring onions ($25). The onions came in a cup so they stayed crispy and were the perfect companion to the rib eye. Other entrees at the table were the California yellowtail, green garlic and red wine risotto, balsamic onion ($22), the Yucatan fish stew, prawns, squid and ono ($24), and the Roast Australian rack of lamb, pearl couscous, harissa, lemon, spring onion ($21). All were delicious.
The desserts...It was Francis's birthday. I'm always big on bringing the dessert with a candle and stuff. They did - without us even asking (I guess the server was perceptive.) We ordered three desserts, all were fabulous. The presentation was amazing. I would come here just for dessert - the desserts were that good:
Warm apple & cream custard tart
Calvados chantilly, spiced burnt caramel sauce ($7)
Strawberry mascarpone sherbet cone sundae
chocolate fleur de sel cookie, strawberry preserves ($8)
Warm chocolate fondant cake
Frangelico Anglaise, chocolate-hazelnut ice cream ($9)
The service was good too. Overall, the restaurant was excellent. The prices aren't outrageous, but I think a bit high for a "neighborhood"-type restaurant. But well worth it for a special occasion.
My girlfriend and I like going to the nicer restaurants in and around Berkeley, and had been to most, with the exception of Lalime's. We went for dinner, knowing that its Yelp reviews were mixed, but decided we'd decide for ourselves.
We arrived 2 minutes before our reservation and were seated very quickly. However, we sat in the upper area at a table for 18 minutes before our drink orders were taken, which I found to be flatly unacceptable service. Luckily, we were given water and bread when we were seated. But at this price, filling up on water and bread is not good enough. After delivering our drinks, another 8 minutes went by before our dinner order was taken-- which means we were there for almost 30 minutes before our dinner choices were accepted!
Finally, our order was taken by a waitress, and things were moving. We started with the cheese platter, which was wonderful. Dinner arrived and was tasty enough, but mostly I was trying to have a nice time. My dungeness crab and shrimp etouffee was just tolerably warm, while my girlfriend's mushroom crepe with carrot puree was warmer.
We only saw our waitress two more times. She came by once and asked if I wanted more tea (my glass was completely empty and had been for a few minutes). Good service dictates that the refill should've been dispensed without me having to ask or tell her "yes." I've definitely had better service at Applebee's.
The food was good, but for the same price range I would've had infinitely better service at Downtown and the food would've been hot. We left without getting dessert, and I suspect we won't be back to Lalime's again.
I had been wanting to try this restaurant for awhile now and was really excited when I finally suckered a few friends into going.
To start, Lalime's is very cute. The decor and the setup reminded me of Rivoli. I can imagine this being a nice date spot.
Sadly, the food was nothing special. We started with the tuna tartare, which sounded amazing. It was presented quite nicely, but being a bit of a tuna tartare snob, I can say that I've had much better tartare elsewhere. My friends had not had much experience with tartare, though, and they thought it was very good.
We also started with the cheese plate which was fine, but again, I've had much better.
For my main course, I got the spinach and mushroom manicotti. It was solid, but far from amazing. One of my friends got the swordfish and she felt the same way. We both added a bit of salt to our meals (I hear that chefs LOVE when you do that), which made them more flavorful.
Though the food was generally just ok, the dessert was something to phone home about. We had the chocolate souffle with praline ice cream. Not only was it beautifully presented (I wish I had taken a picture!), but it was absolutely delicious! The souffle was made from a rich, dark chocolate that was positively moan-worthy! Seriously, one of the best chocolate souffles I've had. For the souffle, I would add 1/2 a star. So my suggestion: skip the meal, go for dessert.
Ehhhhh this restaurant is pretty terrible.
It started out okay. We ordered mussels with garlic toast, pizzetta, cold smoked salmon, and cheese platter to start out with. They give you a lot for mussels, it's almost an entree portion. Pizzetta was perfect in every way - they use gruyere with arugula lightly tossed in olive oil. Mmm!! Smoked salmon was so fresh and flavorful, and the cheese platter had piave cheese, which is my favorite. They're all around $10/dish
It was the entrees that were so disappointing. One of us ordered mushroom stroganoff despite their own bartender's warning that he can make it better, and of course, it was pretty horrible. I ordered white seabass, which was served on top of brussel sprouts, which was so bad. urgh. My boyfriend ordered pork chops, which was so whatever, too. Entress are less than $27, so not as expensive as people make it sound to be.
For dessert, I couldn't find peaches and cream that everyone was talking about, so i got sorbet instead, which was 2 scoops of cranberry (tart and good), and spiced apple (didn't like - but i'm not a fan of cinnamon). We also ordered pumpkin pie, which was so mediocre. Their coffee was okay...
They do have quite a bit of wine collection, and we definitely enjoyed our wine that we finished 2 bottles. Maybe we needed that much alcohol to keep ourselves from getting cranky from bad food. Their service is pleasant but slow, their decor is intimate but nothing special. Overall, I recommend yelping for a different restaurant to go if you want to try something new.
I'm really surprised at the mixed reviews because I felt that Lalime's delivered a wonderful experience with food, atmosphere and service.
Sure, it's not your everyday type of place to dine, but it's the perfect option for a special occasion.
The highlight for me was the Peaches and Cream dessert. I think it's the most memorable dessert I've had in a restaurant. The description doesn't do it justice. Fresh white peaches, vanilla cream and pound cake? Sounds downright boring. Because I have such a fondness for white peaches, I took a chance and ordered it.
What came to our table needed an explanation and operating instructions from our waiter. There was a jar of what looked to be white peaches and a golden sphere sitting atop a piece of pound cake.
What you do is crack open the sphere to reveal creamy goodness inside, open the jar of white peaches, pour on top of the cream and take a bite of heaven.
The dessert was so unique and amazingly good. Pastry chef Brian Victor knows what he's doing!
The house cocktails are also a treat and they use my favorite; Hangar One vodka in all of the vodka-based libations.
This place has never let me down!
On very short notice, the wife and I were able to come in and sit at the bar. The bartender was fantastic, letting us try several wines as well as letting us sample an appetizer before we ordered it.
The best thing about Lalime is that they have consistently served very solid food. Over the last couple of years we have been here usually with large gaps of time in between and they are always top notch.
If in the east bay a must try....
My boyfriend and I ate here recently as a special treat. The menu had a lot of variety and decent prices. I was excited about trying the venison, but they "ran out", so maybe next time. The service was very good and several people made sure that we had all that we needed throughout our meal.
We shared a mini-burger with seared foie gras in it and it was sooo tasty! I wish it were bigger! The fries were quite delicate and delicious. We also had the pizzetta which was good but not as good as Chez Panisse's. (Who knew rich people loved burgers and pizza as much as poor folk?) My dinner, the lamb, was good but not anything to write home about. For dessert was an complicated chocolate cake with chocolate-hazelnut ice cream and an anglaise that was presented in a fancy way that made me unsure of how to eat.
In all the food was up to par with other fancy restraunts that I've been to, and is a nice place to go for a special occasion. Stick to the classics here and you won't be disappointed.
I've heard a lot of people who don't care for this restaurant, and I've always said, "HUH?!?", because every experience I've had has been great. But I just ate there the other night, and for the first time, saw what they meant.
It's a really nice atmosphere, especially if you're a couple and you want to talk quietly, not so great for louder, noisier groups. They have VERY good house wine; their owner really knows wine, and has put the Lalime label on some excellent vintners. The rest of the wine list is excellent as well, and the bread is Berkeley top-notch.
This time around I ordered the sweetbread appetizer, which I know already puts some of you off, but it's a great litmus test of a restaurant that gives a nod toward French cooking. They were called "crispy sweetbreads". They were not. Crispy, that is. They were nicely flavored, but definitely slightly undercooked, which left the breading slightly soggy.
I was trying to reduce my meat intake, so had the vegetable galette - this is a somewhat confusing term, as it can mean a flat round cake, or tart sort of affair, but it's also used to designate buckwheat crepes. It was the latter, but he menu should have clarified which. It was good, but not divine, with a creamy sauce that needed some distinctive flavor, a nice nutmeg-y bechamel, maybe?
The dessert was the best, 3 types of pot au creme confections. One was chocolate, a second coffee, and a third a citron creme anglaise. Even of those, only the latter was extraordinary, just the right balance of orange & creaminess, with some grapefruit pieces blended in -think creamsicle after a makeover, going uptown. yum. I think I even went to the bottom of the little glass with my finger when no one was looking. The chocolate version was very nice, but unremarkable, however, and the coffee version didn't deserve the name, as it was hard to tell exactly what flavor it was supposed to be.
The service wasn't what it could have been, or what I had received in the past. It was still a very good meal, and if I were anywhere but Berkeley, I would probably be raving about it. Still and all, we're spoiled here, and Lalime's needs to keep pace. My four stars are generous for the last meal here, one of them is definitely a faint memory...
I had been here several years ago and don't remember being blown away. So it was with moderate expectations that I showed up for a company funded dinner after a long day of work. We were seated in a private room and attended to with cocktails immediately. Since the bill was taken care of we ordered everything in site and were blown away by the clean, fresh flavors. I could live without a raw egg on my pizza but that could just be me.
I had the salmon entree with sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and basil. Usually I get sick of fish after five bites but I was practically licking my plate this time. The salmon was perfectly cooked and the corn and tomatoes were like candy!
The service was smooth, professional and unobtrusive and all of the food was stellar. Worth driving to the middle of nowhere for a great meal and fabulous service! Go Lalime's!
To me, the beauty of Lalime's is the dessert menu.
I've had some really great food at Lalime's, but it hasn't been consistent enough for me to say it's their strong point.
Peaches and cream, chocolate trio, lemon pudding cake with huckleberry sauce, and the ginger creme brulee are just some examples of the wonderful desserts I've had at this restaurant. Mmm...it definitely keeps me coming back.
I recently returned and found that they had adjusted their dining layout a bit, and found that it did wonders for the atmosphere. Intimate and vibrant!
The service is another strong point of Lalime's, as I have always found the waiters to be friendly, attentive, and very easy to talk to.
I will definitely keep coming back to Lalime's whenever I can make it out there : )
Wow, I was shocked to see the poor reviews of this place. If it is hit or miss, we got a hit the other night when we went by. I was depressed, so my husband and I decided to treat ourselves to a lovely dinner. I had been watching their menu for a while, waiting for it to look exciting. I was in Jimmy Beans and found a paper menu and we decided to go for it.
The pea soup was our favorite, I am hug fan of ceviche that was a nice twist, we also got the veggie buckwheat gallettes and sea bass, all of which was really great.
The service was very good, they put gave our choice of seats, which was the window. And I was surprised that we got out of their spending so little.
I have been hearing about Rivoli for a while, sounds like I should check it out, too...
The best service ever and lovely food! We had a big family birthday party and the staff couldn't have been more accommodating. We added a few guests at the last minute, had someone with mobility issues and they handled all with grace and charm. The lamb was superb, the tasting menu had surprisingly generous portions, and the sweetbreads outstanding. What else could you want? It was also conducive to chatting, not too noisy. Hadn't been there in years but will be back soon!
What a great restaurant! I've been there twice now for dinner, and every time it has been fantastic. It was not a hassle to reserve a table through OpenTable, and everything went very smoothly.
The service is top notch, the waiter/waitresses are incredibly friendly, and never get in the way of conversation. They know when to come by, and when to leave you in your conversations. I am not a fan of the kind of service where they try to strike up conversations. These waiters/waitresses are very kind, always tentative, and really help you when you need it without interrupting.
I really love the Lalimes Pinot Noir that's bottled by a winery down in the Santa Barbara county region. Definitely get a bottle of that when go. The desserts are to die for =)
Great place, I'd highly recommend it for nice occasions and a romantic dinner.
Brave the bridge or the tube and you will be justly rewarded with a destination trip to Lalimes. Accross from the Berkely Natural Grocery Store on Gilman, is a small bit of cullinary heaven. The building is small, and it's easy to miss - so keep your eyes open.
The rest is easy. This place has been in operation for about 20 years according to Cindy and Haig, the owners. They also operate Sea Salt, La Fonda, T Rex and Jimmy Beans. The Ecuadorian chef at Lalimes certainly knows what he is about.
All the entres are a hit. A couple of the appetizers were slightly off the mark, but not so much as to bother me. The Beef Carpaccio with the membrillo puree was just too too sweet for my taste. The Couscous Salad with the grilled sardine was absolutely incredible. I also tried the sweetbreads - which I should have gotten as a main course was fabulous (one of the small pieces was still a bit chewy - but it was a small one). We split a Rib Eye which was grilled to perfection.
The peaches and cream desert is NOT to be missed. They blow a thin sugar ball with creme fraiche in it and serve marinated peaches and a marzipan butter with it. A highly interactive and difficult to describe desert - which MUST be experienced.
3 appetizers, the desert and a bottle of Miner Family 2004 Merlot was about 180 bucks. Service was incredible and attentive. This is on my list of Berkely favorites.
Lalime's is one of those fantastic Berkeley institutions from the school of "Alice Waters, organic, slow-food, eat only what's in season" models. More hippie than hipster, the uniform of the day is torn jeans and Birkenstocks, not skinny jeans and Campers. But these granolas sure know how to cook. Set in a beautiful old Arts and Crafts house, on an unassuming near-residential street where parking is always plentiful and you'll see a cat meandering through the gardens.
Each dish transported us on a unique, but always titiliating, epicurean odyssey. We started with a mouth-watering, creamy cheese plate that included the Grandaddy of fromage, Humboldt Fog. I would sell my firstborn for this cheese. My seabass was neither Chilean nor ill-tempered (Austin Powers reference), but had been nicely marinated after its swim in a miso sauce and resting on a bed of spinach. My mother's wild mushroom stroganoff came with brocoli rabe, the most kick-ass green ever which will make you forget you're eating a vegetable. Our desserts were so breathtaking, we hesitated, momentarily, to dive our forks in. That coming from three PMSing women.
Lalime's embodies the Gourmet Ghetto at its best.
The evening was an absolute train wreck.
The most inept, unprofessional and appalling service (replete with complimentary attitude) this ex fine dining veteran waiter/cook and bartender has experienced this side of Podunk.
Our main courses took an hour to arrive. During that time and the whole evening for that fact our waiter never visited the table nor poured one ounce of our wine (which our esteemed guests from L.A. commented on several times)
The food was mediocre; sadly overcooked sea bass and an undercooked fatty, thin cut of "Angus' steak @ $26, which I sent back twice.
The wife had the mussels appetizer as an entree which she deemed as; "just okay".
Attention: Medium Rare is not Black 'n' Blue or Rare or when you cannot get it right be served to a customer Well Done, ala..."it serves you right for being such a pain".
No one thought or offered to perhaps "begin again" with a new piece of meat.
My guests had, of course, finished their meals by the time mine finally arrived. They had also wanted to send back their sea bass, disappointed that it had been ruined, cooked well past that "just right" texture and doneness that one is accustomed to in establishments of this level. After my meat problems, they thought better and just tucked in, accepting their punishment like good scouts
The hostess, in the interim apologized to me and said, like I was just off the boat or something, that, "here, we cook our steaks to the rare side". I told her I had still ordered it cooked Medium Rare and it came back Very Rare, two times.
She said she would not charge me for the fatty gristle I would soon be presented with and expected to eat.
Who cares? She acted as if that empty, hand-wringing gesture had fixed everything. I came for an excellent dinner as promised by their reputation; not charity and an insult to my palate and evening.
One of the first skills you learn how to do as a chef or line cook, no matter where you work is... meat "temperature".
As a starter I had the corn chowder, which was anything but. A spoonful of corn flavored cream topped with some cold, uncooked "nibblets"; totally unrealized and awful.
The breaded, fried green tomatoes that came with my excuse for a Angus steak, had obviously not been blotted on towels. They were saturated and glistening with oil like small round greasy sponges. Complimented by a few tasteless boiled spuds, this was a feast not soon forgotten. I ended up pushing my plate away in disgust after a few bites.
This was our second stab at trying to experience what others have said was one of Berkeley's best restaurants; our first visit last year being questionable, though forgivable.
This is one of the few times in my culinary life I have actually felt restaurantally abused. lol!
My British wife suggested that I send this review to Chef Gordon Ramsay suggesting Lalime's as a candidate for his scathing restaurant makeover show.
I'll stick to Jimmy Bean's, Salt and T-Rex and won't be back here anytime soon.
P.S. Their unfiltered tap water continues to be excellent .
Lalime's has offered good, solid Chez Panisse-style cuisine for many years (I'm thinking since the late 1980's or early 90's). Our family has often used Lalime's for special occasions like birthdays or graduations, and we've never been disappointed.
Somehow time slipped by, and we hadn't been to visit Lalime's for at least five years. Then, tonight, our stomachs couldn't wait for our 9:30 pm dinner reservation at Gary Danko's restaurant...and we remembered Lalime's. Instead of a four course meal at our bedtime at Danko's, at Lalime's we were regaled with:
First Course: Foie Gras with Reduction sauce and a very simple salad with a lemony dressing
Second Course: Rack of Lamb in a tomato sauce (Lalime's has a wonderful Mediterranean/Armenian influence in its lamb dishes); Tuna tartare with fresh pepper salsa and avocado
Third Course: we shared a cheese plate of cow's milk, sheep's milk, and goat's milk cheese with fig jam and whole grain bread
Fourth Course: Huckleberry pie a la mode; chocolate creme brulee with black tea ice cream.
With this: glass of Sonoma merlot; big bottle of mineral water; black tea: total for the four courses, bevies, tax and tip: $120!
Lovely server, young but knowledgeable. She was working too many tables, but her warmth and friendlliness won us over.
Oh well, so we missed out on finally eating at Gary Danko's...but we were very happy with our meal at Lalime's for a much reduced price.
This place isn't very hip, and the North Berkeley crowd borders on stuffy, but I came for the food. Evening started with a bay area priced cocktail which was very well mixed and I was graciously attended to by the hostess while I waited for my group. Sweet breads and seared foie appetizers were indulgent and delicious. My entree was forgettable. It was some type of game, and that's all I can recall. I'm sure this place was a stand out back in the day, but with all the options in the East Bay, I wouldn't rush to go back here.
I love this restaurant, but I miss it. It is still great. In fact, it may even be greater than ever. When I first came here in the Fall of '96, Lalime's had nightly prix fixe menus. The menus were always interesting and delicious sounding. The cool thing was they devised the whole calender for the month of menus in advance and, if you were on their mailing list, you could look ahead and find what you would not want to miss. I miss my monthly newsletter with stories from Haig and the always exciting chance to scan the menus. We had a great New England lobster dinner here once. The chance to eat lobster in a beautiful restaurant was a sublime paradox. For a native New Englander, lobster is eaten at home or at some dive-y roadside place with plastic tables or picnic benches.
Last time I was here we ate at the bar, which is tiny and very fun. The waiter that served us on that first meal way back is still here. The food was excellent. In spite of my reminiscences, this place is definitely worth a visit.
I was so disappointed. For years I had walked past Lalime's and thought about eating there -- I had heard rave reviews from friends but never managed to find the right occasion. Finally a friend from out-of-town invited me for my birthday. Well. The service was terribly slow and just... terrible. They got our order wrong, brought things out of sequence and at the wrong temperature, etc. It was terribly noisy.
Our appetizers were OK -- the cheese platter and a soup. But just OK. And the entrees were really not very good. A terribly bland fish stew and some ho-hum meat. It was too noisy to stay for dessert, and besides, we had been kept waiting for each course so long that we were ready to go. A steep bill for a mediocre meal. I won't be going back.
The outside of this eatery is quite deceptive, it's fairly blah from the outside, but pleasant and inviting inside.
We sampled several appetizers including foie gras, sweet breads, pizzetta and soft shell crab. The foie gras and sweetbreads were very nice.
For our entrees we had 4 different, Ribeye ( great flavor, just a thin cut) summer squash gratin was yummy, Lamb, ( nice, potatoes eh, dry and mostly onions) Swordfish nicely done, and the duck with figs and lavender... Delish ! ( would like another fig though!)
The wine list also nice, very diverse.
Our waiter was a sweet heart, excellent service..
Definitely a return visit or many required.
Lalime's is not the kind of restaurant to go to if you're hungry; it's more of an arty-farty food-with-pretentions restaurant. Unfortunately, whilst the ambiance and service are in line with the aspirations of the place, the food fails to be as distinctive or as classy as the owners / chefs would like it to be, and it doesn't merit the hefty prices they charge.
I had roast pumpkin soup as a starter, and then North African-style prawns (actually an appetizer) for my main dish. The pumpkin soup was disappointing; it lacked any distinguishing taste and wasn't hot (I don't think the soup bowl was warmed before the soup was dished out). The prawns were much better, with a subtle spiced flavour, but were let down by being served on what appeared to be a bed of oily and tasteless pepper antipasto. I tried a little of the pizzetta that one of my friends ordered (he offered it around as he didn't like it), but that was also bland.
None of the desserts appealed to me, but I did try a little of a friend's raspberry infused goo (not sure exactly what it was!), which was very tasty.
On the plus side, the service was fine, and the bread and water were replenished regularly. The staff also didn't seem to mind that our party stayed and talked for a while after the rest of the diners had left.
My experience has been that price is very rarely proportional to the caliber of the dish, and Lalime's certainly fits the high price-low satisfaction model. I cannot comment on all their offerings, but certainly those that I tasted were nothing special.
Not recommended.
Lalime's is a solid restaurant. It deserves 4-4.5 stars. Truly. I honestly have enjoyed almost every meal I've had there. It was our 2 year wedding anniversary and we tried to get into Chez panisse (the restaurant), but it being what it is, we never got off the wait list. So we found ourselves at Lalimes, an old-time favorite.
We ordered three small plates and split one large entree: a tomato/fondue dish, lamb croquettes, sardines, and rack of lamb. The small plates were, indeed, small, but everything was really tasty. I particularly enjoyed the organic tomatoes baked with cheese (that's the fondue-like dish). The rack of lamb was also great. Very moist, and tasty. We ended the meal with two desserts (fig tart and sorbet). Both packed a lot of punch. I enjoy cooking, so I know when something is cooked well. I really didn't have much to complain about, except the sardines were a lot bonier than I had anticipated.
The meal came in around $120 with tax and tip, which isn't cheap for two people, but I was satisfied. If you're looking for solid food and service, Lalime's is it!
Best restaurant I've been to in the Bay Area so far. It narrowly beats Rivoli food wise and easily beats them in the service and decor areas.
I have yet to try Chez Panisse, but if you're looking for a fancy and very tasty french meal, go to Lalimes!
I think you have to know certain things to appreciate this restaurant. First, your servers know a lot about the menu, and if you ask the right questions, you'll be happier with what you order. Second, the ambiance is great, but it can get crowded - so if you go, don't pick a crazy busy time and you'll enjoy a more intimate evening.
I had an excellent meal, fantastic wine and a very tasty dessert!
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