Unicorn

Taste: 4
Value: 3
Service: 3
Pretty good food and very convenient since it’s in Southside. Probably the only nice restaurant in Southside, so I’m sad to see it go. However, the prices are too expensive without
coupons, so maybe that’s why they closed.
The vermicelli rice paper wraps with beef were really good. I’ve also had the butterfish and the prawns with mango, with the prawns being slightly better.
Their waiter once spilled water on me accidentally when she knocked over a pitcher of water at the table next to us. Would bump it down to a 3, but their quality food bumps them up from a 3.5. The setting is nice, and I like the passion fruit sorbet with champagne.

I knew it was too good to be true– a delicious, well-​priced sit-​down restaurant in this dumpy area of town?
I just had to open my damn foolish heart to the possibility that unicorns were real.
Be still, my stony, broken heart.

I gave 1 star because the Berkeley location is now CLOSED. The restaurant moved to San Francisco, as becomes obvious when visiting the website or trying to call the disconnected phone number.
They need to update their Unilocal listing and website.

Woo HOO!!! 200 Unilocal Reviews. Finally. Here’s to 200 more. Let us pray that I don’t get sued for any of my Unilocal reviews (truth is a complete defense, people, and I stand behind my reviews – if they were snarky it’s because I was only dishing the truth).
Anyway, I thought I’d review Unicorn for my 200^th. May as well review a restaurant owned by my peeps, right?
Unicorn serves great food, hands down. The horn o’ plenty (or whatever they call it) is great. We got two servings of that and another entrée for four people, and some tea (we’re not big eaters). That horn o’ plenty is amazing (it’s a combination of a bunch of spring rolls, quail, and other items that you can choose from, including baked oysters). Each comes with a different sauce and everything was mighty tastey – seasoned just right. The fish dish was also delish. That’s the up side. Amazing food. You can’t ask for much more than that, right? Well, not quite…
Here’s why I subtracted a star. Man, it was COLD in there. BRRR! They really need to jack up the heat. We came in there in December and I swear it was like living at home again (my frugal, but lovable parents thought that 50 degrees was the perfect temperature. We were mittens in the house. Love my parents, but didn’t realize we lived in a tundra until I moved out). Anyway, I was shivering for a bit and ate with my wool coat on, but when the food came, I forgot all about the temperature. I also subtracted a star because it wasn’t the cheapest food for what we got (I think our bill came out to 80 bucks, and we ordered no drinks, just hot tea).
But all in all, the food was well-​done. I’m definitely returning, but likely in the summer when the temperature is a little warmer! Here’s to a great restaurant run by my peeps. Yummy food, but BRRRRRRRR!

Came here on a Wednesday night after 8:30 and it was packed!
I was totally unarmed Unilocal-​information wise… so I didn’t know to expect and subsequently… LOVE the pre-​dinner palate cleanser of passion fruit sorbet topped with champagne in a shot glass!!! ;) ;) so yummy… definitely want to make that at home now.
We got the sampler for two of the different rolls, calamari, mussels, and quail… best choice ever! This was way more fun to share than just ordering regular dishes I would imagine…
And the staff is so nice… our waitress quickly described each little sauce that went with each part of the dish without making it long & drawn out so that we could get to the eating…(salt & pepper lime, sweet and sour, honey lychee sauce??)
Also you can get
coupons for here… I think $ 10 for a $ 25 coupon. Definitely gonna utilize that next time! :D
This place is pretty small and seating is tight… but it gets 5 stars for a south berkeley spot!

Asian Fusion food at an affordable price, intimate setting, and close distance to campus. This place is perfect for a date if you want to stick close to campus or want to catch a meal before a show at Zellerbach Hall.
Top 5 dishes I gotta shout out:
Maple Leaf Duck Thigh Confit
Five Spice Duck Mosaic
Tamarind Lamb Chops
Spicy Mango Bean Curd and Eggplant
Tofu simmered with Coconut Wasabi Bisque
Well, at least these are my favorites after coming back here multiple times. These are the sure winners and you can’t go wrong with it.
Service is attentive, and if you are in a rush, please feel free to tell them and they will hurry your order accordingly. What really makes this a deal-​breaker is the price they offer for the food and the ambiance. It’s really affordable especially on a college budget if you want to take someone to a nice dinner but don’t want to break over $ 50.
Don’t let the prices fool you though. For such an affordable price, you get great food.
P. S. They used to have a seasonal venison offering, but that has not been on the menu for a while…

I’ve only been here once before a formal with a group of 4 couples. Good service. Food was decent. We had complimentary passion fruit sorbets with champagne. which was nice! and then ordered family style prawns/​spring rolls/​noodles. and i forgot the rest. sorry :(
decoration was nice. a bit hard to believe a nice dining place located on telegraph though. but it is there!!!

At about $ 25 per person (after tax + tip), this is by far the most I’ve ever paid for Asian food in my life. I grew up accustomed to cheap and delicious Chinese food, where a dinner for three easily could cost less than $ 30, so for me to willingly cough up $ 25pp is serious business.
Part of this willingness naturally has to do with the fact that good Asian is surprisingly scarce in Berkeley. But Unicorn really is pretty delicious in its own right. I’ve tried a decent portion of their menu at this point, since my first time there was a 21^st birthday dinner, and my favorites are:
(1) Maple Leaf Duck Thigh Confit: I LOVE duck, especially duck confit. The added bonus is that this dish comes up with one of my absolute favorite foods in the world, «green onion roti». At least, that’s what they call it at Unicorn. I know it as «cong you bing» /​green onion pancake.
(2) Chao Zhou Rolls: Fried to crispy perfection without feeling too greasy.
(3) Mekong Filet of Bass: Tender chunks of fish coated in yummy sauce. What’s not to like?
I’m definitely going to be back, but hopefully armed with a
certificate :)

I’ve been to Unicorn twice. Food ranges from okay to pretty good. The first time I went, I got the butterfish while my bf got the vermicilli rice paper wrap with beef. His dish was REALLY good. The butterfish reminded me of fish that my mom cooked, which is not a bad thing to be reminded of. It was nicely filleted and lightly seasoned with some scallinons and soy sauce. I feel like that the food is a bit inconsistent because the second time I went, my salmon was a bit undercooked. My boyfriend got the prawns with mango, which was a little too much on the sweet side for my taste.
I love the ambiance though. It’s a really cute date place that’s desperately missing on that side of Berkeley. Also, the passion fruit sorbet with champagne that they serve at the beginning of the meal is really yummy. I’ll keep coming back just because of the convenience of the location and the ambiance. I’m hoping that the inconsistencies with the food was just a one time thing.

Everyone knows that fusion is code for expensive. It’s almost like Super Sizing your meal, without the extra food. Fortunately, they screwed up big time on my bill and they accidentally did not charge me for the drinks we ordered. I was very pleased.
The food itself was very pleasant. I had the prawns and was happy with my choice. The passion fruit sorbet and champagne they serve to cleanse your palate before the main course was delicious! The space itself is nice although cramped. For that reason I don’t think it would be good for groups.
I do have to say that unless they screw up your bill, this place is really expensive. The food is nice, but not good enough to warrant the Super Size prices.

I decided to have my 21^st birthday party here as an excuse for getting a bunch of friends together. I thank Unicorn for being attentive and courteous to a party of 15 that spent more than 3 hours there.
I was forced to order a Lychee Martini to start. It was nice and sweet and came with two lychee fruits in it! If you like Thai Iced Tea, GET IT HERE. It was the richest Thai iced tea I’ve ever tasted and came in an awesome glass. After ordering, the waitress brought out the champagne sorbet that I had heard rumors about. It was DELICIOUS. And the presentation simple, yet exciting.
My boy and I both got the Sea Course, first of which was the mussels. They were tasty and not to rubbery, and the cream sauce it came in balanced with the seafood nicely. Next was the Tuna Seviche, with mangos and daikon (I think). It was okay, not the best-​tasting tuna I’ve had, I enjoyed the tangy fruit and veggie strips more. The main course was Salmon in Curry and rice. It was good (not much more I can say). For a main course, it wasn’t very filling. I chose the Chocolate Torte for dessert (surprise surprise). It was brought out with a skinny sparking candle. The torte was rich! Almost too rich, but it’s chocolate so I’m not going to complain.
Everything my friends ordered also looked delicious. The vermicelli rolls with steak were fun, since my friend had to actually assemble the rolls himself. The Prawns with Spicy Mango and Eggplant (my second choice on the menu) was also very good. My vegetarian friend enjoyed a salad with some kind of vinaigrette dressing. Some portions, however looked on the small side, including the Carmelized Sea Bass.
The ambiance was fun and exotic, a good choice for groups. We were often the only ones in the restaurant (on a Saturday night), so I didn’t feel like were were intruding too much in the small space. The mirrored hall to the bathroom is a little intimidating. Also, you can play the water goblets! Just don’t do it too much, or the waitress will tell you to stop disturbing the other patrons (politely, of course).
Unfortunately, Unicorn’s system wouldn’t let us do separate checks, so it certainly was a headache to figure out the bill. If I had this experience on my own, say just myself and a friend, I probably would have given only 3 stars, but they deserve 4 stars for putting up with us.

We dropped by early on a Friday evening. I knew luck would be with us, it was Tristan’s birthday! At first I thought the waitress was gonna throw some static when we didn’t have reservations… but it turns out, Ashley is way cool!
LOTS of hipster types. Some way skinny blonde Eurotrash mook brought in a «hot» girl. They looked so banally sweet. Bleh. I bet they went home and had some of that «sweet Arian sex that they love so darn much.» (Thank you Dr. Cox)
Anyway, poor Ashley has to put up with that every night, but we saved her and made her laugh with us. I had the lemongrass chicken and veggies. It was so light and good, and the veggies were so crunchy but not raw. Tristan had the sea bass (Ashley’s fave). It was so good, he had to close his eyes and savor every bite.
The spring rolls were crispy and tasty. The soup wasn’t bad, a little sweet for my taste.
But…the coup de grace… THE AMAZING CHOCOLATE TORTE THINGY!!!
Ok, booze, good food, chocolate, interesting décor, and great service.
Who wants to go back?
ME
oooo
ooo
ME!
ME!

This is a random little place snuggled on Telegraph by a few thrift shops and such. You go in and see this red fountain-​wall thing right in front of your face. It’s pokeable.
So we went in on a Thursday night and it was FULL. Totally crowded place, people smashed together and what not. Luckily, since we were only 2 people, we were led to these tables on an aisle-​way to the restroom, all the way to the last table, the only open one… in front of the restroom and next to some pussy willows, to my delight. Throughout the night, I watched as an amazing amount of people went in and out of the restroom. It was simply astounding. The bathrooms (2 unisex) were pretty much never empty… not sure what’s in their food but yeah…
Now the service kinda made up for the crowded aisle ways and the Restroom view. The waiters/​waitresses were very friendly… except, while they were explaining things, like how to make a rice paper roll, they would NEVER EVER look at me, they would look at the guy I was with even if I asked questions. Love being a female (*scowls*). Or possibly he’s just much more eye-​pleasing than I am.
But anyway, we settled on a pot of Black Mango Tea, the Unicorn Taro Rolls, the Steamed Mekong Bass Filet, and the Atlantic Salmon in Curry. Definitely if you’re a tea person, get a pot of tea! The Black Mango was very very interesting tasting… in a good way. Smelled like mango, yumyum.
Before our food came, a waitress brought us the palate cleanser that everyone mentions – some delicious passionfruit sorbet in a glass… if you want she pours in some form of alcohol which I politely declined.
So here’s the breakdown of the food:
Unicorn Taro Rolls: Very fresh, full of finely chopped vegetables in Ponzu sauce. I could barely taste the taro though. It was yummy but needs more taro!
Mekong Filet of Bass: Soooo good. This is what makes me give them 4 stars. I had way too much fun making ugly rice rolls. You dip funny looking round sheets in a bowl of warm water, put on some veggies and fish, and attempt to roll it up and dip it in sauce. If you’re efficient like me, after you’re done with all the rolls, you can wash your hands in the water…
I’m not sure what they put on the fish besides green onion and peanuts, but it was YUMMY!
Atlantic Salmon in Curry: Definitely tasty. Perfect texture. Curry could have been a little less sweet though.
Black Coconut Rice: My guy liked this with the curry… it was kinda sticky and such… I preferred the Jasmine Rice myself.
So, eating here is definitely an adventure. It is kinda expensive for Asian food here, but worth it on the right occasion.
Oh and the waitor took excellent photos for me, in front of the restroom. Woohoo…

I used to go to the East Bay a lot, but not so much since Cal started hanging out in the SV. Having bookmarked Unicorn after reading a rave review, then seeing two of my best Unilocal buds review it a week or so later… I had to try this place when I was in the EB for work! Well, work was in Napa, but I stayed with Cal in Oakland.
The place was easy to find, parking was easy to find, and it was empty at 5p on Friday so getting seated was easy, too. I thought it was super cute, and our waitress was really friendly. The décor was pretty nice, but I think they had one too many colors. I would have gotten rid of the darker purple. It reminded me too much of middle school (cross colours, was it?).
Overall, I had a wonderful experience. I loved my champango drink, the albino roll, and my pork chop entrée! I would have given it 5 stars based on my experience alone, but Cal’s drink wasn’t that great (red lemon, I think) and the steamed vermicelli noodles he ordered didn’t have the right texture. I don’t think it should be al dente. The rest of his dish was superb. I’m so glad that I got to try out this place and would definitely come back if I’m back in the area.

Don’t run or walk too fast! — because you will definitely miss this not-​too-​well-​lit-​and-​blends-​in kind of place. My friend suggested we eat here and I am so glad she did! **4.5 stars**
Out of the three girls dining, one is vegetarian (not me), so we decided to order all non-​meat items, although my other friend looked up from the menu at me and said, «Do you want to get some meat?» I used to always order a meat dish to counter my veg friend’s veggie dish. Childish, I know.
We ordered the unicorn taro rolls to start (very fresh tasting). After our appetizer, the waitress (Ashley — super nice) brought out the passion fruit sorbet/​champagne palate cleanser. It was refreshing! Dinner was penang baba curry tofu with broccoli, sauteed basil with tofu and eggplant, garlic noodles, black coconut rice and baked green onion roti. Everything was so good! We ended the meal full and happy.
We considered getting a bottle of wine since they’re half off on Tuesdays, but ultimately decided against it. We had reservations for 6:30, but we didn’t need them — the place was half empty the whole time we were there. The bathrooms, though clean, were down an awkward, crowded hallway (lots of table for two on left side, mirrored wall on the right side).
I would love to come back and try other dishes! Their prix fixe menu looks awesome.

Mon & Tues nights = HALF PRICE bottles of wine. We had a ridiculously yummy 2001 French bottle with dinner. My friend and I split the vermicelli with rice paper wrap to start. The waitress called it «build your own spring roll». My mom calls this eating «country style». You soften the rice paper, then load up with noodles, basil, carrot, sprouts, and meat – then roll it and surround it with bib lettuce to dip. This is comfort food for me. Very fresh and tasty. They even had Naimen ranch steak! We also split the smoked eggplant, which was just OK, a bit small portioned, nothing fantastic but good.
Dining area is cute but small. Watch out on your way back from the restroom. The mirrored wall can make you fall down from vertigo. Especially after drinking half price bottles of wine.

I’ve been meaning to write a review on this place for waaaaay to long but just haven’t had the time. I’ve been to this location twice (there’s also one in SF) and absolutely love the place.
Both times we ate here we went specificially for a charity dinner where proceeds went to causes in Africa. The most recent was to benefit a school and AIDS orphanage in rural Uganda. An awesome South African troup called Vukani Mawethu performed both times, they have deep beautiful voices and amazing energy that just adds so much to the already phenomenal experience. I love that Unicorn has been gracious to support these agencies and offer their space (and money!) to help their missions.
The service both times was fantastic. The food incredibly heartwarming. We shared the Singaporean Vermicelli Curry and the Sauted Basil with Tofu and Chinese Eggplant entrees, they were equally satisfying. For dessert, had the BEST sorbet EVER. Ask for 2, not 1, serving of their passonfruit sorbet, you won’t regret.
Last thing I have to say about Unicorn is the décor is really beautiful, it’s very earthy and inviting and just makes you feel good all around. You will leave extremely full, content and in peace.

This place has great garlic noodles and awesome dessert. What I like most is they give you a complimentary small sorbet raspberry and champagne drink at the beginning of your meal. The portion size was a little small, but overall the meals were enjoyable. The service is great too! Our waiter opened the doors for us when we were leaving.
Great place, but a little pricey for the portion size.

We went to Unicorn for the first time last night. The place was practically empty, but 6.15 pm is early for the Bay Area. We ordered a variety of items to share among 3 of us. We had the imperial rolls and the duck poh pia. Then we ordered the thai hot & sour tamarind soup as well as the carrot chowder. I did not really care for the chowder; the flavor was too subtle for me and the texture was a little unusual. I really enjoyed the thai soup. It was quite tart which I like but some would probably think it’s too puckery. Both rolls were excellent.
Main dishes were the Singapre noodles, the duck curry, and the mango chicken. The duck curry was quite good, the noodles ok. I did not care for the chicken.
Service was very friendly. Unfortunately neither the wine we ordered from the wine list, nor sparkling water was available. It had been moved to the SF location! (Is this place gonna shut down???) But the main guy there brought us each a glass of soda water «on the house». Nice gesture!
Overall a pleasant experience. I just did not find it overwhelming.

LOVE the prix fixe menu! i highly recommend he New Zealand Green Lip Mussels in Coconut-​Wasabi Cream and the chilean sea bass – both were to die for!!!
the ambience and service were also excellent… the owner of the restaurant saw to it that we were taken care of the whole time. i will definitely go back!