Grocery Cafe

YES! This place is awesome! I can’t even remember how I found it — probably browsing Unilocal a bit. It’s WAYYY more authentic than Burma Superstar, but it’s definitely a hole in the wall for SURE. Not a place for dates or fancy eating. I’m talking mismatched furniture (charming) and slightly sticky tables. But the food is SOLID. The rainbow noodles were the BEST! That kaffir lime is amazing. We also got the Mohinga, which was ok, and the tea leaf salad, which I love. I have gotten it to go and eaten it at the airport. :D It’s a large portion — I ate the whole thing and I was kinda sick after lol. Oops.
Anyway, yes, you must frequent this place. They also opened a sister restaurant in the Tenderloin. I am happy to patronize this place and sad that I only discovered this gem on my way out of the neighborhood. And the staff is so nice! We asked about the noodles and they gave us a few kaffir lime leaves from the garden, which I used to recreate the rainbow noodles at home.

Had their fish chowder (moh hin ha) a lot of flavor, big portion, decent price, friendly staff, quiet when I was there… Just a few blocks from where I live, will definitely come back when I’m craving it :)

I love this little hole in the wall! It’s a gem of Oakland! They have the best Tea leaf salad in the Bay. like eating it in a Burmese home! Menu is limited, but consistent. No nonsense type of place.
My gotos:
1. Tea leaf salad
2. Fish Chowder
3. Coconut Chicken Noodle
4. Rainbow Salad
5. Oxtail
6. Basil Fish
Not a fan of the Simosas. I love the owner, so sweet and accommodating. Food 5 stars, but don’t expect any ambiance.

My wife and I had a wonderful experience dining here. As someone said, it’s like being invited into the home of a Burmese neighbor and dining on their delightful home cuisine. The oxtail was fall-​off-​the bone with delish pumpkin. Curry chicken noodle was outrageous. All the ingredients in the tea leaf salad was fresh. Sure, the dishes took a while to get to the table but I felt they made each dish individually for each table… not pre-​cooked and taken out of a big pot. The owner was extremely nice and friendly.

fantastic.
Better than Burma Superstar and you don’t have to stand in line for it.
Excellent flavors, delicious food, lovely host, very odd hole in the wall décor… think, clean but Goodwill basement chic.
I’d put on some quiet music and put up some cool photos of Myanmar. Other than that, it’s pretty great.

I haven’t tried Burma Superstar or the restaurant formerly known as Rangoon Superstar, but yo, after going to Grocery Café, I don’t even care. I felt like I had a meal in the owner’s home, complete with bar soap in the bathroom. It’s quiet, it’s quaint, it’s got fantastic vinyl album covers adorning the walls, and, oh, its food is flat out amazing.
There’s no need to repeat everything people have been saying about the food. We got the tea leaf salad, oxtail kabucha, and nan gyi thoke, and I’m in love. What I do want to write about is the moment when the owner brought out the tea leaf salad. He endearingly pointed to each ingredient in the vibrant dish, explained why they were there and where they came from, and then carefully mixed the salad for us. It’s a simple gesture, but in that moment I could feel the love and dedication that went into the dish. Maybe I’m a sucker for restaurant folks who remind me of my grandfather, maybe I’m overly sentimental, but I was sold on the salad, and the meal as a whole, before I even took my first bite.
The first bite was fantastic, by the way, so that didn’t hurt.

Here’s the order of our delicious dinner this weekend…
Tea leaf salad. Nutty, complex, refreshing, salty. Gigantic.
Oxtail kabucha. Melty, rich, deeply flavorful, comes with a half plate of white sticky rice.
Samusa thoke. Sour, hearty, yummy, possibly my favorite! Also gigantic.
Kinda late to the party, two jars of chile sauces arrived. One green fresh and bright. The other red and seedy. Both great and not too extreme. Mmmm.
Hot tea, with dish of coconut chips and tiny clove gum drops.
Warm family-​style service.
Yes, we over-​ordered. We were stuffed full and almost half of the meal went home in take out containers. The owner promised it would all taste even better the next day. It did, and that’s saying something.

You know those restaurants where you wait forever for your food? Those family style restaurants like kimchee garden in Berkeley where you are there to chill more than eat? Grocery café is another one of those hole in the wall, family dentures establishments.
That said, if you want fast food or food that’s like Burma superstar, go somewhere else. Grocery Café offers its own type of Burmese food.
Definitely grab the tea leaf salad. Of course it took about 15 – 20 minutes to come out, but every bite of that salad brought a storm of flavors. I give this tea leaf salad a ¹⁰⁄₁₀. Similar to burma superstar’s salad, this one is bomb.
The other two dishes we got-​the pork chutney and basil catfish (recommended by Unilocalers) — were not quite as delicious but maybe because they weren’t what I expected.
I’ll definitely come back and check out their other items because I was immediately hooked by their tea leaf salad. Though I had mixed feelings about the rest of the menu, I had a decent experience.
I do prefer places that take longer for food because it allows you to immerse yourself in the restaurant’s culture. I hope you check out this place too!
Eat eel and prosper,

Came here on a whim with and was delighted with the whole dining experience. A menu unlike any other in Oakland, limited but excellently spiced dishes. The mango pork was tender, the noodles with curry powder were massive in priorities, and yet somehow we managed to work our way through them ;).
It’s a small place and can take a moment to be settled with water and tea, but it’s worth it. We were approached with a small plate of candied treats/​Burmese chocolate, an uncommon treat.
Definitely will be back with an appetite!

A fellow Unilocaler and friend put it perfectly: «while Burma Superstar is the Americanized version, this is the real deal».
Yes, you will wait a long time for attention and your food. Calm down, it’s home cookin, and entitlement will not make your food come faster. In supporting local restaurant spots and home grown Burmese foods, It’s worth the wait.
Yes, it’s not like Champa garden or Burma superstar. So don’t compare. It’s it’s own Burmese neighborhood non-​fancy non-​gold plated exotic décor type of spot. They use the chilis and herbs they grow in the restaurant. They take time to make the food. They’re like the grandparents that don’t givafuk, because they know they’re makin family smackin good food.
Tea leaf salad, coconut soup, lamb plate. I’d go back and support it any day!

Gross. I’ve eaten at Burma superstar many times so I thought I knew what to expect. I also wanted to love this place because I’m all about supporting local business, but mannnnnnn I did not like this food at ALL!
I ordered the chicken curry dish with rice, and my friend ordered the basil catfish. But more on that in a sec…
The restaurant is full of dated, mismatched furniture, and the very small menu was filthy so we had to ask for them to be wiped down. There isn’t much of a food selection, and we discovered the refrigerator case was just for show with the hot soda we were given. The man waiting tables was polite, but not very attentive.
The food the catfish dish was covered in an overly salty garlic/​tomato/​basil sauce, making it hard to pick out the bones in the fish. The fish also still had its rubbery skin on it too, and anyone who’s ever cooked catfish knows you remove the skin at least before cooking. It was also so greasy I wanted to skim off some of it, really oily and not pleasant. It had a strange perfume like overtone, but the fish was moist, once you picked out all the bones they left in it.
After waiting about 20 minutes for the chicken dish to come out after the fish, I was very hungry. What was put in front of me looked delicious, but after tasting I almost vomited. It was dry without the sauce pictured on the menu, and greasy greasy greasy with a faint taste of rancid oil, and an overpowering perfume of fish sauce, and something that I can’t put my finger on. I also wondered if it was even chicken frankly, it was cut into random pieces with lots of fat, and didn’t taste at all like chicken but was way sharp in flavor, like it was a different kind of meat. It tasted microwaved, rubbery, not fully hot, and not appetizing in the least. The potatoes were hard, the whole thing was disgusting!!!
I also question the $ 9 appetizer, apps should not be the same price as a meal, period.
I couldn’t get out of there fast enough and have no idea why people rate this garbage so highly.

You can tell the couple that runs this place is passionate about their food. It’s more affordable then Burma Superstar and there’s never a crowd. They don’t have any alcoholic drinks but that’s not really an issue since the food is amazing. Definitely check this place out!

I discovered that there is one thing in this word I dislike more than vomiting thanks to GROSSery café. That one thing is throwing up tea leaf salad. The spices burn your eyes. I went to the café for my friends birthday on Friday, and, April fools!, I got food poisoning. The first half of the next day I spent throwing up. The rest of the day I was resting. Couldn’t eat anything but saltines. Got to watch some good movies though (kingpin, 5 stars).
Everything was also slightly over salted. They were good with refilling the tea.
I had the tea leaf salad, veggie samosas, and rainbow noodles with no meat.
Needless to say, not going back. Just wanted to put a warning out there.

Heard about this place long ago and it was on my list for years before I finally got to try it when I was back in the Bay Area. Located in a very residential area on the corner of a rather nondescript neighborhood. I don’t think the sign outside even says Grocery Café; there was just a banner than read «Burmese Food» on my visit.
The interior has very eclectic furniture and doesn’t look all that impressive at all, but the service is very friendly and the food is amazing! Definitely a less polished version of Burmese food than a place like Burma Superstar, but very authentic and down-​to-​earth.
My friend and I decided to order a number of dishes and share everything. Burmese food is one of my favorites, and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal, especially the oxtail. Would love to come back and try more the next time I am in the area! Prices were very affordable, especially given the portion size.

Amazing food — we had a buffet luncheon of 45 people organized by Suo and Maria –
The Kung Pao. Ox tail, long live noodles… never tasted any thing this good… together we had some Jazz and wine… it so good that I have to look for the menu and schedule a date to return

Other than all the fantastic dishes already mentioned in other reviews, grocery café also offers a green tea from Burma from the large leave varietal of camellia sinensis plant. Flavored with tea flower, it’s got a nice floral aroma, smooth, thick texture. It’s perfect beverage to cut through rich flavorful dishes on the menu. The texture and flavors of the tea reminds me of raw puer teas from China. In fact, the waiter mentioned the tea is from Shan state in Burma, bordering China where puer tea comes from.
Oh yeah, they also bring a couple of house made chili condiments to the table, vinegar and fermented fried garlic, both of which are stars in their own right!

I’ve been hearing about this place for a while and we finally went last night. I wanted to love it– my neighborhood staple Champa Garden ALWAYS has a wait– and I loved the little Burmese joint around the corner from my old house in the Mission.
It was pretty full– we got the last table. Décor and atmosphere was homey– I liked the giant chile pepper bushes proclaiming the Scoville units of their fruit right inside the door.
We ordered the tea leaf salad, nan gyi thoko (curried rice noodles with chicken and chickpea flour), and the basil catfish.
The tea leaf salad came after about 20 minutes and it was the star of the evening. If you’re familiar with the BSS version, this is more pungent, with the toasted garlic and fish sauce coming through strongly. It’s made with cabbage instead of lettuce and it’s very crunchy with chickpeas, peanuts, and sesame seeds. I could have eaten two of them on my own.
After eating the salad, we picked at the plate for about 20 more minutes until the catfish came out. The fish steaks were lightly fried with a small amount of onion, tomato, and basil sauce spooned over the top, with rice on the side. The flavor in the sauce was good, but the fish was dry and under-​seasoned and the primary ingredient in the sauce seemed to be the fry oil. It was ever-​so-​faintly reminiscent of one of my favorite dishes in town, the trout in smoky eggplant at Old Weang Ping, but it really seemed like they didn’t heat up their fry oil enough and it just soaked into everything.
After the catfish was gone, we waited for another twenty minutes, sucking at the ice cubes in our water glasses, figuring they forgot the chicken curry noodles. Nope.
Finally the noodles came out, and I was just so disappointed. Again, they didn’t heat their fry oil enough so the noodles were just soaked through with grease. The dish arrived lukewarm, and the chickpea flour picked up the grease, making the noodles pasty and extremely salty. There WAS a flavor that I really liked in this dish, a warm toasted-​garlic curry cut with lime, but the salt overpowered the curry and the whole bite was mealy and limp. The chicken was three pieces of fatty, gray meat that arrived on the side. We left feeling heavy and greasy.
They take cards, which is nice, and they’re friendly and their spot is busy. My loyalty to Champa Garden hasn’t wavered– they have a line outside for a very good reason– but we’ll be back for the tea leaf salad and to try some different stuff. Although our experience wasn’t great, it’s good to have another little restaurant in the neighborhood and I’m hoping they work out the kinks.

This is an amazing and affordable new Burmese restaurant, though they have a few kinks to iron out.
My first experience: I asked the waiter questions about several dishes. He couldn’t understand my questions and scribbled something down. Luckily, I was watching carefully, and I realized that he had written down every dish I had asked him about as an order, so I had him cross those off. After lots of explaining, I finally ordered the Nan Gyi Thoke chicken and noodles and the Tea Leaf Salad. Both were terrible and missing most of the ingredients in the picture. Still, I live in the neighborhood and the prices were good, so I decided to come back and give it another try.
My second experience: The same waiter as last time took my order again, and he was still mildly confused by my questions. However, once the dishes were ready, the owner came to bring them out. I had the Ginger Salad and the Ohno Khao Swe coconut chicken noodle soup, and both were amazing! The owner was very helpful and kind– he told me about the history of each dish and he mixed the salad together for me. The food was definitely less U.S. style and more authentic Burmese than some other places– the salad had little dried shrimp and the chicken soup had some of the darker parts of the meat with some of the fat– but it tasted good this way. The one
As a side note, the decorations are very vintage and hipster, and they fit the hipster vibe and clientele well.
Once they train the waiters more and iron out their recipes and ingredient purchases, this place will be absolutely perfect for getting your authentic Burmese fix.

While Burma Superstar is the Americanized version of Burmese food, Grocery Café is the real deal, and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s another one of Oakland’s fine hole in the wall East Oakland joints. While the ambiance is a bit rough around the edges, the food itself packs loads of flavor and won’t rob your wallet. My Coconut Chicken Soup (Ohno Khao Swe) came out piping hot and was the perfect mix of deep smokey flavors accented by bright features like lime and chili. A lot of love went into that soup. The owner was very sweet too and brought me extra fixins. I didn’t have the tea lead salad but based on eyeing the one another customer ordered, it’s legit!
It’s a smaller menu but given that they’re a new business this makes sense. Give the uptown and downtown Oakland scene a rest and venture out this way for a down home, more intimate dining experience :)

Grocery Café is the latest Burmese restaurant from William Lue (Refined Palate in Orinda, TW Burmese in San Ramon, Pacheco Bistro in Martinez, and formerly Burmese Gourmet food truck). Don’t say that he owned the original Burma Superstar two owners before it gained superstar-​dom or BSS might sue you (
)
Anyway, it follows Champa Garden’s «restaurant in the middle of a residential area» strategy and refines it by cryptically hiding behind an America’s Best Coffee sign (
). There’s a sign from the defunct food truck on the door (
)
Funky seating at a handful of tables inside with some repurposed church pews (
) and old record sleeves have been turned into wall art (
)
Limited soft opening menu with staples like Tea Leaf Salad and Mohinga (not my pic
) has been augmented by a few other dishes and an appetizer (
)
The Tea Leaf Salad comes to the table pre-​mixed with a wedge of lemon (
) There’s cabbage in tea leaf salad vs. the lettuce you see at some places (BSS). Lot’s of peanuts along with sesame seeds, fried garlic chips and possibly other crunchy bits. There’s dried red pepper flakes to add spice. More fermented tea leaf than recent versions we’ve had at BSS.
The Mohinga is topped with a handful of the crisp pea fritters and a boiled egg (
) Thin noodles and small chunks of catfish along with the pureed fish you can see in the broth (
). Nice depth of flavor.
Good portions for your $ 7. Not sure how the pricing will change over time, but things are still $ 7 @ Refined Palate in Orinda after about a year.