Surprise Dinner
Before heading over to the Fox Theatre to see Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Jason surprised me with dinner at Townhouse in Emeryville.
As we pulled into the rear parking lot, I kept saying "seriously? THIS place?" I've driven by the building before and it looks like a shack. I even remember my dad distinctively saying, "wow, that's a rundown place. You wouldn't want to be here at night." When I got out of the car, I could see an outdoor seating area. As I slowly walked closer, I was surprised and relieved that the interior looked decent and this rundown shack was actually an operating restaurant. Jason definitely shocked me by picking this random place. The interior was quite large with exposed beams, an open kitchen, long counter bar and even an area with live music. Nice. Not what you expect from the exterior.I ordered the chicken picatta with mashed potatoes and broccolini. The chicken was tender, moist, smashed thin and smothered with a savory lemon, caper, white wine sauce. I was craving for some mashed potatoes and these hit the spot - extra fluffy with olive oil. The grilled broccolini was really good too, not bitter at all. Jason was craving for a burger and ordered one. He said it wasn't bad, but nothing that special. The fries, on the other hand, were so good - fresh, extra crispy and thin.We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of Argentinian red wine, Malbec. It was really good - full bodied with soft tanins, similar to a cab. I've never had Malbec before, but I enjoyed it very much. This variety is certainly going into my wine repertoire. Although dinner was rushed since we had to go to the concert [ partly my fault - a girl takes awhile to get ready! :P ], I thoroughly enjoyed the surprise (both dinner and finding this hidden gem). As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. :) Thank you Jason!
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