Bauer Disappointed at Dopo; Roth on New Pizza Options

[Photo: bubbletea1/Flickr]

Bauer revisited Oakland's Dopo for this week's review, noting that "it's hard to maintain a restaurant" like this long-running favorite "in peak form." The restaurant has "gotten a little soft," from an "underbaked" pizza to an "underdone" malloreddus to an "uneven" cannoli. Some dishes, like the crudo, charcuterie and confit of pork, "showed the simple rusticity that has made this place such a go-to for more than a decade." But service was "a little disjointed," and though "there's still much to love about Dopo," "it's not performing at its full potential." Two stars. [Chron]

Anna Roth took time out to review the city's newest pizza options, with a focus on the crucially important crust. First off was PizzaHacker, "the best of the new crop," which boasts a crust that "reaches that magical sweet spot where it's thin and crisp but retains a bit of chew to keep things interesting." Josey Baker's Monday night pizza operation at The Mill gets Roth's attention for its "laid-back, California-hippie approach to pizza," with crust that's "surprisingly airy despite the amount of whole-wheat flour in them." Dogpatch new arrival Long Bridge Pizza Co. has "a chewy crust that nonetheless isn't too dense and doesn't droop when you pick up a slice," but Roth notes that "there is still something to be said for the simple, floppy New York-style pizzas" like those at the "excellent" The Pizza Shop. [SF Weekly]

Patricia Unterman took a major shine to Kin Khao, calling Pim Techamuanvivit's new That restaurant "worth the challenge of getting to know it." Though Unterman had her doubts, she changed her tune after the first bite, calling Kin Khao "an affordable gem" with a "full commitment to intense, authentic Thai flavor," from the "stunning" mushroom Hor Mok terrine to the "handsome" pretty hot wings to the "sublime" rabbit green curry. "Yes readers, once again, I'm in love." [Unterman on Food]

Jonathan Kauffman paid a visit to Charles Phan's newest enterprise, The Coachman, which is "not your classic British restaurant." Erik Adkins' cocktail menu of 18th- and 19th-century drinks "appeals more to contemporary curiosities than anglophiles," and food favorites include "fat" stalks of asparagus with brandade and just-popped peas, potted crab with "sweet Dungeness meat," butter and crab fat, and sticky toffee pudding. "It could be ... a new San Francisco classic." [Tasting Table]

Wendy Hector satisfied a hot dog craving with a visit to Los Shucos, which offers Latin-style hot dogs inspired by the flavors of Guatemala. A " snug, cheery interior" holds the promise of locally-sourced meat, "quality" bread and homemade buns baked daily. She "fell hard" for El de la Foto, a bacon-wrapped frank topped with "heaps" of cabbage, and El Huevon, another favorite, "tops slices of delicious, dense chorizo with mounds of buttery eggs, flawlessly scrambled." "Cravings satisfied." [Examiner]

Luke Tsai explored the offerings of Tashi Delek, a new Tibetan-Nepalese-Bhutanese-Indian restaurant in El Cerrito that offers "an intriguing, and often quite delicious" menu for "adventurous eaters and homesick Himalayan ex-pats." Though "the saltiness and creaminess" of the butter tea "were too off-putting" for Tsai, Tashi Delek's Nepalese momos "were some of the best I've had." Though it was "hard to pass up" on the harder-to-find Tibetan and Nepalese dishes, the Indian items were also "excellent," but the dishes that drew Tsai were those unusual ones "not quite like anything you've ever eaten before," that taste "at once foreign and eminently familiar." [EBX]