We have been interested in this place for a while and never made it in till restaurant week gave us a great excuse. We loved it. Yes, you're having a tasting menu experience in a lunch spot. BUT everything about the night was professional but more importantly well executed. The restaurant week menu didn't feel like a cheapie cop out- 3 solid satisfying courses that was more than enough plus interesting enough to make me want to go back for more. Wines were delicious and generous. Truthfully I'm a little afraid of the full menus because I saw a lot of food going to tables having them and Im not sure (though willing to try) I can do it. We shall see. Kudos to all the staff for giving us a fun date night. Love any restaurant who apologizes to me for my wait on seating me when I arrived 10 virgo minutes early and I was seated on time. read more

Went for restaurant week and though the one bite of the appetizer was delicious and two bites of the braised short rib a bit sweet for me, I still enjoyed it. Dessert was another small bite of a rich chocolate cake. All in all, the food was good, not amazing, but just good. But the minuscule portion size is outrageous. Who ever heard of spending close to a hundred dollars and still being hungry? We went to a different restaurant right after for another delicious meal. Maybe they skimped down for restaurant week as their usual menu has a 5 or 7 course menu and maybe that will provide 7 or 9 bites off food and might fill someone's belly enough for a meal. But I won't be returning. read more

Incredibly creative and delicious food. The mushrooms and steak were the best I've ever had.

To echo other reviews, food was over salted when it could've easily been used to enhance the flavors instead of compensating for creative content. The menu read pleasantly entertaining and photos viewed on the internet expected an artful presentation, intriguing, sophisticated yet realized unsatisfactory & disappointing platings yielding an overload of salt displacing a potential great last meal in Berkeley. Chez Panisse was half the price and ten times better! Do not go here. read more

Three ways to describe the food 1. Flavor bomb 2. Food porn 3. Phenomenal This was such an amazing experience,. I'm looking forward to the menu change in the next month. Came here on a Saturday night, at 6 and thankfully they didn't begin serving the food right away. That gave me sometime to settle in and observe, chat over some wine and become familiar with the space. Funny thing is I've always wanted to eat at the gastropig but haven't made it here, just yet. Where do I begin?The presentation on all the dishes were outstanding. I was trying to choose between the 7 courses which was my favorite but I truly couldn't decide. Starting off with the soup, the torn paper bowls gave it a really artistic flare hence the fine dining on paper. I was impressed with every dish, the space was clean the kitchen was open, the food came out in good timing, overall it was a great experience. Second course was a salad that had sooo much flavor notes of acidity, savory, crunchy texture, and just the right number of cravable bites. The tables were set with beautiful flowers, the servers were all polite, the atmosphere was really intimate. You can tell a lot of time and preparation went into developing the bold flavors of the menu for example the chardness on the eggplant was really inspiring because my date said she didn't like eggplant at all but enjoyed it with the lamb I believe it was. Creative concepts such as fish Carmel sauce! Sounds unheard of but it was very tasty with the granola paired with a beet as the 3rd course. Next I believe we enjoyed the thinly sliced trout dish that I think was visually the most appealing. The color contrast on all the dishes make for great photos but this one stood out because it felt like a summer treat right in the middle of the the chilly Bay Area. I think these guys are on to something. I can't remember if the lamb or the beef cheek was next oh... can't forget the intermezzo which was a tiny tomato with a green onion garnish, a sauce and shaved purple yam. All of the combinations seem like mystery basket ingredients from the tv show chopped but, they all come together beautifully. Honestly I was impressed because the blending of so many different flavors struck me as odd but noooo... the asian influences were all highlighted. I'm raving about all the dishes but the panacotta for dessert took the cake. There was so much going on... I wanted another one!! There were people with professional cameras taking pics of the food, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and overall I had a grand time. Will be back soon :) read more

What a surprise. The $85 7-course tasting menu was a great deal and terrific experience. We had a delicious meal, wonderful service, everything was just a delight! The portions were perfect size. We all left VERY satisfied and, to be clear, we are not dainty eaters. Oakland continues to impress. No need to go to the city when Oakland has impressive culinary experiences like Abstract Table. read more

Waste of money - literal one bite portions, freezing restaurant. Go to Taco Bell instead :(

2 stars is probably generous. The wild boar belly we were given was inedible touch and uncuttable. No one could have finished the two pieces were given. At $70, the course tasting menu was inexpensive. There were no stand out courses accept maybe the desert. It was a lot of pomp but just didn't taste good. Leak ash sounds fancy. Good job making it. I had it last week at Narisawa in Tokyo and it was amazing. It was just an over reach of needless technical try at Abstract Table. I have to assume the chef's aren't tasting their own food. Maybe it was better when they started. I would not return and can't recommend it even at what I consider a very reasonable price. read more

Loved the pop up vibe. We had seven courses of thoughtful, well executed dishes lovingly presented with friendly yet professional service. Individual dish portions ranged from modest to generous, and we were stuffed by the end. The kitchen staff also went out of their way to accommodate a member of our party with a dairy allergy. Can't recommend them enough. read more

1st experience here was on Father's Day 6/20. My husband and I indulged in the 3 course prix fixe meal along with our 11mo old son. The food was excellent! We were so thankful that we were able to enjoy a yummy meal with our son, thanks for making us feel welcome. We loved everything so much we came back 5 days later to try their dinner menu tonight...again, outstanding! Looking forward to our next Abstract Table meal. read more

I really wanted to love this place. The concept and menu sounded great! And the fact that the chef came out to explain three of the dishes was awesome. I am writing this review because I really want this place to succeed, but I believe they have a few kinks to work out. We went right after a menu change; the theme was "Thorough Fare." It turns out this meant international street food, but unfortunately this was not explained to us (I asked at the end of the meal.) Following is the paraphrased menu, as I recall it: First course was a deconstructed ceviche: raw fish, pineapple salsa, lime popsicle. Such a cute idea and I wanted to like it. Unfortunately the popsicle was super acidic (and I LOVE acidic food), and the nature of the dish meant it was impossible to get a balanced bite. The fish had zero heat (a fact my husband complained about), and we both felt it was utterly lacking salt. There were only about 1.5 tbsp of fish on the plate, so it was very small. 2/5. Second course was a tamale dish . . . I forget the details, but it was pretty good, and came with a very spicy sauce. 3/5. Third course: hubby got wagyu tartare, and I got tuna tartare since I couldn't eat the beef. The garnishes and look of the dishes were exactly alike, with the protein shaved super thin. Unfortunately these were tiny portions and also lacking salt. The tuna was shaved so thin that I felt I could not really taste the fish. 2/5. Fourth course: lamb and eggplant kebab with harissa sauce and trout with zucchini kebab with yogurt sauce (similar to tzatziki, but thinner and without cucumber). Lamb was overcooked, but still tasty, trout was a little bland (undersalted!),and the veg and sauces were my favorite things on the plate -- I could have used more. By far the biggest course, but still only about 1.5-2 oz protein. 3/5. Dessert: I think it was a mochi buttermilk cake with ice cream, soy and cherries. This sounded the strangest by far, but it was also easily our favorite. It had so much depth of flavor and complexity (umami from the soy, and the cherries really worked in a surprising way)! Only gripe: it was served on a narrow, long, flat, slippery plate. The food kept slipping right off! Silly plating. However, creativity made up for that -- 5/5. Wine: My hubby had the pinot and I had the grenache. Really stupid choices on our part -- we should have looked at the menu first! My grenache was ok before the meal, but absolutely awful with courses 1, 2, 3 and 5 -- it was just ok with the lamb. I understand, it is tough to find a red wine that gets along with spicy and acidic food, but yikes -- it was undrinkable. It was also served in a mason jar -- cute but pretty awful if you are a wine lover. 1/5. Service and value: Pretty good service. The food came out SUPER fast, we were never waiting. Chairs could be more comfortable. The chef coming out for the first three courses was a highlight. It was a mistake to not explain the menu theme. While it seemed that $50 for a 5 course menu would be a very good value, in reality there was VERY little food . . . so much so that we went to Fenton's after to split a sundae! They should definitely increase their portion sizes, and perhaps offer some sort of bread. I hope they are able to make some changes and get better! read more

It was definitely a pleasant surprise! Unusual combinations of ingredients created a very interesting bouquet of flavors. Some of the ingredients were also unusual: sea beans, fish caramel to name a few. The place is not decorated as a high end gourmet restaurant, but you are in for a treat! read more

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Hmm...really wanted to like this place but I felt compelled to post because I would want people not to be hungry leaving this place. We came on a full belly from a late hot pot lunch and some snacking before our 8:30 reservation. We were almost going to eat the $40 resy fee for two because we were so full still (like lie on the couch can't move full) but decided to go anyways and continue to be pigs...and I'm kind of glad we did. The portions were pretty small. Disclaimer: we only had the 3 course menu from restaurant week. But...it really just wasn't much food so my advice is go when you're not too hungry! First course hamachi was standard. I liked the added texture from the purple daikon and the sea greens (?) Second course pork belly was disappointing. It was 2/3s fat with a slim stripe of meat in the middle. My favorite was the Douglas fir caramel with the dessert. I considered licking my tile plate clean. Hope I don't sound too crazy, but the layers of the cake bothered me a little, being very airy and very dense, it was hard to break off even pieces from each layer with a fork. I think I was hoping the dishes would be pretty but also easy to eat and being somewhat uncoordinated, I struggled a little to get the right mouthful between some of the main ingredients, the side stuff, and the sauces. Overall, still glad we tried it, but would be hesitant to recommend. read more

Abstract Table - Oakland Restaurant Week - 3 courses - $40 - New American Near Me - Berkeley, California

Bro' Technicians get Five Stars--and a couple of caveats or... Two bro chefs show they're bad-azzed but raise some thorny questions A Scandinavian-Asian fusion experiment-cum- performance piece, there is nothing "abstract"as to what Abstract Table actually achieves: cuisine as a meta-modernist conceptualization and exegesis on technique. Oh, and the plates earned the full flush stars, the new chronic [le] "food critic" be dayum-ed: 1. Best news: w-t-f AMAZING plates 2. The Not-So-Good-But-Less-than-Bad-and-Def-Not Ugly: "Two-bro-chefs-overkilling-the-muthaphackuh-wit-we-iz--two-bros-ain't-we-got-chops" shredding (Okay. I'm a Boomer musician. So, there's that, see?). As of this writing, Abstract Table offers two prefix modes, five course and seven course. We had the five-plate offerings: 1. Download of a vinyl classic album opening: A mussel -and-broth concoction, with a mushroom wafer. RATING--WTF amazing. The two bros. were showing off--Prince channeling Hendrix and Santana;George Harrison on bottleneck slide, Jeff Beck going Blow by Blow, Charlie Christian, you get the deal--and they delivered. The mix of bacon, mussel, the mushroom wafer, the herbs: wily and wickedly subtle, a two-Ronins creation 2. salad: "interesting." The bro. duo hit a "nearly there" (as opposed to Oakland's newly found, THERE [THERE]), attempting to harmonize chicories, sweet pickled beets, rice cracker brittle, jidori egg, Bottarga, pink peppercorn dressing. Well, this is the riff where Prince meandered, a lesser Carlos Caravanserai track; Hendrix letting feedback wow the white kids; Harrison's Dark Horse; Jeff Beck's Live w/ Jan Hammer, 1976: adrift. RATING--You get the drift... 3. Transitions: Diamonds and Pearls Ember-Roasted Heirloom Carrot, Rutaga, whipped buttermilk, apple syrup: Back to form. Sure, it skirts self-parody, but so did Diamonds and Pearls, 33 and 1/3, yadda blah, blah: so what. They were all pretty effin' good riffs. RATING-- The bros. get the nod. 4. Main Dish: Time Lost and Found Hay-smoked albacore, blood sausage, brassicas, honey glass. Mofo bros., skirting self-parody, again, still deliver the goods. Love Sexy, Cloud Nine, sure,we were supposed to be above those spliffs by then, the recipe we knew to which THOSE bros. of yore would resort. And fark us, damn bros., then and now, pulled it off. RATING--Pleasure. Guilty. 5. Dessert: Damn bros. got chops Birch-smoked chocolate profiterole, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, it still gets the A PLUS. RATING-- A+ Caveats: small dishes, and after forty years of what Henri Gault, André Gayot, et al ( bros. Français, fin du siècle dernier) unleashed in the late 1970s, and Americans--YOUNG Americans at that-- with too much cash and too little culture STILL complain about "small portions??" Effe that. Bros. with chops will be bros. with chops. The portions are small. They've been so at these gigs since the mid-1970s. This is cuisine as performance art, not your vlaDONALD TRUMPski Micky Dee's pigathon. Know it. Deal with it. STFU. It's part of the worldwide culinary movement since at least the 1970s, mes amis, and you can blame Latin Europe (France, Spain, Italy above all), Asia (Japan in particular), a number of African-American master chefs (talking to you, Bryant Terry Vovind Armstrong, Leah Chase, et a.l), the Scandinavians, etcetera for the aesthetic. It is what it is. Quality, people, over quantity. Look it up. CLOSING COMMENTS: "New" Oakland versus Timeless Oakland. Okay, I do have an observation for the Bros. at Abstract Table that will strike some readers as "political." So what. Food, and certainly "cuisine," is always political: "Mah Two Bros: Okay, you got game, chops, and all of that. And Oakland is undeniably a rising culinary city. "But here's the thing: your team was warm, engaging, and very professional. "Your setting---artisanal breakfast Gastropig-by-day-gone-millennialist-bro-vampire-by-night Abstract Industrial--works. "HOWEVER, in an Oakland of Blindspotting, Sorry to Bother You, There There, et al. WOKE commentary and all of that, the bro-dum ethos of Abstract seemed mighty close to the not-so-abstract caricaturization of the complex 'gentrification of Oakland' brought to life. Okay, you're angling for a place at Oakland's Round Table of James Syhabout, Russell Moore, Reem Assil, Nite Yun, Tanya Holland. I get it. And by your gift-for-riff mojo, you're definitely making the culinary case, bros. And yet....think very seriously about the place and moment. As it is, Abstract Table's 'New' Oakland vibe is a might bit heavy on the Bro. and the monochrome that would appeal to the Sessions, Mnuchins and Bernie Sander Bros. in ethos, staffing, and clientele. We'd like to see you graduate from artsy Bros. to Artist Bruhs. "That's as Abstract as I can put it, and you can Table it if you want. Jess Sayin.'" And so you get the full flush--and the caveats. Savour the "A"; note the red ink comments. read more

NYE Disappointment I was excited to find a pop-up with an intriguing menu for NYE-----BUT, I failed to do my homework regarding the venue. Abstract Table uses the Gastropig, which is likely okay for a wurst and a beer, not for a three hour long (I do mean long) dinner for such little food. The venue lacked an ounce of intimacy. It was a cold, industrial setting, with several long butcher block farm tables and the most uncomfortable metal chairs on the planet. Other diners were seated on bar height chairs, side by side, facing the the paned glass windows. Also, due to the high ceiling, lots of glass and metal and the single square room configuration, the noise level was loud---in a booming way. For $90 prix fixe, I expected a linen napkin and more than two water carafes for the dozen or more at our table. From our initial seating, it took plus 15 minutes to get a bottle of Pelligrino. The food was good (snapper), great (venison) and odd (chile ice cream), while artistically presented, but was eclipsed by the setting and the long (there's that word again!) gaps between the tiny courses. I counted five staff (including chefs & servers) for about three dozen diners. This did not come close to my vision of a special NYE dinner. I suppose if Abstract Table finds a more intimate space and adds staff, the experience would be exponentially better. read more

As others have said it's great to have someone attempt artistic cooking in downtown. And I think the chefs' got the portions-are-too-small message because some of he mains were acceptably large, such as a duck breast. My beef is with the service and atmosphere. For this cost, one expects a polished and warm environment but the surroundings are low-rent sandwich joint. Service was very uneven, and our server didn't explain much of anything so much as toss things on our table leaving us to muse over what in heck we had in front of us. Then the many-course tasting menu which started out with a bang, ground to a halt for what seemed like an hour while they figured out a substitute for the "shallot cotton candy". Still trying to be something amazing is how I would sum it up. read more

Abstract Table seems to have high ambitions but the execution isn't there. Dishes were inventive but most failed to have much balance of flavor and were a let down. Wait staff is relatively inexperienced or lacking in direction. It aspires to be a nice restaurant with an exciting menu but the experience is more like you're eating food that no one tasted before sending it to the table. read more

I read a little about Abstract Table in an Instagram post. Intrigued, I made a reservation with a couple of friends. I was really impressed! The idea behind the restaurant (our oceans and coral reefs in danger) and expressing concern through thoughtful food experience is unique. The flavors were super delicious and the presentation beautiful. Go for the seven-course menu. You'll be satisfied and delighted and feeling like the price was well worth the experience. Bravo, Abstract Table! read more

The team is clearly still working out their process as this dinner was rather disappointing. Sprawling almost two hours for a few light courses in a half empty dining room, the food was not impressive either in taste or presentation. The mushroom soup was OK, but very basic, while the bok choy course was just a heaping plate of vegetables that did not do the bok choy justice. The trout was a total miss, with coconut flavors clashing with the raw fish. The beef cheek saved the meal, with a hearty if simple flavor that was complemented by the scallions and turnip. The dessert finally delivered on some of the promises of artistic presentation but remained unremarkable in its overly sweet flavor. Paper plates and tin trays reminiscent of a school cafeteria could have worked if the food was standout, or if they were serving BBQ, but missed the mark for the Japanese/Scandinavian inspired menu and the team's focus on artistic presentation. For a meal costing $130 after tax and tip for two (without wine or drinks), I left somewhat hungry and wishing I had my two hours back. read more

Definitely worth the splurge for the seven-course. Everything is so finely prepared. They share the space with Gastropig so not the usual fine-dining decor. We had paper napkins but didn't mind in the slightest. Reservations are mandatory; I don't think you can walk in, so they have an idea how much to make as it's a very small operation. We could thank the entire staff (of four) on the way out that evening. read more

The menu sounded really tasty and creative for the 4-course, prix-fixe meal, so we were very disappointed to find that although the ideas were great, the execution left much to be desired. The first course, a hamachi crudo with plum (which did not taste smoked at all), was pleasant but too mild, and slightly underwhelming. And the meal just went downhill from there. The pork belly was charred to the point that it had very little flavor, and the bit of pineapple was so muted it contributed little. The only tasty part of the salad course was the frisée (!). The short ribs were also in a pineapple sauce that was overly charred and uni-dimensional, the dish could have used way more of the pickled fennel. The lonely carrot did nothing to enliven the flavors, in spite of the cotija cheese -again, too mild and too little of it, which was basically the tenor of the whole meal. By that point we had very low expectations, which were sadly borne out by the dessert - a chess pie, mushy and super-sweet with little else to recommend it. We both have a sweet tooth but left most of it uneaten. Too bad! read more

I don't know how it's taken so long to find this place right under our noses! This is a pop-up (I think) open only for dinner in Gastropig's space. They do a pretty good job of transforming the space but the food definitely outdoes the decor. I don't eat goat so I called a day ahead and they said they'd get me something else as they source from the farmers' market. They called the day of our reservation to ask if scallops were ok- yes!, and so thoughtful. Each course was absolutely beautiful and delicious! Reminded me of kaiseki meals in Japan- seasonal, fresh, stunningly plated, delicious. Service was friendly and attentive and everything came out at a great pace. We got five courses which ended up fine but note each course is pretty small so if you're hungry get the seven courses. Highlights were... everything, but if I had to choose the scallop ceviche, squash curry, and desert- all flavorful and nothing too heavy. For NorCal and for the quality of food I felt it was totally worth it/a great value. Can't wait to go back! read more

The last time I had braised goat was never. Wild boar? Didn't know it was a fine dining thing. With these things in mind I had hesitation going to Abstract Table. All fears alleviated. The entire 7 course meal was excellent and exciting to boot. This is one of the coolest ways I know to experience fine food in an unpretentious way. I highly recommend. read more