Saigon Wraps and The Hobnob

A couple of belated notes on Bay Area eateries:
I'm a big fan of Vietnamese sandwiches, called banh mi. I know of a couple places in Denver where I can get them: a bakery that doesn't advertise them (you have to know, and they only have one kind, and the sandwiches are $2 apiece), and Ba Le, a chain that has maybe a dozen varieties at $2.50 apiece. I like them both.

I figured there must be some really good banh mi places in the Bay Area. Saigon Wraps is not one of them. They're in Oakland's Fruitvale Village, next to the BART station. The service was sullen and the bread was stale stale stale. I saw it being put in the microwave, for pete's sake. The fillings were unexceptional, and overall the sandwich was dry and bland. Maybe they were better when they first opened, but just don't get a lot of business now. I don't know. But I won't be going back.

Meanwhile, Kelly's on Park Street in Alameda is now The Hobnob, featuring "American tapas." Which is a fancy way of saying all dishes are à la carte. Sort of. They're not small plates, anyway, so we ended up with a lot of food. Cesar salad, baked salmon with mash, fish and chips, olives and cheese, grilled artichoke with aioli, crab cakes. It was all good! And not very expensive.

I took some photos of the food, but really, the light wasn't good, so I won't post them. I can attest that the mojitos are yummy, and I thought not very strong, so I had a "cucito," too ... or cuke-ito, made with cucumber. Also tasty and whoa, the two drinks left me looped. Ice cream from Tuckers afterward helped.

The Hobnob also has a huge selection of board games and is kid-friendly. It's on my recommended list now.