Townhouse Bar & Grill in Emeryville, CA – update, dinner
Review date: July 2013

Townhouse has long been one of our favorite restaurants. The prime rib is a bargain for the quality, and we've had some very good seafood dishes as well. They are something of an old-fashioned restaurant, an old burger-and-a-beer place that over the decades morphed into a full restaurant with a menu very similar to Skates by the Bay/Berkeley, only better executed – at least, up until now.

Wonder of wonders, Carlos actually bypassed the prime rib this time and chose the jambalaya. I suggested he ask that they prepare it soupier, which is how he prefers it. Not the least of Townhouse's charms is that if the kitchen can make a substitution or change a preparation upon request, they will happily do so. This is in stark contrast to many of today's more stylish restaurants, who profess to be grossly insulted at the very idea that a customer might want something different than what the kitchen wants to plate that day.

We decided to share two of the more popular starters. The stuffed mushrooms had been very good the first time we had them on December 2012. But this time, there seemed very little crab in the cream cheese filling, and the topping of plain toasted bread crumbs wasn't as interesting. In December it was panko, which gave it a better crispness. The dish was okay, but not memorable this time.

The crab and artichoke dip was tasty, but seemed heavier on the artichokes and correspondingly lighter on the crab, than before. The real problem was the bread. Instead of the fresh soft-crusted French, it's now a tasteless doughy wheat bread with a too-crispy crust, made of inferior flour. It reminded me of those cheap pre-made bread doughs sold by corporate food services for restaurants to bake in their own ovens so they can rhapsodize to unsuspecting diners that they "bake their own fresh bread in-house!" 

We've had crackers that were more interesting than this stuff. For those Yelpers who complain every time they encounter a restaurant that fails to offer them free bread to fill up on, all I can say is that I'd rather pay $2 and get a better quality bread.

There was an interesting-sounding fish special, so we ordered that for Inez. It was a filet of halibut with a tropical fruit salsa, coconut rice, and grilled asparagus. She ate the fish and one spear of asparagus, but she wasn't in love with the flavors overall. Two of the asparagus spears were so tough they should have been peeled; she found them too stringy to eat.

I considered the filet, which had been phenomenal at our last dinner, but decided to try the flatiron steak instead. I was surprised to receive a whole steak – it's usually served sliced – cooked a perfect medium-rare. It came with mashed potatoes (tasty, very smooth), roasted veggies (zucchini, red and green bells; okay), but the cheddar-ale sauce was one of the worst sauces I've encountered in a long time.  

It didn't help that the steak hadn't been salted at all. The cheese sauce had a harsh alcoholic taste from the ale; it tasted like way too much of a dry full-bodied stout. A generous addition of extremely hot green chiles, but no salt (again), failed to give any depth or real interest to this strange culinary orphan. The sauce, spicy yet somehow flat-tasting, did no favors to anything on the plate. A sauce should enhance and help meld the various foods on the plate into a harmonious whole. This one thumbed its nose at all its companions and blew an unmelodious raspberry at the unfortunate diner (me). 

Carlos fared best with his jambalaya, although it had the unusual taste of a pickled pepper hot sauce. It was a generous serving of long-grain rice, andouille sausage, ham, prawns, calamari and large diced fish cubes. It was definitely spicy, with the taste of at least two types of chile peppers in it. There was a nice edge of smokiness to it from the andouille, but not so much that he objected to it. 

We finished with a couple of crème brulees – one for Inez (since she hadn't eaten much) and one that Carlos ate most of, while I took a few spoonfuls. I found it heavily thickened with cornstarch and too sweet, even after we took off the glazed sugar crust. Coffee is strong but only good when fresh.

Overall, we were a bit disappointed in this meal. Admittedly it was the day after the Fourth of July, so we can't be sure the usual cooks were on the line or if they'd taken time off for the long weekend. But even setting aside the weird cheese-ale-pepper sauce and stringy asparagus, the unmistakable signs of cost-cutting were too obvious. 

Townhouse has raised its prices some, but they need to do a better job on the details if they want to retain a place on our "A" list. It's possible to accomplish almost the same with less, but it takes a defter hand and sharper eye than the kitchen showed tonight.

Three people, dinner: two starters, three entrées, two desserts, two beverages, with tip was $160.

Townhouse in Emeryville, CA – update, dinner
Review date: December 2012
(previous reviews appended below)

As we travel around the Bay Area – all right, more accurately, as we eat our way around the Bay Area – it gets harder to get back to the places we like. There's so many we don't ever want to repeat, but even so, the list of good restaurants we've enjoyed is considerable. Add in the continuous influx of new restaurants opening up, and the logistics are daunting.

After three of our weekly dinners with Inez turned out to be well below average, I was happy I'd booked a return to Townhouse for the Thursday prior to Christmas. It was guaranteed to be noisy, being a popular place for office parties, but it's been a reliable restaurant for us. Plus, we hadn't been back in quite a while, and were desperately hoping there had been no changes for the worse during our absence.

The starters had changed, which they do periodically. I was sad that the prawns with jalapeno, wrapped in prosciutto, have once again been bumped off the menu. Nothing else sounded interesting except for the crab-stuffed mushrooms, so we ordered a plate of those to share.

They brought six mushroom caps, which was perfect for the three of us. The filling was a little heavy with finely diced crunchy red bells, but it was Dungeness crab and good quality, although from the Pacific NW. They were crusted with panko crumbs and well browned, and we all enjoyed this starter. Carlos took the opportunity to give me a verbal "dig" as I seldom make stuffed mushrooms, and he adores them. This was one of the better restaurant versions we've encountered, so we recommend them if you see them on the menu here.

Inez ordered the baby back ribs. There's six small ribs with purple cabbage coleslaw and sweet potato fries. She loves this dish, and orders it whenever we come to Townhouse. The ribs have a coconut BBQ glaze, and the sweet potatoes are battered, then double-fried. The slaw has batons of comice pear, although the dressing they use isn't very interesting.

I chose the beef tenderloin (filet mignon) with a panko horseradish crust. It comes with mashed potatoes and vegetable, which was Brussels sprouts this time. I received an impressive 2-1/2 inch tall beef medallion, beautifully grilled to a perfect medium rare – rosy pink all the way through. No "grey line" next to the tasty browned crust, which was lightly flavored with horseradish.

This was one of the best quality filet medallions I've ever been served. It was superior to every steakhouse we've gone to in the last three years (the best steaks we've found have been at regular restaurants, ironically). The mashed potatoes were good, and the au jus with the filet was very fine, just pure meat juices from meat salted lightly but just enough.

Carlos ordered his usual, Townhouse's prime rib special. During the holidays they serve it every day, Monday through Saturday, but it's normally only available Wednesday through Saturday. They make two small-end boneless rib roasts, slow-roast them perfectly, and serve a 12-ounce cut. When they run out for the night, that's it – there's no more until the next time. Like the filet, the medium-rare prime rib is flawlessly executed. We all like the sweet potato fries – only Duck Club/Lafayette does them better. 

However, a problem arose with the vegetables on both my entree and Carlos'. My Brussels sprouts and his broccoli were barely parboiled. This was beyond al dente; these were borderline raw.  Mine were so bad, the fork merely bounced off them! I flagged down the waiter and asked them to be cooked some more. 

He whisked the plate away, although he returned the filet and mashed potatoes in a few minutes so I could start on them. But although it took at least ten minutes before I got the sprouts back, they were still noticeably fork-resistant. The taste was lovely – fresh lemon juice, EVOO, salt and pepper – but we weren't too happy with either vegetable (Carlos elected to just eat the florets and leave the stems). 

This was the first time we've encountered this issue at Townhouse. Because of the holidays and the number of large parties (four separate groups of 8-16 people each), an older man was working the floor that evening as the maitre d'. I didn't ask his name, but I suspect it might be Joseph Lebrum, one of the two principals at Townhouse. I stopped him and asked if they had someone new cooking at the vegetable station.

When he asked why I wanted to know, I explained that we had found the vegetables a little too undercooked. I had saved one of the sprout halves. When he picked it up and ran his thumbnail across the cut surface, he agreed instantly that despite two attempts at cooking them, the vegetables should not have come out of the kitchen like this.

He asked if he could comp us 20% on our dinner, but I declined – we had, after all, eaten most of the vegetables. He insisted upon comping us dessert, and also comped my coffee. So Inez got a free vanilla crème brulee, and I got a free pear bread pudding with caramel sauce. Both were good if not great, a nice way to end the meal. I got a decaf coffee, Carlos got a cappuccino (which they charged for, as expected). 

We liked the way they handled this matter. But honestly, we were just happy to finally have a good dinner that was worth the cost. Townhouse's prime rib is consistently good and my filet was amazing, which over a three year period of rising meat prices means they have an excellent vendor and intend to hold the line on price as long as they can. This is better quality beef than we were given at Stark's/Santa Rosa, or either Fleming's and Ruth's Chris in Walnut Creek, at lower cost. Frankly, Townhouse's meat entrees are almost as good as FiveDotRanch's 28-day aged Reserve beef, which is nothing short of remarkable. Even better, Townhouse's cooking of their meats is always on point. 

Townhouse can be thought of as Oakland's equivalent of Jack's in San Francisco. Steady, reliable, good food without pretentiousness or fuss. We're so happy we were introduced to Townhouse back in 2006. And we're even happier that the place hasn't changed, except for the better. 

Three people, dinner: one starter, three entrees, one beverage (two desserts and a coffee were comped), with tip was $125. Had they been added, the bill would have been $15 more – a bargain, compared to the far less satisfying dinners at Marica, Bellanico, and Cypress this month.

Townhouse Bar & Grill in Emeryville, CA – update, dinner
Review date: April 2012
(previous reviews appended below)

We discovered Townhouse back in 2006, courtesy of a former co-worker who took me to lunch here. Originally a classic bootlegger's hangout during Prohibition days (see http://www.townhousebarandgrill.com/PDF/history.pdf for an interesting history of the restaurant since the 1920's), Townhouse is an old-style bar and restaurant with unexpectedly good food and reasonably good service. 

Because they offer what we consider to be the best bargain in prime rib (Wed-Sat only), we return to Townhouse on a regular basis – our last visit was September 2011. In six years the price has never changed, either, for which I assume we can thank the many people who hang around the bar and order cocktails with their dinners; e.g., liquor is the profitable side of the restaurant business. Considering how food costs have jumped in the interim, the price and quality of Carlos' favorite meal is remarkable.

He also likes to get the scalloped potatoes subbed for the mashed potatoes, which he said they did particularly well this time. The last few times the side vegetable has been broccolini, nicely cooked but not overdone. 

Inez always gets the BBQ ribs, which come with Townhouse's mango-tomato BBQ sauce, sweet potato fries, and a purple cabbage slaw. She really likes their ribs, which are quite tender (they're baked, not smoked) and heavily glazed with a sweet sauce. 

This leaves it up to me to work through the menu, which I'm more than happy to do. Some of the dishes I consider good but not great – the teriyaki filet tips, for example, are tasty but not really exceptional; the potstickers are ordinary; the fried calamari are good but little different from any other restaurant might offer.

The crab-artichoke dip, however, is exceptional, although we skipped it this time. It is best shared by three or four, even though it's not large. It is extremely tasty, one of the better versions around, and as a result one eats way too much bread scooping every bit out of the gratin dish. 

We also like their sweet potato fries, although Coco Cabana/Pleasanton and Duck Club/Lafayette have now edged out Townnhouse in our affections for this dish. These days sweet potato fries are everywhere, but Townhouse had them long before they were common bistro fare. Over the last year I've also gotten some excellent fish entrees here – nothing fancy, just sautéed or grilled, but fresh and competently handled.

I was excited to see the jalapeno-stuffed shrimp return to the menu. They had been dropped for a while, which I felt to be a shame as it was a unique starter. I immediately ordered them and shared a couple with Carlos. There are six large-sized shrimp, stuffed with a roasted jalapeno slice and wrapped in a strip of pancetta. Broiled until the pancetta is crisp, these are terrific for anyone who loves chiles. This is not watered-down spicy, but the real stuff: your mouth will be tingling long after you swallow your last shrimp! Townhouse serves it with BBQ sauce on the side, which neither Carlos or I felt was needed.

For my entree I picked the Thai beef salad. We like our salad with lots of 'things' in it, and this filled the bill nicely. Small thin pieces of well-seasoned beef were tossed with mixed greens, halved cherry tomatoes, ripe diced avocado, small chunks of mango, small fine shreds of red onion, whole dry-roasted peanuts, and a sprinkling of deep-fried chow mein noodles (yes, just like Chun King canned, LOL). What brought the salad to the "A" level was the dressing – sweet lime juice, a light-flavored oil (EVOO would be out of place in this salad), and cilantro. The dressing was lightly applied and tossed evenly over the ingredients. This was a refreshing and delightful dish, by far the best I've tried from Townhouse's considerable menu of salads.

Carlos opted for coffee after dinner, but I decided to try a new dessert – the macadamia nut and toasted coconut tart with caramel sauce, accompanied by a decaf coffee. The tart was still slightly warm, generously sized (all of Townhouse's desserts are enough for two people to share), with a pouf of whipped cream on top.

To our delight, the tart wasn't oversweetened, and the caramel sauce was just a light decorative drizzle underneath on the plate. The shortbread crust was thin and tender, the way it should be but so seldom is. This was a terrific dessert, far better than the cheesecake or bread pudding we have tried on previous visits.

Townhouse is a reliable restaurant that takes standard dishes and tries to do something interesting with them, while not taking it too far out of people's comfort zone. The fact that we are always happy to return here, even after so many wonderful restaurants we have discovered in the last six years, shows that Chef Ellen Hope knows what she's doing and ensures a reliable consistency in her kitchen. 

Three people: One starter, three entrees (one a main dish salad), one dessert, three beverages, with tip was an extremely modest $131.

Townhouse Bar & Grill, Emeryville – Update, dinner
Review date: September 2011
(previous reviews appended below)

Dinner for the two of us: Carlos his usual prime rib, and I picked the Coho salmon. The prime rib is still the same price ($29.95) and still the same size, a rather amazing feat these days. The addition of the potato gratin, which this time had sautéed glazed onion rings in it, was well received. It came with broccolini on the side.

I was fully expecting a piece of frozen salmon, but to my surprise it was fresh and absolutely wonderful. Like the old-fashioned restaurant it is, Townhouse doesn’t undercook fish as stylish bistros do, but neither did they overcook it as Scott’s/Oakland recently did. Fish is one of those foods where 30 seconds on the grill makes a big difference, and Townhouse’s grill cook knows what he’s doing. It came with mashed potatoes and a salad, and if the salad hadn’t had raw onion shreds in it, the plate would have been perfect. Raw onions are not one of my favorite things, although if they’d been pickled it would be fine.

We weren’t too hungry, having had a substantial breakfast/lunch at Brown Sugar Kitchen earlier that day, so no starters or dessert, just cappuccinos after dinner. The service was a little off this time, with the waiter disappearing from the floor for far too long, to the point where I got up and told a busboy to get the waiter for us.

Outside of that minor flaw, another good solid meal. I always think of Townhouse as a meat and potatoes restaurant, but this past year the fish has been excellent in both quality and execution. Their cooking methods are simple – the fish is either grilled or sautéed – but they are a serious rival to Sea Salt/Berkeley, no small praise.

Two people: two entrees, two beverages, with tip $88. 

Townhouse Bar & Grill, Emeryville – Update, dinner
Review date: March 2011
(previous reviews appended below)

Townhouse has been our preferred 'meat and potatoes' restaurant since we discovered it a number of years ago. Some friends came into town. They are not only 'meat and potatoes' lovers, they are moving permanently to Panama where they say good beef is almost impossible to find. 

So Townhouse was clearly the place to take them. We started with the crab-artichoke dip and chicken potstickers. I was disappointed to see that Townhouse has pretty much dropped its vegetarian offerings, as they always did a great job on them even though there were only two or three on the menu at a time. There was a vegetarian risotto, and that was it for the whole menu.

The dip was as good as ever, but the potstickers were so-so – not enough filling, nothing remarkable. 

Jim and Luisa split the rib-eye steak, which was a thin ribeye with scalloped potatoes and sauteed onions and mushrooms. Townhouse doesn't charge for splitting an entree, and it came out of the kitchen already plated for both diners, which is a nice touch too many restaurants can’t be bothered with any longer. Despite the thinness it had a good crust yet was still medium/medium-well, exactly as they requested.

I picked the Alaskan cod, which was two thin fillets, nicely crusted but not overcooked, with a lovely Asiago-and-cream sauce, halved Brussel sprouts, and mashed potatoes. It's the first time I've had fish here in a while, and it was very good.

Carlos had the prime rib, which we were happy to see was the same size, quality, and price as before, which makes it a terrific bargain in view of how beef prices have risen over the last eighteen months. He got sweet potato fries instead of the mashed potatoes, and this time actually brought some leftovers home.

All of us chose espressos instead of dessert. Interestingly enough, Jim and Luisa complained they can't get good strong coffee in Panama, so they go up to the Ecuador border towns, buy it there, bring it home and use their little espresso maker. 

Two starters, three entrees, eight beverages, with tip was a modest $176. Although it was a Thursday and not a Friday, Townhouse was almost completely full, with two large parties. This confirms what we've seen in the last few months – people are once again starting to spend money on dining out.

Townhouse in Emeryville (update July 2010)
We ate lightly this time. Sadly, Townhouse has dropped the spicy shrimp-jalapeno starter we liked before. Carlos had a cup of the lentil-sausage soup, which he said was good, nothing unusual. He ordered his usual prime rib (now available Wed-Sat only), and this time they had the potatoes au gratin. Note that you should ask the waitstaff if the latter is available; usually they forget to offer it as an alternative to the mashed potatoes that are the standard side. They don’t always have the au gratin, but it’s very good here.
I had the ribs, which now come with a coconut-molasses sauce. It was a little too sticky-sweet for me, lots of sauce atop overcooked meat. I don’t find their ribs any different than T-Rex or Everett & Jones. IOW, not truly dry-smoked for hours, with that slight bit of chewiness great ribs should have. 
Their sweet potato fries, however, are possibly the best of any restaurant we’ve tried. The coleslaw is very coarsely chopped and a little heavy on the onion, but lightened with shreds of pear or apple, depending on the season. It’s okay, but the fries are absolute Nirvana and should not be missed by anyone who likes sweet potatoes.
We finished with our usual cappuccinos. They’re not the best, but better than many places and a nice way to end the meal. One starter, two entrees, three beverages with tip was $87.

Townhouse Bar & Grill
5862 Doyle St. @Powell, Emeryville
http://www.townhousebarandgrill.com/Dinner.htm
Review date:   May 2009
A former business acquaintance first introduced me to Townhouse when we met there for lunch. It’s an old building with a small parking lot, and during the daytime it’s a lot harder to park than at night, due to the many small businesses in Emeryville. She told me this place was a brothel in the old days. 
This may or may not be true, but you can certainly envision the wooden bar being the rowdy, old-fashioned kind of place in the ‘40’s where Marlboros were smoked and the beer flowed like water. Nowadays half the diners are drinking fancy cocktails or imported ales instead, and the menu is the American bistro type that doesn’t look much different from Skates on the Bay or Crogan’s in Montclair. 
With one exception – the food at Townhouse, especially at dinnertime, is better.
We started off with the crab-artichoke dip. Carlos is anti-artichoke these days, but this dip was heavy on the Dungeness and light on the artichoke, along with a good dose of butter and Parmesan. All of this came with slices of bread, fine-textured with a crispy but not overly tough crust, so Inez loved it. Both Carlos and Inez dislike sourdough, preferring this style of Americanized French bread.
The ramekin is a decent size to share between two or three people. Carlos remarked that this appetizer, with a bowl of soup, would make a perfect light dinner or lunch. Skates makes something similar, but Townhouse’s version is less creamy and has more crabmeat taste and texture to it. All of us liked this starter a lot.
Inez chose the BBQ ribs, which were six good-sized baby back ribs. It came with a coarsely-textured coleslaw, and she was able to sub sweet potato fries for the regular fries, which made her very happy. There was BBQ sauce on the ribs, along with a strange dipping sauce of chipotle aioli on the side.
I decided to have two of the starters as my entrée: grilled shrimp with a thick spicy Mojo Rojo chile sauce dabbed on them, served over a small bed of mixed greens with thinly sliced red onion, and the grilled polenta with roasted vegetables, goat cheese and pesto.
Both were good, but the polenta was sensational, one of the best vegetarian entrees I’ve ever had. It was simple in execution, but the ingredients added up to a very satisfying dish, especially with the shrimp for contrast. The polenta was the coarse-ground, more solid cake, not the fluffy pudding-like version served in some places. I like both kinds, but the denser style of this matched really well with the grilled zucchini, onion, and red bell pepper. 
The six grilled shrimp were decent sized and sweet, and the sauce really livens them up. Don’t order this unless you enjoy spicy food, which of course, we do!
The waitress recited the specials, which included a 12-oz prime rib for $29.95. Of course Carlos ordered it, but asked that the potatoes au gratin be subbed for mashed potatoes. Unfortunately they forgot, but were very apologetic when reminded, whisking it back to the kitchen to change the side.
He ordered it on the rare side of medium-rare. It came perfectly done, just the way he likes it. It was from the small end, about 1-1/2” thick. Many people think bigger is better, but that isn’t true for prime rib – the small end cut is the more expensive, so this was good to see.
The au gratin was a little underdone, probably because they had to rush it out. The flavor was good, with the mellowness of Gruyere. The string beans were a bit underdone to our taste, but were very tasty with a wallop of garlic used in the olive oil. There were no garlic bits, just a great fresh garlic taste that added a nice dimension.
Desserts are often lacking in these types of restaurants, but Townhouse did a pretty good job. Inez tried the trio: strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, caramel bread pudding, and Kahlua chocolate mousse. Nothing in the Lalime/Mezze class, but just like everything else we tried, a cut above the usual. 
Carlos has gotten me hooked on cappucino after dinner, so he had a regular and I had the decaf. Both were very good, and unlike some places, actually hot down to the last sip.
We asked the waitperson how often they had prime rib on special. She told us they took it off the menu as a regular item in December 2008 due to slow business. But so many people keep asking for it, they keep it as an everyday “special”. They only make two roasts each evening, though, and when they run out – which she said they almost always do – there’s no more.
I had liked Townhouse for lunch, but dinner was even more enjoyable. We’ll be back, and soon.
Cost for three starters, two entrees, one dessert, three beverages, and tip was $137.