Teni East Kitchen

Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand 2024! This is now my favorite Burmese restaurant. At 11:30AM on Saturday, my fiancé and I were the first customers. Immediately, we were warmly greeted. The friendly and efficient service lasted throughout our whole lunch. Our server made great recommendations on the menu as well. Here's what we ordered (spoiler alert: everything was delicious)-- Crispy Spicy Catfish: this was fire. My favorite dish of our meal. The spice comes on the side so you can adjust your spice level according to your preferences. The fish was perfectly fried, so crispy on the outside but still juicy on the inside! A 10/10 from me.-- Chicken Cardamom Curry: deliciously warm and filling. The chicken pieces are generous and juicy. We ordered rice on the side to pair with the curry.-- Tea Leaf Kale Salad: excellent flavors! I recommend starting with this. Tastes savory and crunchy.-- Roti with Dip: the roti is veryyy buttery but still good. Warm and easily pulled apart. Paired great with the curry we orderedThis area of Oakland seemed pretty walkable and nice (ish). Street parking may be harder to find on a busier day. The interior of the restaurant is really clean with natural lighting, so lunch here was a pleasant experience. I will be back!

Very nice place to pop in for a quick delicious shared lunch with a roti + dipping sauce, and a chicken finger salad. Both were delish! I don't know Burmese good at all, but dang that roti was flaky and warm and the dip was all kinds of wonderful flavor. The salad was also full of flavors and the two dish dishes together were wonderful to share.My partner noticed that their Ghibli themed cocktails also looked like they'd worth trying each one. Another time....

Tried this for the first time and some items were good but spicy noodles were very bland and didn't have flavor.Pros: basil cumin chicken was good, tea leaf salad is healthier because of kale Cons: kale made the tea leaf salad not taste as good, DONT order spicy noodles if u want something spicyOrdered takeout so can't rate service and ambiance Taste:3/5Value: 3.5/5

Oh my goodness! This place was amazing! If we lived closer we would eat here all the time! Everything we ordered was so flavorful from the green beans with tofu to the tea leaf salad to the coconut rice. What I was especially impressed by was their tea leaf salad...I didn't expect a kale based salad but it was AMAZING and I was surprised to find that I even prefer it this way. Highly recommend!

I'm a fan of Burmese food and when I get over to the east bay I like Teni. I've had a series of delicious lunches there and enjoyed them all. Today we shared the Teni Spicy Noodles with chicken and Ginger Chicken Salad.what can I say? I like chicken. The noodles really aren't spicy so don't be afraid. I might have liked a little more spice but they were very tasty. The salad was overdressed so the who pea sprouts were very limp and soggy halfway through but it was still pretty good. The chicken pieces were somehow glazed and delicious. Next time I will ask for it to be lightly tossed with dressing . I love having pea shoots so I want to really enjoy them. Our waiter was exceptionally nice, which was appreciated. An attractive place with good food.

I had the most INCREDIBLE experience here. It was our friend's birthday and a small group of us wanted to coordinate a surprise celebration. The staff was accommodating with our requests and assisted us with the arrangement. The inside has bar seating, tables, and half booths against the walls. It's lightly dim giving a perfect occasion for date nights, family dinners, celebrations, etc. Once everyone was seated, our server was attentive and gave out suggestions for drinks/food. Their special cocktail menus are studio Ghibli-themed! We ordered various of dishes as we were doing a family-styled meal. The food was superb and overall exceptional. The coconut rice was bomb - pairs well with every entree!! That side dish was a MUST with the curry.Thank you again to the staff that made our friend's day and this place is definitely worth visiting when you're in the Oakland area. :)**They have an excellent vegan/vegetarian and gluten free options as well** Roti with Dip - Fluffy and soft with such flavorful dip. There's a hint of spice but it was absolutely delicious. Chicken Cardamom Curry - My favorite of the night. The chicken was so tender that it easily breaks off once my fork touched it. The curry goes well with it and comes with a side of potatoes. Rich in FLAVOR and I'd recommend this dish!!Basil Cumin Chicken - Stir fried chicken with basil and onions. This one is on the savory and spicy side. Beef Curry - The quality was there and it gave out more of a stew type of dish. Crispy Skin Salmon - The salmon was cooked to perfection. I believe it's fried (?). Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. This comes with a salad and cauliflower.Coconut Bay Leaf Shrimp - This curry was the same that comes with the Roti and Dip. Shrimp size was reasonable. Basic dish yet tasty and sweet!!

Considering how I've enjoyed just about every meal I've ever had at Burma Superstar (hyped as they may be), it's no surprise that Teni East Kitchen has been on my list of bookmarks to try for a while now. Not only was it started by a Burma Superstar alum, but the concept is straight up dope - Burmese staples with a decidedly California twist. Granted, that means non-traditional versions of traditional favorites, but at the same time, who cares if they taste great? And based on everything that I had read and heard, that very much seemed to be the case!Even though Teni East Kitchen has been around for a few years now, their popularity doesn't seem to have waned much, so it was a pleasant surprise that my friend and I were able to get seated immediately as walk-ins (not sure if that would've been the case on a Friday/Saturday night). While the menu isn't quite as extensive as I thought it would be, it's still filled with a bunch of enticing offerings, as well as a slate of cocktails and spirits. What's more, the California influences incorporated into the dishes aren't heavy handed and add some interesting elements, like incorporating kale in their Tea Leaf Salad.-- FIREBENDER - Tequila, Lime Juice, Pineapple Gum, Falernum, Habanero Vodka, and Angostura Bitters...$14(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/teni-east-kitchen-oakland?select=Rd78QA69X3GExVlUPgH7kw)This was pretty decent all around. I couldn't taste much of the habanero vodka, but I really liked that the tequila didn't overpower the rest of the flavors and how the pineapple gum gave this a slight tropical feel.-- PEA SHOOT SALAD - Teni Signature Salad with Roasted Nuts and Seeds...$14(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/teni-east-kitchen-oakland?select=tN_LWaJz9kQ1xCUeDovMoQ)My favorite dish of our meal! Not only were the pea shoots super fresh, but they were well complemented by the seeds and nuts. I still kind of wish we had tried their Tea Leaf Salad, but easy to see why this is their signature salad!-- BASIL CUMIN CHICKEN - Wok Tossed with Fresh Basil, Shallots and Spices...$21(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/teni-east-kitchen-oakland?select=6fiVHUMrFwsUrtGrDAjlAQ)I was super excited for this, but it was just okay. The portion was pretty fair and it looked great on the plate. However, the chicken was just okay (neither moist nor dry) and the sauce wasn't quite what I expected (thought it'd have more spice and not nearly as much nuttiness).-- SPICY NOODLES with Mixed Vegetables...$19(https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/teni-east-kitchen-oakland?select=6NcQOFfINrMm0cxqO0_1XQ)I imagine I would've liked the chicken version better, but this was still pretty solid. The noodles had a nice tenderness and I really did like the vegetables in the dish. That said, I wouldn't have minded a bit more spice and a bit more sauce.All in all, while nothing that we had was "bad", I'd be lying if I said I still wasn't disappointed relative to what I had been hoping for. It's also quite possible (likely?) that we just didn't order the best of what Teni East has to offer when compared to what others have ordered. The Pea Shoot Salad was awesome and a lot of folks seem to get the Teni Spicy Noodles, but the Basil Cumin Chicken doesn't appear to be one of their more popular dishes. As far as service goes, our sever was terrific - super friendly and she checked in on us often (helped that the restaurant wasn't all that busy).If I lived closer to Teni East, I'd certainly come back to try more of what their menu has to offer (especially their Tea Leaf Salad) and I still wouldn't mind in the future. It's just that, given how the portions felt a little light across the board, the drive, bridge toll, and everything else involved, I'd probably lean towards checking out another restaurant on my list of bookmarks before coming back again.THREE AND A HALF STARS rounded down.

Seriously, the weirdest roti with curry I've ever had.And not in a good way.We started off with the roti just to get a feel of their dishes and flavor and stopped there because the curry was just odd tasting. It tasted like a mildly spiced split pea soup with all the peas in the curry sauce. The roti was lukewarm. This was not worth the $13 price tag.Therefore, we didn't order any other dishes.My thai tea was small, but I guess since it's $3 so it was worth it.This was a one-time try this, and next time skip it kind of place.

I love this restaurant and have been many times. Tea Leaf Salad and Roti to start are a must. The tea leaf salad has kale which is fun and the roti is so buttery and good. Then I like the spicy noodles, the eggplant, and the ginger chicken. All dishes here are good and the cocktails are actually fantastic. This place is better than Burma superstar because there is never a wait. It is a nice cool space, classy but chill, great for a date or taking your parents/guests to try Burmese

I love this place however today was not good. I ordered my food to pick up . It says open I paid. Came to pick up and they are closed. Then had to get a refund couldn't talk to anyone because there closed.. so I had to call my bank to reverse the charges. Uber eats sucks no one could help either. So disappointed and was looking for eating this delicious place. Their food is great and they are great. Just disappointed about this.