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Gregoire (French cuisine)  $$$

 9.25
JaT Rating

2109 Cedar , Berkeley, 94709  (Directions)


510.883.1893


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Tiny shack offering ultra gourmet french take out


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 998
Reviewed: 2/27/2005
Rating: 9.5
My photo gallery 		Terry and I are kicking ourselves in the head for not trying Gregoires earlier. Gawddd damm this place is the best gourmet takeout Ive ever had! You are probably wondering - how gourmet, takeout, does the food travel well, and is it expensive?

1. I got the New York strip steak with peppercorn, shared some potato puffs, and fries.

The steak wasnt thick, wasnt out of this world, or wasnt cooked specially. I asked for medium and he gave me a medium cooked steak. At first i was like, cmon, i just forked down $17 for a steak I could have done in my kitchen? So I opened this little container with a light brown sauce and put a little on my steak.....omg the peppercorn sauce is what completes this steak. I dont know how to explain what it tastes like, hmmm, let me think, flavorful sauce I will never know how to make and that is why I would have to keep coming back and back and back.

fries - think giant size in-n-out fries but better. definitely cut on premises and made fresh daily.

Potato Puffs - A Perfect 10! About the size of a donut hole, crunchy on the outside and mashed potato texture on the inside. I can eat a dozen of these.

2. They do have 2 tables outside but I would take a educated guess with food this good, they will always be filled. If you do grab a table, you can watch the Gregoire cook up your dish and maybe catch a conversation with him.

3. Gregoires gives you a octagon shaped cardboard box for your trip home. Im not sure how long the food lasts in the box but will guarentee if you order the Potato Puffs, you WILL be eating those on the way to the car. Whats even more cool and environmentally conscience Gregoire is, they will give you money back for returning the boxes.

4. Is it expensive? Well, $17 for a new york strip steak is about half the price if you were to get it at any other good restaurant. I think for what you are getting, it is well worth it.

Gregoire is a special place that serves affordable french cuisine with the expensive taste. I cant forget about the service, the girl who took my order over the phone is a sweetie, she can take my order or phone number anytime :) Parking might be a b*tch but its worth finding a spot just for those addicting Potato Puffs. One of my highest recommendations in the bay area goes out to Gregoire restaurant.
 


Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 730
Reviewed: 3/3/2005
Rating: 9
My photo gallery 		We made a night-time run up to Berkeley to tackle a couple wishlist items. Number one on our list was Gregoires. For those unfamiliar with the place, it is a call-in and take home restaurant. There is some limited seating there, but I wouldn't count on it being available. So most call it in and take the food home.

For us, Jatbar hardcores, we called the food in and ate it in the Jatmobile. The menu at Gregoires changes fairly frequently so I will describe what I ordered making no guarantees that it will still be there when you read this.

I went with the Crab cakes, Potato puffs, and french fries. The potato puffs were specifically recommended to us, so we had to order that and I have a feeling its always on the menu.

The folks at Gregoires were VERY friendly and fast. We had our food quicker than they promised on the phone. Excellent. We took it back to the car and snapped pictures before eating.

First up was the Potato Puffs. Oh My God. These things are AMAZING. They are deep fried balls of mashed potatoes. They provided a kind of mayo dipping sauce along with it. The combination was totally unlike anything I've eaten before. I was in heaven and could have just eaten 2 orders of these and been satisfied for the night but this is Jatbar, we take our jobs seriously.

I then dug into the french fries. Same mayo was provided. French fries were also REAL good. Almost reminded me of a thicker In N Out type of fry. No problems scarfing on these.

Finished it off with my crab cakes. They provided 2 cakes for $16. Not cheap, so I had to take the taste test. Wow, these were the best crab cakes I ever had. It was so fresh I had to pull little pieces of crab shell out of my mouth every few bites. It was quite succulent and VERY rich tasting. Combined with the greasy fried exterior, I could tell this wasn't the healthiest of items, but it was SOOOO good. The dipping sauce was different (and I can't really describe it except it was probably that mayo sauce mixed in with some red sauce...?) I don't know much about it except that it was heavenly.

I seriously could have finished all of this food and been stuffed and ready to go to sleep. But, I only ate half of each and set it aside for a review of Top Dog.

This meant I had leftovers. I kept them in my fridge for 2 days, then heated them up. They were 90% as good as the night I ordered it, which meant it was still better than 99.5% of the food out there.

My big gripes were that there was not much sit-down accomodations. This place is great if you live in Berkeley, but if you're from out of town you face a difficult challenge of finding parking, picking up your food, and finding someplace to eat it. Another problem here is the price, it was VERY pricey. Don't get me wrong, it was worth it, but it saves the place from TRUE jatbar greatness. And even with these minor quibbles, Gregoire still gets a 9. Way to go.
 
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aquagrl800 ate...

Potato Puffs

“Mmmmm, think fried, seasoned mashed potato balls dipped in tangy mayonnaise sauce. So delicious! Their sandwiches at lunch and dinner entrees aren't bad either. Awesome takeout boxes and silverware make Gregoires a perfect to-go option.”

8/9/2007 2:48:52 PM