Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen

2261 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA

(510) 548-6900

http://angelineskitchen.com/

I first heard about Angeline's from my friend a year ago. I was suppose to have dinner there with her before a show at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, but traffic ruined it for me. So, this weekend, on a sunny day in Berkeley, my boyfriend and I decided to go there for lunch, since he and his coworkers are regulars there.

I was craving some jambalaya, but my boyfriend highly recommend the Angeline's Gumbo. He said it's one of the most popular dishes there, so he ordered a cup with his roast beef sandwich (and I ordered jambalaya). By the way, the sadnwich comes with either homemade potato salad or side salad, but you can substitute for a cup of gumbo or red beans & rice for $2.50. Suck huh? But still cheaper than ordering it on the side.

Angeline's Gumbo - Okra Androuille, Tasso Ham & Shrimp

It was pretty good. The only gumbo I ever had came from a can, so this was by far the best one I had. It tasted like gravy, very comforting. The rice definitely add a different texture in contrast to the mushy okra, the rougher ham and shrimp.

Roast Beef Au Jus with Horseradish Mayo & Swiss Cheese

Wow, this roast beef sandwich is good! I think what made it so good is the bread. The bread is very soft to begin with, but when you dip it in the au jus, it soaks out like a sponge, but doesn't get overly soggy or break apart. The sandwich also contains a generous amount of swiss cheese, which makes this super yummy.

Jambalaya with Sauce Piquant, Roasted Chicken, Tasso Ham & Andouille Sausage

So the jambalaya is very similar to the gumbo in ingredients wise, but differ in the broth base. The gumbo is salty and savory, but the jamabalaya is more sweet and sour because there is tomato sauce at the bottom. I am very used to jambalaya that is salty and not tomato-y, so this was very different. Also, I thought it would be spicy, but it wasn't spicy to me at all. I added some hot sauce in it myself later. The sausage was a bit rough. I couldn't taste it by itself much since most of the flavor went into the rice and sauce. The roasted chicken was shredded and stew in with the rice, thus very, very tender. The dish as a whole was pretty good overall, but I would choose the gumbo over this because I don't really like the tomato sauce at the bottom.

Angeline's atmosphere was pretty nice. The front of the dinning area was pretty bright since it was near the window, whereas the back in dimmer. The service was very friendly. I would definitely come back here just for the atmosphere, but of course, the food too.