Reviews for Teni East Kitchen in Oakland, CA

Pea shoot salad (soooo good), roti, crispy catfish because Duh. Also I thought the taro dessert was gonna be just a potato and I... was excited but the ice cream hit just as nice ???????? Read more

I want to love this place, but I am only mostly into it. Solid food, but it?s quite expensive for the portion sizes. The roti... is so tasty and unlike other roti I?ve had. The curry sauce they serve it with is so so good. This was the best thing we had.The $12 appetizer comes with just one roti though and a small bowl of dipping curry. I feel they should include two for theprice. The catfish was freshly fried and quite tasty but definitely very spicy. I wish it had more of the tamarind flavor.There are no sides served with this entree, despite costing $15-18 (can?t remember exactly). The noodles are also super spicy.I felt they were also lacking flavor and trying to make up for it in spice. I like spicy food, but was just unimpressed with thebalance here. Again, it seemed expensive for the amount of noodle you receive. The restaurant space is large and feels likeupscale cocktail bar in an impersonal and empty way. This restaurant is too bright and doesn?t feel cozy at all. They?re tryingto be an upscale cocktail bar but coming off as upscale cafeteria. Not a bad spot, but I probably won?t be back. If the totalfor an app and two entrees was closer to $35, I?d eat here again. For $70 (with tax and tip) this doesn?t work well for meunfortunately. Read more

Good food but won?t return. We had great service and great food our first visit and allowed us to bring our service dog,... thinking that would be the case today we were surprised when we were turned away at the door. If you have a policy allowingservice animals, it would be wonderful if all staff were on board and made aware. Really unfortunate! Read more

I really like every dish I ordered. The pea sprout salad is light and perfectly balanced. The roti curry sauce is the best in... its kind. The other 2 dishes also have masterfully blended sauces. A solid 5 star with no doubt. Will definitely go back. Read more

It's too fusion for me. The tea leaf salad was made with baby kale leaves which doesn't have the crunch you'd expect. They also... got the ratio wrong for the coconut rice.. it was gooey. Friendly staff and nice space. Kinda odd with jazz playing but maybe itwas just that night. Read more

This place is awesome! Great atmosphere, delicious food, vegan and gluten free options. The Roti is some of the best I've ever... had (vegan, not gluten free). Drinks were on point. Will be coming here more often from now own. No patio seating/no dogs. Read more

Pea shoot salad (3.75 out of 5): The menu said this is Teni's signature salad. For what it is, it's good, with light fresh pea... shoots and a light dressing. But since in general I love Tea Leaf salads, I would probably not pass it up for pea shoots nexttime. I generally like robust salads with everything but the kitchen sink in it. The pea shoots is more of a light and freshsalad. Chick pea tofu (4.5 out of 5): Really rich and creamy curry with soft chickpea tofu. Roti with curry (5 out of 5): GETTHIS. And eat it while it's hot. The roti is warm fluffy and flakey, and the curry it comes with is really really good. Porkbelly (4 out of 5): Reminds me of "mongolian beef". Pork belly in a sweet shoyu glaze sauce, really good, but maybe a tad toosalty. Fried catfish (3.5 out of 5): Conflicted. The catfish and batter were great, and I've never had such tender catfish. But the mix of spices they use for the batter just was a bit funky. Read more

I can't even explain how great the food was. After eating here I smiled for hours. The staff was super nice and helpful. Never... having this food I was given suggestions based on other foods I liked. Read more