don't market your establishment as aapi friendly when you steal art from other young aapi artists. i was extremely disappointed and hurt by the lack of respect and service that this establishment showed me. i spoke to the bartender (who was actually the owner) about bedazzling events that i host with my friends in our music collective. i inquired about hosting an event at this space to bring both my friends, community and business. instead, the owner stole my bedazzling event idea and hosted their own and posted the exact same event all over instagram. as an artist, this was extremely shocking to see. shocking and disappointed. never again will i come to this business or bring my friends, family or community. read more

Fun spot to play mahjong and do karaoke with friends. The cocktails were delicious. It's a very intimate space. You need to make reservations to go in the speakeasy and you have to order food in advance otherwise they only have snacks and small bites for food. There are maybe five or six mahjong tables in the main space and one table in the speakeasy. The cover is lower if you come during happy hour. Playing mahjong and doing karaoke from YouTube can easily be replicated at a friends house but I would come back for the cocktails. The service was very friendly. We enjoyed there laid back and familial vibe. read more

Baba's House - Asian Fusion Near Me - Oakland, California

This casual restaurant serving up Filipino favorites is such a nice addition the neighborhood. I've really enjoyed their menudo, kare kare and pinakbet on different occasions. The dishes are always delicious and made with such care. There are a few small tables to eat there as well, or you can also take the food upstairs tit he speakeasy. Their menu rotates a lot, and I wish there was a better way to check what was on the menu online. Currently, I try to check on their instagram what's new but it's not always updated. I haven't been upstairs yet, but am hoping to get up there some time soon! read more

Hosted a private catered mahjong event for a community that I'm a part of (The Authentic Asian). Food and vibes were immaculate.

Went to Canto Converstion club it was a blast!! Great vibes. Super cool bartender!! (Her name was Jen I think). There was a mahjong rubix cube and the food was amazing! Shout at to the chef and line cook. read more

What a spectacular place! The food is excellent. I've been a few times now, and everything I've had has been delicious. Drink options are also solid. And they have Asian snacks! Service is also super friendly and welcoming. The owners remembered me after my first visit, which was a pleasant surprise. The gallery upstairs is also excellent, and they have a sweet little dj booth where random people spin whatever moves them some nights. I love Baba's soooo much. read more

A special and unique space. Mahjong tables are GOING, the space is filled with unique touches and Asian snacks, the space has so many unique events that are inclusive for everyone. One of the workers helped me order drinks then came up to DJ afterward - dope. Also the Filipino food pop up smacks - you may think you can only pork but you'll be pleasantly surprised - just don't go in thinking it's supposed to taste like what you know. read more

Let me just say, this place was lit and vibey! Jen, the owner is an incredible host! Her passion and hospitality resonates during my stay here. She accomodated us for my Sister's 30th pre birthday party. She has an event space upstairs that i would recommend to those who want a more intimate space with a party vibe. She was also great in educating me about different wines that are asian made. This spot definitely brings out asian culture, that everyone should come and check it out! Thanks again Jen! read more

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This place is all vibes in the best possible way. The owners are present, the people are friendly, the food and drinks are bomb, and the mahjong makes you feel like you're hanging out with friends. read more

The vibes are immaculate!!! I dropped in on a rainy night while checking out a few places in this corner of Oakland. Got a comfy spot on the couch, ordered some beers and delicious Asian snackies, and vibed out to a DJ who was live streaming his set. This place really makes me want to learn how to play mah jong so I can come back and play with folks. The host was so gracious and personable. I follow their insta and am a big fan of how plugged in they are into the community, hosting events like female DJ nights, jam sessions and street fairs. read more

Baba's House - kick back and vibe out to a live stream - Asian Fusion Near Me - Oakland, California

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Baba's House softly opens where a ramen shop was to be years ago. there are many venues operating concurrently: an eatery downstairs. upstairs-an art gallery, a snack shop, a 2 tabled rental space, and a music lounge for hanging out. eatery: Filipino food centric. didn't understand the entrees. (didn't do the research) pics on the menu would have been helpful. not a fan of gyoza, rice nor impossible burgers...so passed. snack shop: tried a few singapore snacks & a drink: -Wildwood lemon ginger sparkling seltzer (4.5) 12 oz. 30 calories various juices mixed with ginger, monkfruit extracts. tasty. no chemicals. -Tom Yum Salted Eggs (flavored) shrimp heads (10.50) loads of chemical additives, palm oil. tom yum/salted egg flavor ok. shrimp head crunchy texture excellent! -salted egg yolk fish crisps (9) salmon skins excellent, salted egg yok flavor from powder, msg, salt, sugar. -truffle potato chips (8) truffle artificial flavoring, palm oil, additives. *everything addictive from additives, msg, salt...wouldn't rebuy these brands. salmon skins, shrimp heads texture very good. flavors so so. read more

Baba's House had a cute a pop up at the Sunset Night Market in San Francisco, selling hand rolled sushi! Delicious and fun, easy to carry while walking the market. Tried the Salmon & Ponzu and Lion King rolls, both tasty, $6 each for a hefty snack. Pick up a free sticker at the register to learn more about this spot and check out the actual space while you're in downtown Oakland read more

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Baba house is the ish. They have so many good snacks that swap out from time to time. Staff is always super helpful. They are located in the downtown Oakland area. On the first for you have the restaurant area.upstairs you have the snacks and drinks.Parking can be a little sucky at times but they are worth the trip. read more

Baba's House - Asian Fusion Near Me - Oakland, California

Great place all around. Very fun, cool space with mahjong and karaoke depending on the nights. They have some good Filipino food as well. The deviled eggs were a play on arroz caldo with crispy bits on top. The chicken nasal skewers were tasty and came with a pickled atchara. The Laing was fantastic, nutty and lightly bitter from the taro leaves and just a little funk from the shrimp paste. The Bicol Bicol meatballs were very savory and springy. The inihaw was a white fish ceviche with chicharron and was very balanced with acidity, sweetness, and richness from the chicharron. The dessert was a banana pudding with fried crispy dumpling wrappers on top, was very good, not too sweet with good banana flavor, fluffy cream, and contrasting textures. The mahjong night was so much fun. They gave our group full lessons. Alan was our teacher and was so nice, patient, and helpful. One of my favorite places. read more

The once a month comedy on Second Wednesdays is incredible! The snacks upstairs are lovely and amazing, I loved the Sakura Peach oreos so much, they're delightful, and the espresso chocolate bars are decently solid! Tasty, not as strong as I wanted but still nice and delicious! And the Baba's House comedy mic also gives insightful feedback to up and coming comics to get to practice their jokes, and the audience gives feedback, haha. read more

This review is LONG overdue but I am so happy to be able to give Baba's the love it deserves. First of all, I am obsessed with the concept of Baba's house. First story is Baba's House Kitchen (BHK), a casual rice bowl eatery. Second story is the rest of the 'house', where there is a snack shop + "living room" where you can play games or sing karaoke, a bad-ass mahjong den that looks like it belongs to a chinese mafia, and a smaller room to the side where you can buy some merch. Follow their IG to know which events are happening on which nights! Second, I'm devastated I only found out about this place right before I moved out of Oakland (and only a few blocks away) I literally love this place so much and can't wait to eat here for the rest of my life. So one day, I'll be back. Third, I am obsessed with the lucky cat mascot the the amazing mural done by the Illuminaries that will greet you on the first floor. BHK: You come in, order on the iPad, and food gets cooked, placed on the counter for you to grab and take to your table. There are options to sit indoors or outdoors in a cutely decorated covered area. The food is not pretentious - casual but also with a fun and unique flair to some of the asian flavors you already know, but with a twist. For example, pickled mushrooms? I have never had that before but it is wild and tangy and tasty alongside your gyudon. But what really surprised me with how good it was? The vegan heart & soul rice. It is kind of like a fried rice with a bunch of mixed bits in there but it just tastes so cozy, like something you'd curl up with in a corner or with family on a cold winter day. Also notable - the turtle kwispie treat? WTF SO GOOD. I need to figure out how to order an entire platter of this. Popup: Also came in to visit during a That Smax pop-up. Cant deny that I got lured by the IG pics of the thiccc pork belly slices tucked inbetween a fluffy pineapple bun. In addition to the Char Siu Sando, we got the pastrami fried rice and oko scallion pancake. Sando was freaking delish, with super tender pork belly - although very saucy, and savory/salty. A messy eat and I didn't taste the pineapple bun as much. The pastrami fried rice was also super good - pastrami not being a traditional flavor I find in fried rice but the smokiness was welcome plus the nuts added a delightful textural element. I wasn't as big a fan of the oko scallion pancake, but probably because my tastebuds were already being rocked to pieces from the sando lol. Snack Shop: Lot of asian goodies that you may be able to find at your classic asian grocery stores but also some that you may not. For example, I found a bag of Lays basil chips and I am currently obsessed. In addition to the snacks, they have cute posters or buttons for sale. I got a t-shirt for fun :) The snack shop kind of folds in with the game room/karaoke room, which was a little confusing at first bc some ppl were gaming upstairs and I felt bad walking around looking at snacks but interrupting the game. The ppl were super nice and understanding about it tho! Super excited to come back to Oakland and become a regular :) read more

15th is going through a renaissance. While long standing bars like The Hatch and Hoza remain, the sushi and Vietnamese restaurants have closed, the flower shop has moved, and over the pandemic a few pop ups have moved in. Now those pop ups are starting to set themselves permanently, and one of them is Baba's House. A two options in one spot, with a restaurant on the first floor, and a great Asian snack convenience store (The Shack) on the second. Oh, there is also a mahjong room, and a music room upstairs, and they may have some small performances up there as well. But let's talk about the restaurant right now. Offering a limited, touchless menu with rice bowls, garlic noodles, gyoza, and a few more items. For lunch I went with two orders of the pan-fried pork gyoza (3 for $5) and Leon's Lucky Noodles. The gyoza are really good! I eat dumplings everywhere I go, and while not a huge order, these are some of the tastiest I've had in a while. Leon's Lucky Noodles are also delicious - a take on garlic noodles with coconut milk and shrimp paste. The coconut milk really comes, making this very unique. I did see a few of the bowls and would consider getting those on my next stop over. Now let's talk The Shack. You head down the hallway, make a right at the end up the stairs, and immediately things change, between the dark lighting and the music. You will be greeted by the amazing operator Jen as she gives you the rundown: it's a show room for snacks that she has behind the counter. Basically a dispensary for Asian snacks. And they have everything from sauces, chips, candy, beer, seltzers, teas, canned meats, and tons of pins & stickers. While I have found the Lay's 2in1 at Berkeley Bowl, many of the other snacks I have only ever seen here, like CALBEE Grill A Corn Eel Kabayaki. I walked away with a lot, and they do have deals where if you spend $20 or $40 you get a free snack. Also upstairs is a music studio, where one of the owners streams music, and with the deck they can play vinyl as well. Also there is a mahjong table where guests can chill or play. I was also told they are looking to have intimate jam sessions or DJ sessions in the future, and the area can be rented out for private events. It is a cool space, and would make for an unforgettable birthday or other celebration. I'm thrilled Baba's has opened, excited for what they bring, and how this will change 15th street for the better. read more

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By the community, for the community. Baba's House is like stepping into your childhood friend's house hungry, but excited because you know you're always greeted like fam and leave full with baon (leftovers typically packed w/ love from a very sweet but persistent auntie). It's a place that provides a unique Asian-American experience. The Shack, an upstairs snack mart, is filled with a variety of curated snacks, drinks, trinkets, and even pet food. I bought the truffle potato chips and chili oil and garlic Ox and Palm corned beef and impatiently ate it the next day. Downstairs at the main entrance, the chefs provide a delicious, creative, and nostalgic menu of Asian-american dishes. I had the BHK beef bowl--a hearty, well-balanced bowl of sweet, savory, and acidity. I inhaled the entire meal in one sitting. No baon for me. :( read more

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"It's Asian food but a little different...ya know?" - Chef AC My sister heard about this place from her friend and, because she knows that I appreciate amazing things, she told me about it. I walked in and immediately fell into a convo with two really cool dudes who I later found out were the chefs. We had a great convo about food and how to honor the soul of it. As Chef AC said above, this place focuses on Asian food with their own personal twist. Both chefs are classically trained and decided to grace the Bay with food they grew up on, how they grew up on it. And since they both didn't grow up just eating one type of cuisine, these chefs seek to bring all types of Asian food together. And that's why it's not easy to throw them into one category. It's Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Japanese food - but with an interesting twist: "Ok, so I make a gyudon but if I added cheese to it...would you still call it gyudon?" - Chef Eman (sp?) "I wouldn't..." - me "Right - neither would I. So we don't. We really wanna stay away from making something with soy sauce and calling it Japanese." - Chef Eman I tried Chef Eman's not-a-gyudon gyudon (it's the "Japanese beef bowl" on the menu) and wtf?! This is fuggin delicious! On the surface, it looks like a really good, authentic gyudon. But there's a really interesting....something...lurking in this bowl's depth of flavor when you take that first bite. So you take another to try to figure it out and another and another until you're halfway done and haven't even touched your gyoza. (The gyoza is bomb, too btw) There's also an upstairs snack shop that has all the Asian snacks and draaaanks and chill space. Really cool vibe, cool folks, snacks - what more can you ask for? Oh, you ask for a mahjong lounge? Whelp, they're opening one up soon! Any challengers?! read more

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Can't believe it's finally open! Baba's house just had their soft opening 11-03-2021! It was an amazing experience, livening up that section of 15th street in Downtown Oakland. The bottom floor is an Asian inspired fusion restaurant curated by chef AC Boral. The upstairs is an Asian snack and goodies shop, they carry pins, chips, drinks, etc They also have a private den for rent if you'd like to host a small group of friends or have an intimate setting. Next you have a media streaming room and a pop up art space curated by Strangeways Projects. We had an absolute blast at the soft opening, can't wait to see what else is in store for this tiny market :) read more

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Cool spot. Nice vibe. Friendly people. Stoked it's here. Sweet upstairs den spot too. Definitely will be back and good place to bring a group of friends. read more

Came by for their 2nd Saturday event and it was so cool! They had Cecil and Cali from ThePeople djing outside & I ate delicious wonton noodle soup inside then played mah Jong!! I haven't played in helllla years but Agnes, who also made the wontons, helped guide me and re-teach me. Thanks Agnes! This is such a unique space and I highly recommend coming by !! read more

Babas house seems like they're still in the soft opening stage but we were pretty impressed so far! Seems like they have high ambitions to have the space be a showcase for POC creatives. I loved the vibe of the upstairs shop, which made me feel like I was rediscovering little treasures from my childhood(: The food was overall really good-- the ribeye was very tasty (much better than it looked tbh), and the potstickers were a standout! Suuuper fragrant, and I would've never thought to pair citrus zest with potstickers but it went sooo well together. The ochazukes broth was really flavorful, but I think the rice to broth ratio was too high. I think some more texture to the dish would've been nice too, like rice crackers or shredded nori. We also tried their three Asian seltzer flavors and liked all of them! They're much better than the other Asian brand we tried Nectar-- Asian pear was my favorite flavor(: Staff were super cool. We'll be back to try the ginilang! read more

We stopped by after seeing a play nearby and just wanted a snack. This hit the spot! Tasty gyoza with the contrasting texture I look for. But it was the fried rice with mushrooms which was a big hit, especially with my vegetarian daughter. There's a video display showing random landscapes. Wish it was showing something like guanyin, Buddha, or stills from Shang Chi, lol Pics of the food would be good too. But I will definitely be back to try the other food items and check out the art upstairs. read more

Fabulous new Asian fusion/Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Oakland. I fell in love with their food. My foodie home girl did too read more

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This is a great place if you're looking for a spunky activity to do on a weeknight. We came here for karaoke on a Wednesday and I loved the ambience. It's a very hip-lofi type of vibe. They have fun snacks and refreshing drinks, alcoholic and non alcoholic. If you're into artsy-chill stuff, this is the place for you! read more

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This place tries to be too many things: it's a restaurant, gallery, and venue but it's not enough of any. The food is ok: I had the curry chicken and it was a bit too salty and expensive for the portion size and lack of creativity, and one piece of chicken was raw. The gallery is small and without enough explanations for what they are showing. The venue is also small. Ambiance and idea overall is pretty interesting but it lacks a welcoming feel. Go for the hangout space, which is nice especially if there are small shows and you want a small space, but I would not purposefully go for the food again. read more

Enjoyed the soft launch chicken and rice dish as well as the gyoza. Flavorful and fresh. Also enjoyed checking out the snack shop, majong room and gallery upstairs. Looking forward to the full launch. read more

Baba's House - The gyoza were excellent. - Asian Fusion Near Me - Oakland, California

Nice like place I found. Snacks are unique and yummy. Great creative space. Staff super friendly

This place is so chill and hip, I love it. It's such a great addition to our neighborhood. I ate the delicious mushroom bowl downstairs in the cafe with my lychee soda that I purchased upstairs in the neat little Asian snack shop! They were out of the beyond meat option, so I can't wait to go back and try it. You gotta check this place out. read more

Walked in on a Friday night wanting to check out the upstairs gallery... followed a neon sign vaguely pointing upstairs next to a sign that said employees only, unsure if we were about to walk into something we shouldn't, and ascended the stairs. Turned the corner and saw a whole group of friends singing karaoke filling the small upstairs room. Still weren't sure if we were supposed to be there but the owner quickly greeted us warmly and welcomed us to the space! It's gorgeous! Full of neon and moody lights, there's a mahjong room, art on the walls, and a huge variety of unique Asian snacks and candy and BEER!!! The drink selection was incredible. I can't wait to go back and try way too many. Really does feel like a happy welcoming loving room stocked with snacks. Snagged one of the BKriskies on the way out as well and it was divine- kind of a brown buttery sweet but still savory treat. So good. I'll be back soon! 3rd Saturday is mahjong night and apparently they'll teach you! Also karaoke is anytime you request haha. Follow them on insta for events. Thank you for the hospitality!!! read more