Shattuck and Channing. This is the companion restaurant to the main Plearn on Univeristy. It’s a cute little Thai restaurant and one of the better ones, I think. Last time I went I got the Pat Kee Mao, which was spicy and tasty. The service is a mixed bag, so if you’re in a rush, it might not be the best place to go, but the food is good, and they do take out as well. The only trick is that it’s cash only. But ATMs abound in Downtown Berkeley.

Thus far, after one year, Cancún has my vote for the best burrito in Berkeley. Unfortunately, it’s about a buck or two more expensive than other other places, but in my opinion the selection outweighs the cost. Here you can find mole, nopales, and other burritos that aren’t at the other places near the Berkeley campus. They also have 3-4 different agua frescas available, which is the perfect way to cool off after a hot day in the sun. To top it all off, they have about 12 different salsas to choose from. If you go there for the first time, I recommend trying as many as possible. Most of them are pretty tasty, but watch out for the ones that say they’re spicy!

538 Valencia, between 16th and 17th. Another one of those cheap sushi places. The menu is pretty standard, except for the prices. I wouldn’t plan an evening around it, but as I’ve said before, it’s pretty hard to argue with cheap sushi. There are better places to go around here, but they’re more expensive. If you find yourself in the Mission on a budget but want sushi, this place will satisfy.

On the corner of 16th and Valencia. Ti Couz specializes in crepes as they are made in Bretagne (Brittany, for the non-Frenchies). They are whole-wheat and kind of crisp, not like the white chewy crepes you get elsewhere. It’s a build-it-yourself kind of place, so while you can get a pretty filling crepe for under $10, you can also go all out and pay more. I had egg, ham, cheese, and caramelized onion, and it was pretty yummy. Jordan had a bok choy and shiitake mushroom with gingered cream on top, which was also pretty tasty.

They also have a pretty wide range of drinks, alcoholic and non. It’s not a budget place to eat until you’re stuffed, but for brunch, an early dinner, or a dessert (open until 11), Ti Couz would be a pretty good bet.

On Telegraph between Durant and Channing. Tako Sushi has some pretty good special rolls that make for a good lunch. I’ve been to Tako for lunch and dinner — the dinner options are a little expensive. The only major problem I had was that the service was a little slow. They don’t have the best sushi by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s fresh, and for less than $10 how can you say no?

On the corner of Hayes and Gough. I went here with some friends before going to the opera. If you plan to eat here and catch a performance, come more than an hour ahead or just plan for the pasta, since it is usually pretty busy and the meat dishes take a while to prepare. It’s a pretty nice Italian restaurant with reasonably-priced entrees. There’s a prix fixe for $20 which is worth it if you get one of the more expensive entrees.

I had a fusilli with grilled chicken, asparagus, peas, and mushrooms. It was a generous serving, but not too much, and was not weighed down in sauce, which was a pleasant surprise. It was a little heavier on the olive oil than I expected, but it wasn’t oppressive. The bread they serve comes with this tomato tapenade that is really tasty — it’s a pity they don’t seem to have an “infinite bread” policy. The others at my table got a fettucine with sun-dried tomatoes, crab ravioli in a tomato-cream sauce with brandy, and squash ravioli. The overall judgement was that they were pretty good, but not mind-blowing by any stretch of the imagination.

All in all, a decent place to go before a program at the symphony or the opera. There are a lot of other good places in Hayes valley though, so it’s more a matter of what you are in the mood for. If you want Italian for under $15, Caffe Delle Stelle is a pretty good bet.

Telegraph and Durant. This is a no-red-meat burger and sandwich place on Telegraph, serving the college lunch crowd mostly. The veggie burger there is pretty good, and the service was pretty fast, although I did go there at a kind of slow time. The fries were nothing to write home about, but they were crispier than I expected. I didn’t investigate the garlic fries, but they are probably good for warding off the vampires who inhabit Telegraph.

All in all, a decent $5-$6 lunch on southside if you’re in the mood for a veggieburger or a chicken sandwich. If you want a real sandwich and not something grilled, I would still say Intermezzo’s is your best bet.

On College Ave slightly south of the Rockridge BART station. Ben and Nick’s is pub of the old-beer-advertisements-on-the-wall variety. The highlight my experience there was the framed “PBR Wall Calendar” from the 50’s with the “Blue Ribbon Girl of the Month.” It made PBR seem so clean and pure, compared to those slut beers like Miller High Life.

The food was standard California pub grub, nothing particularly special. I had the “Nicken Sandwich” which was served on white bread, and I’m not sure I could have changed that. The default salty side-dish is tortilla chips — fries are extra. I probably should have gotten the fries, since ketchup and tortilla chips just don’t seem to go well together. The whole thing was not very greasy though, which was a big plus in my book.

All in all, not a place I would go out of my way to visit, but if you happen to be in the area and want to grab a beer, you could probably do much worse.

On Castro between 18th and 19th. This is a hip little restaurant which claims to be Burmese, but is probably better classified as pan-Asian. I went here with my friend Ann on a Saturday night, and the wait wasn’t too bad, but we just beat the rush. The staff is pretty friendly, the decor is nice, but it’s kind of loud, like many popular restaurants in San Francisco.

The menu has a lot of noodle dishes, including quite a few vegetarian options. there are also some main entrees which come with rice. You get your choice of noodles — spinach ramen, udon, or linguine. i think your milage will vary quite a bit with some of the dishes depending on the noodles that you get. There’s also a special drinks menu with some really interesting fruity/tropical mixed drinks as well as this sort of alcoholic frappe that Ann thought was rather tasty.

We got the appetizer sampler plate ($10) which was much larger than we anticipated, and had samosas, spring rolls, satay tofu, and this grilled onion bread, along with four associated sauces. Everything but the tofu was pretty tasty. I found the tofu, which was deep fried, dull and a let-down after the tasty tasty onion bread. For a main course we split the Apricot Glazed Pork with udon ($8.50). The pork was delicious, and the sauce complimented it well, but was a little milder than I had expected.

I would definitely go here again to try some of the other intriguing menu options, perhaps before or after seeing a movie at the fabulous Castro St. Theater. Apparently this owners of Nirvana also own a restaurant called Nan Yang in Rockridge, which I will have to check out sometime…

On Washington between Stockton and Grant. This is a dim sum place in Chinatown with a high ratio of Chinese to non-Chinese people, and menus mostly in Chinese on the wall. With non-simplified characters even. It’s a small place compared to the huge eateries — the food is brought around on trays, not carts.

As far as the food went, it was greasier than a lot of dim sum that I have had, but pretty good otherwise. I rather liked their ginger-pork dumpling, but by that time I had had so much to eat I couldn’t really appreciate it. In the end, it cost a table of nine people only $8 each, which was pretty fair, given the amount of food we managed to put away. I’d give it about a 3/5 rating against Dim Sum Restaurants I Have Known.