Bette's Oceanview Diner

1807 4th Street, Berkeley, CA - (510) 644-3230

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Posted By Michael Stern on 10/6/2009 8:25:00 AM

I tend to be skeptical about retro restaurants, diners in particular. Even if their heart is in the right place, all too often the food is not. A couple of trips to Bette's disabused me of my prejudice. Here is a modern restaurant with classic values ... and really good pancakes. I don't mean the special souffle pancakes (which are oven-baked, and terrific); I am referring to the regular buttermilk pancakes, usually available in a special flavor each day. For my first visit, around Christmas, the day's pancake (and waffle) was egg nog. Mmm-good. The extra egginess was quite subtle, adding an intangible richness to the cakes, all the better when drowned with the pitcher of real maple syrup provided. I also had an egg nog waffle, which I didn't like as much as Bette's regular waffle, which is the crisp, thin-tread type I continually seek. Somehow, the egg nog diminished its crispness.

Other breakfast deliciocities included some of the best scrapple I have had anywhere, including the Delaware Valley. Part of a "Philadelphia breakfast" with poached eggs, it is made from pork butt and hock meat, cornmeal, sage, and plenty of pepper, and sliced thick enough that while the outside gets nice and crisp, the interior virtually melts into nothing but flavor.

For my return breakfast, I got more pancakes, but this time savory ones: Bette's potato pancakes, coarse grated and redolent of spuddy flavor, grilled to a crisp and served with extraordinary apple sauce. A taste of heaven! I look forward to returning to this fine diner for lunch some day, but if all I ever eat at Bette's in the future is breakfast, I shall be a happy man.

Both times I visited, I arrived really early and was by myself, so had no problem finding a counter seat with a great view of the kitchen staff at work. Beware, though, Bette's is famous, and famously crowded. So at most normal meal times, you should expect to wait.

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

Pancakes	Home Fries
Macaroons	Huevos Rancheros
Chocolate Espresso Twinkie	Fruit Salad
Waffle

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"Souffle pancakes are made by whipping egg whites into the batter then baking. The result is an ethereal cake that is unbelievably lightweight but big on flavor. This one is dotted with fresh strawberries."
Michael Stern

"Specials vary. You might luck out with some huevos verdes."
Jim Ellison

"At Bette's To Go, the shop adjoining the diner, the pastries are nothing short of sensational. This 'chocolate espresso Twinkie' resembles the snack cake only in its shape. It is devilishly devil's foody, robed with fine chocolate, and filled with dairy-rich espresso cream."
Michael Stern

"Bette's corned beef hash has massive amounts of crisp, crunchy edge. The potatoes and beef are coarse cut and delicious. On the side is a muffin made with donut batter: what a good idea!"
Michael Stern

"I automatically love any place that doesn't give in to the Belgian waffle plague. This waffle was made using the batter du jour the day before Christmas, 2007: egg nog."
Michael Stern

"From my counter seat, I watched each fruit in this salad peeled and/or sliced just before it got sent forth to the person who ordered it."
Michael Stern

"The homefries are heavenly."
Jim Ellison

"Bette's at dawn: a good time to come if you don't want to wait in line."
Michael Stern

"No line outside is a good thing... and rare."
Jim Ellison

"Pancakes are Bette's signature dish, so much so that the diner has published a cookbook titled The Pancake Handbook."
Michael Stern

"The Sign of Good Eats on 4th Street."
Michael Stern

"Too bad you can't eat this pie."
Jim Ellison

"$1.25 is a small price to pay for perfection."
Jim Ellison