1520 Lakeside Dr, Oakland, CA 94612 | 510.208.5253 | website | reservations

The term chalet originally referred to the hut of a herder, although according to modern usage, chalet loosely refers to an upscale property with a view.  The Lake Chalet which is situated on the west side of Lake Merritt certainly has just such a view, and it’s breathtaking.  The 100-year-old Lake Merritt Boathouse was renovated last year, its interior  transformed by Cass Calder Smith (who also worked on LuLu, La Mar Cebicherria, Perbacco and Terzo) into elegantly casual surroundings.

The outdoor patio extends out over the water and is a wonderful spot to sit and enjoy the views of the lake.  You can watch small sailboats, an occasional rowboat, and sculling crews which move along at an impressive pace.  The menu is casual and offers happy hour deals like Taco Tuesday, Crab Friday and $3 drinks and appetizers from 3-6.  The beer menu features hand crafted ales brought across the Bay from sister restaurant Beach Chalet’s microbrewery. Yes, the Lake Chalet is part of the Park Chalet/Beach Chalet family in San Francisco.

There are gaggles of Canadian Geese flying overhead, the odd pelican and you may even see a romantic Italian gondola gliding past.

I’ve visited now several times, the first visit was just after they opened and we sat outside to enjoy drinks and the view of Lake Merritt illuminated by its trademark string of lights.

We later  came by on a sunny afternoon and sat at the outside patio area to split a burger after a walk around the lake.  Our server took his time to get to the table, we waited about 15 minutes before he showed up.  When he finally came to the table, he never looked up or uttered a word.  He just stood there until Mr. K placed his order and then he took off with a curt nod of his head.  He got our order right, but I’m still not sure whether that was a case of studly manliness or just plain rude?

We split a Caesar Salad with garlic croutons ($9) with parmesan-anchovy dressing, topped with grated parmesan reggiano.  This was surprisingly good, the leaves were lightly dressed and the croutons were crunchy and delicious.

The Lake Chalet Burger ($12.95), topped with chopped iceberg lettuce, tomato jam and pickled onions.  It was garnished with a jaunty pickle spear, and although generally we find burgers to be big enough to split, this was on the small side… I’m just saying.   And I also like plain ole slices of tomato and onion, the fancy condiments detract from the simplicity of a good burger…

I opted for the house made potato salad instead of chips, which was pretty good, but I think I would have enjoyed chips more… and I now see that fries are included on the menu.

The restaurant recently began promoting a new special called Prime Rib Mondays, which offers 3 sizes of prime rib: the 10 oz. gondola cut/$20, 12oz. chalet cut/$24, and the 16oz. sailboat cut for $28.  The price includes a salad, creamed spinach, potato and yorkshire pudding… quite a deal!  This time I came with a group of 5 and we sat inside in the Lake Room which has a cozy fireplace and big windows overlooking the lake.  We had more servers attending us, but our server was young and seemed awkward and inexperienced.  She came by fairly often but I didn’t feel well tended, instead I felt rushed and overly demanding…

Mmmm, the bread basket was full of my favorite epi-loaf from Acme Breads in Berkeley.  The wonder about this particular shape is that it is like a branch made of little hand-sized baguettes; each section providing a large expanse of delectably crisp crust surrounding the tender spongy interior that was mouthwateringly delicious when slathered with the rich creamery butter provided.

We each had a Spinach Salad with lemony dressing,  garnished with wedges of hard cooked eggs, tomato and cucumber slices.

I had the 10 oz Gondola cut, cooked medium rare, which was served with a mound of creamed spinach and mashed potatoes with gravy.  It was cooked very well, the meat is dry aged for 21 days and had a soft succulent texture.   The spinach was lightly sauteed with bacon and tossed with something rich and creamy that I liked very much.  It was lighter and fresher than the usual thick gloopy spinach pudding…

This is Liz’s plate which came with a baked potato that had a nice drizzling of sour cream.  Notice the difference in doneness, we both ordered medium rare, yet hers looked well-done…

The eagerly anticipated yorkshire pudding was disappointingly flat with a dense, spongy texture that reminded us of a big pancake.  It did not have the tender souffle interior with the crispy crust that I fantasize about… but we each got a cupful of creamy horseradish to slather over our meat and a small gravy boat full of savory au jus.

For dessert, we split the chocolate molten cake, which had a very heavy coating of powdered sugar that added a lovely snowy sweet topping.  It was good, but not mindblowingly so…

Ahhh Lake Chalet, you have such undeveloped potential… We’ll keep coming back as long as they are open because I love the setting, and hope to see them develop the menu and service over time.

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