Latest Update: two of the chefs from Broke Ass Cooks have split up from the group to open Michoz, a legal restaurant in Berkeley that will be running at The Hidden Cafe. They will be open on weekends and serve takeout only.
Update: Unfortunately, Broke Ass Cooks was shut down by the Health Department last week as they were not technically supposed to operating out of their house. As of now, they are actively looking for a place where they can run their kitchen legally. Lets hope that they can open it up again soon!
Last weekend, I finally got the opportunity to try the food from the Broke Ass Cooks pop-up in Oakland and it did not disappoint. Broke Ass Cooks was started a couple months after the Pandemic began because three chefs, Bilal, Hoang and Keone, were furloughed from their restaurant jobs and were broke. Now, just over a month into the pop-up, the three chefs are selling out of their family style meals every weekend. To get the food from Broke Ass Cooks, you must preorder through their Instagram and I do warn you, it may take you a few weeks to actually get the food as the preorders for each week sell out really fast. The “store front” for Broke Ass Cooks is in West Oakland and it is all done by drive up service where you give your name and then one of the three chefs comes back with your food a few minutes later. So, here is my blog report of visiting Broke Ass Cooks and how their food tasted.
Arrival and Food Pickup:
Our pickup time for our food was 4:00 pm on a Saturday so we plugged in the address to the pop-up into our GPS and arrived right at 4:00. Upon arrival, we had to wait in a line of cars a bit as Broke Ass Cooks is very popular and serves many people throughout the evening. They do have multiple time slots available for pickup so that they can limit the amount of people coming at a certain time which is nice. After a few cars left, we pulled forward until we could see the “store front” of Broke Ass Cooks which consisted of a pop-up shade tent, a table, chairs and serving equipment all set up right in front of their house. There are two signs in bright colors and bold letters attached to the pop-up tent. One of them says Broke Ass Cooks and the other one says Make Hospitality Great Again. I think Make Hospitality Great Again is a really cool saying and it helps me to envision what they as a group are trying to accomplish. Anyways, as soon as we pulled up, we were greeted by one of the chefs who handed us a bag of freshly cooked plantain chips to eat while we were waiting. He then proceeded to use a walkie talkie to tell the other chefs (in the back of the house with the food) that our group had arrived.
After using the walkie talkie, he proceeded to talk to us and we asked him questions such as what inspired him to start this pop-up. His response to that simple questions is something that will stick with me forever. He said that the goal of the Broke Ass Cooks pop-up was to inspire other people that you can achieve things in life and through cooking as long as you put in your best effort. Furthermore, he said that he wanted to inspire other people and chefs to start pop-ups as well and for them to realize that they could do that if they choose. I found this statement very profound and unique and I plan to use it as motivation for whatever I want to do in life. After he said that, another guy came from out back with our food and handed it to the person we were talking to. The person we were talking to then handed us the food through the car window. Upon receiving our food, we thanked him and we drove off. I was not expecting such a high level of customer service that all the chefs possessed and that was probably one of the things that I am most happy about after visiting the pop-up. All three of the chefs seemed really humble and motivated to Make Hospitality Great Again which was absolutely great and somewhat unexpected.
After driving away and being served with amazing hospitality, it was time to dig into the plantain chips that they gave us while we were waiting. I passed the bag around to my brother and my mom and then took a couple of chips myself. I then proceeded to take my first bite and WOW! The plantain chips were cut into nice thin but long strips and had a ton of flavor. Also, they were insanely crispy and the salt level was on point. Oftentimes with fries or plantain chips, they either do not have enough salt or they are under fried. But, these plantain chips had the perfect crunch and the right amount of salt to add that element to it. For a little bag that they give you while you are waiting, these plantain chips did not disappoint and made us really look forward to the chicken dinner ahead.
The Meal:
About an hour after picking up the food, we decided it was time to dig in. First, we opened the main tray which contained Jerk Chicken and Dirty Rice with Peas. We also opened up the other boxes. One of the other boxes contained a Plum and Tomato Salad with a Vinaigrette to put on top. The 2nd other box contained the Spicy Orange Marmalade and then some sort of broth to put over the rice and chicken.
After opening up the boxes, we loaded up our plates with salad, chicken and rice and immediately dug in. But before digging in, I added some of the spicy marmalade to the side of my plate and also poured some of the broth over my rice and chicken to add flavor. The first thing I decided to try was the Plum and Tomato Salad as it was a good and easy opening bite. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe, juicy and full of flavor. The plums, while a bit sour, were mostly sweet and soft while also being a bit crunchy. To top it all off, the vinaigrette added a nice flavor to the fruits while not overpowering them. Overall, this salad was super fresh and tasted super good. One thing that I really enjoyed about it was how simple it was. Oftentimes, if simple ingredients are done right, then it makes for a great dish and this was exactly the case with the Plum and Tomato Salad.
The next thing I tried was the rice with the broth that I poured on top. The rice was cooked perfectly and the peas added great flavor. The rice was also seasoned very well and the broth added a nice depth of flavor to it. One downside to the rice was that it was kind of boring on its own but if you paired it in a bite with the chicken it was perfect. Overall, it was a very simple rice dish done well and it went great with the chicken.
Finally, after trying the two sides, it was time to dig into what I hoped was the star of the show: the Jerk Chicken. I proceeded to cut the chicken off of the bone and then took a bite. Immediately after I stuck the chicken in my mouth, the flavors began to pop in my mouth. Man was that some yummy chicken! The chicken had great seasoning from the jerk spice rub that was put on it. Also, the chicken was perfectly moist and not dry at all which was awesome. I was expecting the chicken to be the star of the show and it definitely was. I could have literally just ordered the chicken without the sides and I would have been completely happy, it was that good. After the first bite, the chicken just kept getting better and the flavors from the seasoning kept coming out. All I can say is wow, that was some good chicken.
Upon eating a couple of bites, I spooned some marmalade onto my fork and ate that with the chicken which was pretty interesting. When we picked up our order, the chef said that the Orange Marmalade was a bit spicy but that if we combined it with the other ingredients that it would be good. Based on this comment, I thought I would like the marmalade and that it would add a nice level of spice and flavor to the dish while not overpowering it. But unfortunately, upon eating it with my chicken, my mouth instantly filled with heat and it was a long hot burn. After taking that one bite I had to pair the marmalade with the rice so that I could cool it down while I ate it. So, I was a bit disappointed by the marmalade as it was too hot. But luckily, it did not detract from the overall deliciousness of the food.
Summary:
All in all, Broke Ass Cooks did not disappoint and I definitely want to try them again in the near future if they are still around and not sold out. Besides having to wait almost two weeks to get an order in because they were sold out, the experience was amazing! From the chefs trying to bring back old school hospitality and literally pouring their hearts and souls into the food to the Jerk Chicken being absolutely juicy and somehow improving every bite, Broke Ass Cooks was amazing. If you can get an order in to Broke Ass Cooks, I would highly recommend it as their chicken is some of the best chicken I have had in my life and the side salad and rice pair phenomenally well with it. Thank you thank you thank you to The Broke Ass Cooks for blessing us with their insanely skilled cooking and hospitality. And thank you so much for reading this blog post. I really hope you get to try the food from the Broke Ass Cooks pop-up in the future.
Publicity For Broke Ass Cooks:
Follow Broke Ass Cooks on Instagram- @brokeasscooks
- https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Meet-the-Brokeass-Cooks-pop-up-Oakland-restaurant-15465505.php
- https://www.thesfnews.com/the-rise-of-backyard-pop-up-catering-by-brokeass-cooks/62704
- https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/08/11/our-driving-force-is-desperation-chefs-from-top-rated-restaurants-now-making-home-cooked-delivery-meals
Walker's World 