The place offers downstairs and upstairs dining rooms (upstairs boasts better views), an open kitchen by a long downstairs bar with prime seating overlooking the dock and the lake, and a cozy upstairs bar with a fireplace. The décor makes the place feel like an upscale corporate hotel. We sat upstairs, next to the windows -- which actually open to let in a breeze -- but had to change tables after a hostess told us the section she'd placed us in was too full.
Alas, the warm hummus and crispy pita appetizer ($8.50) was unavailable. We switched to a fresh-tasting English pea and ham hock soup ($7.50), garnished with crispy fried Brussels sprouts leaves and a bit of crème fraiche. But spicy chicken wings ($10.95), mired in blue cheese dressing (with the "celery hearts" of the menu description appearing only as four tiny decorative leaves), failed to excite, while a fat tuna burger with peppers ($13.95) was a bit bland, despite a touch of basil aïoli.
The most interesting dish were crispy brandade fish sticks ($14.50),
served with wild arugula salad, nicer than the tuna burger's salad of
watercress and fennel. But nothing we tried made us long to return, and
we were not heartened by the dessert menu's cluelessness. Under the
heading Seasonal Desserts, the four offerings were banana caramel bread
pudding, coconut cream pie, flourless chocolate cake, and Granny Smith
apple (!) crisp, during a week when produce markets everywhere were
overflowing with late-summer stone fruit.
Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill 1520 Lakeside (at 14th St.), Oakland, (510) 208-5253
