| Food | * * * |
| Service | * * * * |
| Ambience | * * * * |
| Value | 7.0 |
| Cost | $ $ |
| Dish | Price |
Value | Rating | |
| Apricot Ale | * * * | * * * | ||
| Honey Brew | * * * | * * 1/2 | ||
| Bong Bong Chicken | $9.95 |
* * * 1/2 | * * * 1/2 | |
| Thai Chicken Salad | 7.95 |
* * * 1/2 | * * * 1/2 | |
| Jerk Chicken Sandwich | 7.95 |
* * * 1/2 | * * * * | |
| Bleu Cheese Fries | 4.75 |
* * * * | * * * * | |
| Chocolate Brownie Surprise | 4.50 |
* * * | * * * |
Sunrise at the Oasis is Sacramento Brewing Company's newest branch, but instead of just calling it SBC-2, they've created a whole new atmosphere. The entrance is gaudy, with big handled entrance doors, flanked by fake palm trees, almost out of Egypt. In the waiting area is an ingenious invention, a sign-in area that has the appearance of a chariot. The central bar area had hieroglyphics on the upper part of the ceiling against an earthy tone adobe wall and a humorous translation.
We were shown to our table almost immediately. The central dining room has a purple ceiling, almost resembling the night sky, with lots of little lamps illuminating the separate dining areas, as well as the regular lights to keep the room moderately bright.
Sunrise at the Oasis (Oasis) hasn't yet equalled its sister saloon's options. I tried to order the beer sampler, but it wasn't available yet. They do have a similar set of brews, but with desert-themed names - Pharaoh's Brew, etc. I tasted a bit of their Apricot Ale, but opted for the Honey Ale instead. J & her friend W just got water. We also ordered the bleu cheese fries, an SBC staple, and began to look through the menu through the silly names (Bong Bong Chicken) and descriptions to see what we really wanted. Everything sounded delicious, and we kept seeing various offerings at other tables. The decision was hard. W finally chose the Thai Chicken Salad. J decided upon the Bong Bong Chicken, after all. I chose the Jerk Chicken Sandwich with cumin slaw. It was really busy in the restaurant (Opening Ceremonies - Atlanta Olympics), so the food took a little while. The fries came out right away and took us awhile to eat. Our waitress was very attentive and came by every 5 minutes or so to apologize about the delay in getting our food. After about a 20-minute wait, she offered to give us all free drinks to, hopefully, make up for the lateness of the food. W & J each got a lemonade, and I went with the Apricot Ale. About 5 minutes later, the food came, and we were definitely not disappointed!
The Thai Chicken salad was nearly perfectly prepared, with not too much lettuce, or too few noodles, or too much vinegar. The Bong Bong Chicken was a delightful combination of slightly spicy chicken, served on a creamy bed of pasta, tender and delicious. My jerk chicken sandwich was REALLY spicy - the sauce was spicy and the sandwich was coated with jalapeņo jack cheese. The cumin slaw was a delightful surprise. It was a light mixture of red and green cabbage with a modicum of vinegar and a light sprinkling of cumin to enhance the flavor.
As if we weren't full enough from our meals, we decided to try dessert. She carted all 5 desserts out on a tray, so we could make an educated, if not heavily influenced, decision. We opted for the highly artistic and tasty chocolate brownie surprise, which consisted of two huge chocolate brownies laced with fudge and dribbled with chocolate suace, propped up by two scoops of chocolate ice cream.
So, although we had to wait a while to get our food, the service was wonderful, especially because our server was so conscientious about the wait, though time seemed to fly by. There were many other treats to try and the prices were reasonable ($13/person) that Sunrise at the Oasis warrants a return trip.