Elite Event: Steel Rail Cafe

Reviews are better posted late than never.
Wifey and I had a LOVELY time at Steel Rail Café for the last YEE of the year.
It was a true pleasure to finally meet the one and only Stephy in person. I still can’t believe you weren’t accustomed to meeting fellow tribe members in the Bay.
The gift exchange was a hoot as well. What a fun idea!
If you like ginger, this place is worth making a special trip. Chef called it his home-​made ginger beer, but I call it fresh-​ginger simple-​syrup. Either way it’s DELICIOUS over hot water. Especially on a cold night.
I loved Steel Rail Café and look forward to coming back again for lunch while I’m visiting one of my clients in Jack London Square.

Irie!
A lesson in Jamaican: Irie means ”All right!”, ”Great!”.
A nice event to round out 2015, I feel like I haven’t been to an event in some time and the location of this event seemed perfect seeing that it was 4 years to the day my +1 (Hubs) and I were sunning it up in Jamaica.
The event was on the smaller side as Steel Rail is fairly small with inside and outside seating. Inside was really crammed so we ended up sitting on the Patio with the heaters and Hubs nabbed a blanket. We were treated to a medley of their Christmas menu which was due to start the following day and everything was really tasty.
Roasted Yam Soup with Coconut Milk and Ginger. A little difficult to eat from the little pots and no spoon so I ended up dipping the Plain Chips in which was the perfect combo.
Rotisserie Chicken Melt with Peppers, Onions and Cheese. We were brought multiple servings of this dish which I had to decline the third or fourth time round, despite being very tasty there’s only so much one person can eat.
The signature spiced Nuts were also really tasty with a bit of a spicy kick to them but the highlight of the food tastings for me was the Jamaican style Christmas Cake. This is something very similar to my homeland (England) and brought back fond memories for me. The Gingerbread ‘Mon were also so cute I had to wrap one and take it home.
The Secret Santa was a fun idea was nice too, I hope whoever got my gist liked it as it had a real personal touch to it.
Than you Nique, Steph and Steel rail for a great end to 2015 events!

I was invited here as a Unilocal elite to try out the place. As always, I am very grateful for the eats and drinks. As a special event, the restaurant was closed for our party. I felt like a VIP and loved the treatment. That being said, overall, it was a nice experience.
The owner and head chef came out and showed us the butter churning process. He had guests churn some butter, then once it was finished, he came around with the butter and some bread and let us try it. It could have used some salt, but I loved the whole homemade do-​it-​yourself kind of thing.
For drinks, I tried the homemade hibiscus tea with homemade ginger beer. It had a good amount of ginger flavor and a nice after taste. Now that I think of it… everything had a bit of ginger in it. I’m not complaining because I love ginger and love reaping the health benefits, but I found it somewhat funny.
For eats we were given a piece of a turkey melt with basil and red peppers. Good flavor overall. We were also given a try of the squash soup… with ginger. It was alright. My sister like it much more than I did. I was looking forward to a much more jamaican sampling of food, so I guess I’ll have to return for a better sense of what they serve as far as their regular menu goes.
We were sitting outside, since seating inside was a bit crowded. I have to say that it is a great view and nice to overlook Jack London Square, however, there are not enough outdoor heaters. For as cold as it was, there should have been at least one more heater considering the number of people who were outside vs. inside.

What a great discovery in Jack London Square! I knew the general vicinity of SRC but as soon as I saw Eugene L I knew I was in the right place! Mr Rinky and I were the 4^th & 5^th in line even though we got there at 5:45.
This event was smallish (less than 45 people) so it was cozy and fun. We were greeted at the door by Nicque – what a great way to start the evening! Steff, our current CM was there – warm and friendly as always, mingling with everyone!
There was live music with steel drums, a tv screen with the John Candy movie, «Steel Running,» as well as great food and drink.
The tables had bowls of spiced nuts and plantain chips which the staff constantly replenished.
The staff served us the food which I really appreciated rather than standing in lines as we have at other Elite events. All of the staff at SRC were so friendly and welcoming.
We started off with shots of very tasty roasted yam, ginger and coconut soup. Vegan too.
The staff gave vegan Mr Rnky a large mug of the soup with toasted bread when he asked the server if he could have more soup since there wan’t much on the sampler menu or him to eat… so kind of them.
Our second course was The Melt Sandwich
Them Belly Full With Plantain Chips, Rotisserie Chicken, Roasted Red Peppers, Caramelized Onions, Pepper Jack Cheese, Arugula, Jerk Aioli, Texas Toast… yummy!
One of their staff members passed around a small butter churner. We all go to have a turn churning it. The butter is then spiced up.
Dessert was Jamaiican style spice cake… yum!
They also passed out these cute and festive Jamaican Ginger People cookies – yum again!
There were lots of drink choices but I only had the ginger beer and a hot chocolate.
We had the Secret Santa gift exchange. I should have taken a photo of all the gifts, especially since we were sitting right next to them. What a treasure trove of all shapes and sizes.
Mr Rinky got a big box of cookies. I got a terrific book (actually one I’ve been wanting)—
«The Foodspotting Field Guide» which not ply lists a variety food including borekas, Momo,
Injera, Tanjine but also many dishes I;ve never heard of. Each food has a page next to it – where you spotted it, your comments (looks like, smells like, taste like, etc). So BIG thanks to the Unilocaler who gave me this – a perfect gift!
Thanks to Steff and Nicque and any other Yelep staffer I may have missed, the friendly Unilocal crowd and the fabulous staff of SRC for making this a night to remember.

Daring to be different, this was a great event.
I ventured inside to try the ginger beer, which happens to be non-​alcoholic. You can order this hot or cold. If you order ginger beer hot, the ginger is much more pungent than the cold. However, sitting outside, at night in 50 degree weather, the hot options was the best way to go.
The yam soup was also a great way to warm up. Sweetened with coconut milk, this provided the perfect tropical vibe (and not from shivering)
the best part as the «melt» chicken sandwich. The thick toast with melted butter, filled with chicken, plantains, bell peppers and onions was simply delicious. This was a hearty sandwich with some serious bulk.
The Jamaican style Christmas cake was a surprise rum cake. Moist and delicious, but the best dessert was the Gingerbread MON modeled after the «Cool Runnings» movie which was playing on the screen.
I met some new people and caught up with some old friends. Thanks Unilocal

I love that the café gets all of their ingredients locally (I believe it’s within a 100 mile radius)! So fresh!
My favorite part? THE COFFEE. I did not add any cream or sugar. The coffee here is not bitter at all and there’s no aftertaste!
The melt was also very yummy! The bread was lightly toasted, so it’s not too hard or too soggy.
Service was SUPER AWESOME! Loved the people that work here.
I would definitely come back and try other things!
THANK YOU ALL FOR PLANNING SUCH A GREAT EVENT! :)

Nothing like a hot ginger beer to warm you up on a cold December evening along with other gingery goodies.
Steel Rail Café has revamped their menu for the wintry season and decided to give out samples of these items. My favorite menu items were the hot ginger beer, house made sorrel, roasted yam soup with coconut milk and ginger; and the sandwich melt with chicken, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, arugula, and jerk butter.
Staff were friendly and accommodating. One of the staff members came around and let us do some butter churning that we later got to sample. Also, loved the live music from the steel drum player and saxophonist: It brought a nice reggae vibe to the occasion.
In the, end we had a gift exchange, which I thought was a nice touch for the end of the year. Only thing I’d recommend is to let us know ahead of time to put our names on our gifts so we can actually find the person who brought the gift and acquaint ourselves to other fellow Unilocalers.
Special thanks to whomever brought the Swiss Miss Canister of French Vanilla Hot Cocoa. I just ran out, so this was the perfect gift.
Last, but not least, thank you to Stephanie Y., the Unilocal Crew, and the staff of Steel Rail Café for putting this event together.

Thanks to Steel Rail for hosting this holiday Unilocal Event and gift exchange. It was fun to have a Reggae Santa and steel drums. Hope you add more Jamaican and Caribbean flavors and flair to your menu to give yourself an edge. Loved the ginger beer and ginger“mon cake, and most of all the friendly, outgoing staff. We be jamming…

Such a fun event ! So glad I got to experience it. So much fun from the food to drinks and the free Unilocal swag! Also my present was super cute :]
I love the entire idea of doing this Christmas present exchange and the atmosphere was really nice as well.
Can’t wait for more events! :)

What a great way to end the 2015 Elite year! I don’t make it down to Jack London Square very often and these Unilocal events remind me why I should! It is so cute and Christmasy down there by the water. It was a cold night but there were some nice red blankets to help keep those of us sitting outside warm. The outside heat lamps weren’t giving out much heat, so the blankets (and Unilocal socks) saved the day!
Had a great time seeing Eugene L. (thanks for the gift!) and meeting Joyce Z. and her hubby Brandon! We enjoyed sampling the new seasonal menu (being offered today to the general public). The ingredients are locally sourced within 100 miles. Everything was really tasty! I tried several of the offered libations –house made sorrel and ginger beer (non alcoholic and served warm and cold), Maui Wowie IPA, and local Cab Sauvagnon. The jerk spiced nuts and plantain chips were a nice accompaniment. The Roasted Yam With Coconut Milk & Ginger soup had a good flavor and the Melt sandwich (with rotisserie chicken, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, arugula, jerk aioli, and Texas toast) was the BOMB! We also had their amazing bread with hand churned butter. For dessert, we enjoyed the Cool Running Gingerbread Mon and Jamaican Style Christmas Cake. Yum!
The hosts were soooo welcoming and one of the owners, Effy, came around to greet each table. Another partner, Steve from Jamaica, also circulated among the table, and some of us got a chance to hand churn their house butter. All the servers were very friendly and helpful! There was great live entertainment to add to the festive atmosphere. The Secret Santa gift exchange was fun and quick! I received a hot pink vintage blazer from H & M as my gift. Don’t think I will be able to pull off rocking this, so Eugene kindly gave me his gift (an Ugly Sweater kit)! I now have a great ugly holiday sweater for my work party today! :)
It was great seeing Stephanie and Nique too! Thank you and Steel Rail Café for hosting a great holiday YEE! Happy Holidays to all!

What a wonderful Unilocal event. Steel Rail has some amazing eats and drinks. They make most of their food/​drinks + ingredients in house. We even got to turn the butter before we sampled it. That Sorrel (a hibiscus drink with ginger beer) was out of this world! And the Melt! — I would never have thought that chicken, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, arugula, and Jerk Aoili on some Texas Toast would taste so good or be so filling.
I can’t believe I never noticed this place before!!! (Side note I was at a plank bday last weekend and still didn’t see it)
Great music and an appearance by Santa topped the night. The owner and staff were so nice and welcoming. I will definitely be back to check this place out again!

Its alright my Brother were in for a Cool Running’s type of night. I was quite excited to be going to this Elite Event after being Waitlisted for months for others .
This is probably my last Elite Event for the year. So I made sure my Ankle Bracelet had a full charge .
I cleared my Calendar Strapped Up and Jumped in to my Whip and rolled to Jack London Square .
This being Oakland my Homeland I had a special place to stash my Whip. I street hiked to Steel Rail Café and saw this wonderful Christmas tree in the Square. Then I saw Steel Rail Café. Its in a wonderful location across from Plank and Lungomare. Our wonderful CM Stephanie and Ms Nique were at the Front Door .
At the Scheduled time they Greeted and Checked us in. They showed us a spot to drop off our Secret Santa Gifts.
The Staff and Principals in Steel Rail Café were very Welcoming and Friendly .
We were Treated to the Steel Rail Caribbean Holiday Menu —
All Spice Infused Specialty Coffee
House Made Sorrel & Ginger Beer
Signature Jerk Spiced Nuts
Roasted Yam With Coconut Milk & Ginger
Melt– Them Belly Full With Plantain Chips, Rotisserie Chicken, Roasted Red Peppers, Caramelized Onions, Pepper Jack Cheese, Arugula, Jerk Aioli, Texas Toast .
Jamaican Style Christmas Cake
And
A Cool Runnings Gingerbread Cookie
All the Offerings were well executed and unique in flavor.
The Décor was pretty original, I really liked the Copper Bar Top !!!
Chef Effy was doing a Demo on Churning Butter from Scratch!!!
Chef Effy was a great sport as Jamaican Claus, He even yet me Have his Cool Runnings Beanie lol.
The Secret Santa Gift exchange was a nice touch. I gifted one of my table mates my Secret Santa Gift. She seemed pretty happy with it.
I really loved the warm Ginger Beer it was so yummy!!!
I really liked the Steel Rail Café offerings and services and will return.
Thanks to Stephanie & Nique & Steel Rail Café for a great Unilocal Event !!!
Thanks Unilocal for an Interesting 2015 Elite Year !!! Hope to do it again in 2016!!!
Happy Holidays y’all Hope to see you in 2016!!!

What. An. Awesome. Event!
I’m so thankful for having the pleasure of attending! (Thanks so much Unilocal as always!)
I can’t believe I haven’t notice this cute little café yet! I’m an Oakland native who live in San Diego for a little over 6 years before moving back to the bay this past February. I’ve been to Jack London Square a handful of times these last few months and I’ve only notice the pasta shop next door, but haven’t seen Steel Rail Café! Silly me. They are relatively new though ~3 months is what I heard.
The small bites we were served were delicious! I loved the «melt» sandwich bite. It was to die for. The chicken was so tender I didn’t realize I was eating chicken. Maybe the jerk butter sauce helped give that effect! The bread was quite tasty. I’m a huge sucker for good bread.
The spiced nuts were a bit salty for my taste buds, yet I kept eating them so they must be good right? Plantain chills were good too! I’m not the biggest fan of plantain chips, but I also kept eating them lol. I think it was because they were perfectly thin and crunchy. I couldn’t help myself I suppose!
The ginger beer was homemade by Steven one of the three founders! He was such a nice guy! I really appreciated how he showed everyone how the jerk butter is made. Then he served up the butter we all helped churned with bread!
I didn’t get the bartender’s name, but he recommended the ginger beer to me hot or cold. I opt for the hot because it was freeeeezing tonight. It was a good decision. So tasty. Lots of ginger taste and not to bitter or spicy. What I thought was nice was that even the bartender got to roam around to say hi and check on all of us.
Effy (hope I got that right), another one of the partners, stopped by to chat with us and talked to us to make sure we were having a good time. I really appreciated all the effort the staff members and management took to make us all feel welcome. I can see them building a wonderful community for everyone!
The rum cake and gingerbread mon were awesome. Not too sweet just the way I like! Yay for the holiday gift at the end. Thank you to whoever got the green Mr. Coffee French press!!! Message me so we can be friendssss!

I love the holidays and this was my first holiday YEE. Jack London was the perfect backdrop with the Christmas tree within throwing distance of Steel Rail that we did not mind braving the chill to sit outside.
Steel Rail is a relative newcomer to the Jack London scene having been open only 3 months. They try to locally source everything within 100 miles and Effie, one of the owners is very passionate about this new venture.
Their menu is ever changing so we got a preview of their Jamaican influenced menu that will be offered until the end of the year. The plantain chips by the bar was crisp and tasty to go with the sorrel ginger beer they were serving hot or cold. Our light bites included roasted yam soup with coconut milk and the melt with chicken, roasted red peppers, arugula and Jerk aioli to give it a kick, on Texas Toast.
Rum cake and gingerbread mon was the sweet ending to my last YEE of the year.
The Christmas gift exchange was fun getting to see each other’s gifts and being pleasantly surprised by what could’ve been an embarrassing gift in that pink box (thankfully not!) or under that appropriately paired Justin Bieber wrapping paper!
Always great seeing Eugene and meeting Wendy and Bridget and looking forward to checking out their brunch menu soon. Happy Holidays indeed!