I'm not a food critic, I'm not paid to go to these places to eat, I have prior biases against some cuisines and toward others. That all said, I hope you enjoy paging through my notes about eating at the various restaurants I've visited since I moved down to the Bay Area. Most of the places are in the Mountain View and Palo Alto areas, but some are further out (usually because I rented a car and drove somewhere).
If you'd like to share your own thoughts about some of these places, please drop me an email: corin+bayarea@the4cs.com. If I've given some place more credit than they deserve, or slighted them because I visited on the chef's evening off, I'd like to know. Thanks!
My favorite burrito place in Mountain View. I've tried La Bamba and wasn't impressed. Burrito Real, though, despite looking a bit too fast-foody from the outside, does a great job with burritos. I'm particularly fond of El Texano, which is a barbecue beef burrito. The place has a nice atmosphere inside, and you get free tortilla chips with your dinner. I'm not a regular at many restaurants, but I seem to visit Burrito Real every Sunday evening.
Last visited: October 2003King of Krung Siam opened in late September 2003 in Mountain View, although the affiliated Krung Siam has been in business on University Avenue in Palo Alto for some time. King of Krung Siam is my current (October 2003) favorite Thai restaurant along Castro. I've tried their chicken See Ew, honey beef, mango chicken, and seen a few other dishes. All very tasty . The honey beef wasn't that exciting -- honey <meat> is just strips of broiled meat with a Thai honey sauce. A nice flavor, but not engaging. The mango chicken offers a rich palette of flavors and is served in the open rind of the mango. Portions at King of Krung Siam are generous, so you shouldn't leave hungry. And, their Thai iced tea is one of better ones I've found so far here in the South Bay.
Overall, King of Krung Siam is my new choice restaurant for Thai in Mountain View. I'm glad they decided to branch out from their Palo Alto home.
Last visited: October 2003My second Thai restaurant on Castro Street. Amarin Thai apparently has two fronts along Castro, next to each other. More confusing, one of them recently moved down one door, or something? Anyway, don't trust any address than I may list for them.
The menu lists their "Thai Muslim Curry" as a favorite among guests, so I tried it with chicken. That plus steamed rice, and the experience is very much like chicken soup, done as a weak curry. Or, sort of a chicken soup / stew mix. Anyway, not at all spicy (despite being a curry), the chicken was good, the potatoes nicely cooked etc. I'm not sure I'd order it a second time, though. When I think of Thai food, I think noodles and coconut milk curries. Chicken soup/stew doesn't usually satisfy my Thai hunger.
Speaking of noodles, though, Amarin's menu does have an odd omission: no wide rice noodles. Perhaps they're not authentic Thai cuisine, but, I've seen Pad Se (See?) Ew and such at many other Thai restaurants. Not at Amarin. (Or, perhaps, just not at this Amarin; the neighboring Amarin Thai 2 might have a different menu 8).)
I re-visited Amarin more recently, at 9:30 on a Friday night. The place was packed but thinned out as it drew near 10. The kitchen closed at 10, so we made it just in time. I tried the honey pork and was not really impressed. It was just like teriyaki pork with a little honey sauce. The pad thai also was uninspiring. Perhaps we were there at a bad time (busy evening and just as the kitchen was closing), but, now that I re-read my earlier review (heh), perhaps there's a trend to be learned.
Last visited: May 2003Perhaps not the first recommendation someone would make for where to eat along University Avenue, especially to someone who hasn't been to Palo Alto in a long time. But China Delight lives up to its name, and doesn't disappoint anyone who's looking for fast Chinese food. I went with a group of seven on a Friday night and had to trouble finding a table (in contrast to our original plan, Left At Albuquerque).
The menu was pretty standard fair for a Szechwan & Mandarin outfit; there are no surprises and nothing obviously missing. The Walnut Prawns were tasty, although Hunan Garden has China Delight beat hands-down. The Green Beans with Garlic Sauce was very good, and the other dishes about average (fried pork, chicken fried rice, and appetizers.
The bottom line: a fine place for quick Chinese, but won't impress anyone.
Last visited: October 2002A friend and I were enjoying a casual stroll along Castro the other night, looking for food, and it seemed like every other restaurant's maitre'd was trying to pull passers-by into their establishments. My friend and I finally gave in at Sue's Indian Cuisine, where we were quickly escorted to a table. Somewhat surprisingly, 30 seconds later, a waiter came by our table to ask us if we were ready to order. I guess we hadn't open our menus yet, so we were unwittingly giving the international waiter's signal of "I'm ready to order." But, it was an amusing sequence of few events: we were quickly pulled into the restaurant, then very quickly quizzed about what we wanted to eat. Fast fast fast!
Given a few more moment's time, we chose the Lamb Vindaloo and Chicken Satay (I think satay -- the one with spinach and such). We opted for ordering a la carte, instead of the entire dinners, because all we wanted was the entrees and some nan. We actually forgot to order rice, which was a mistake -- be sure to ask for rice, as the wait staff won't ask you!
In contrast to the initial seating experience, it seemed to take some bit of time before our food (even our nan) arrived. The vindaloo and satay both lived up to their fame, as being a bit spicy (as I find most Indian food). The chicken meat wasn't quite the same quality that Thai-riffic used, but was okay.
Would I go back to Sue's Indian Cuisine? Perhaps, some day. But, there are several other Indian restaurants along Castro Street, and, for now, I'd rather sample the wider selection before returning here.
Last visited: September 2002Hunan (Chinese) cuisine. I really like this place. I've been there twice, with two very different groups. The patio seating is pleasant, especially in the early evenings, or anytime if you're from Seattle (heh). 'Prawns with honey roasted walnuts' is particularly delectable, as is, of course any of the 'Hunan pork/chiken/shrimp' dishes.
The restaurant is a bit hard to find if you're just cruising along El Camino Real -- it's south of Oregon Expressway / Page Mill Road, just south of the road that leads to Fry's. There's not much parking, but there's some restaurant spaces in the back.
Last visited: September 2002Thai-riffic is the first Thai restaurant along Castro as you walk from Central toward El Camino. Despite their sometimes hole-in-the-wall appearance, I found their yellow curry chicken to be truly thai-riffic. Their Thai iced tea was a bit weaker than I expected, but a nice way to polish off a plate full of curry. And, speaking of curry, I especially appreciated that the chicken used in the curry was white-meat, presumably breast and thigh. I've had "lower-grade" chicken in some restaurant dishes and that's never fun; Thai-riffic did a good job here.
Last visited: July 2003The main street that runs through Saratoga has several eateries scattered along its length, and Village Rendezvous is at the north end. It's mostly cafe food -- sandwiches, burgers, pasta, etc. -- but very good cafe food. Pedro Morin is the head chef and owner, and he happily wandered out and chatted with the handful of guests dining there when I visited in early August. I had my first "California Turkey sandwich" there (I've not seen avocados used on sandwiches outside of California), and it was great. The specialty burgers aren't just hamburger + toppings -- Morin mixes seasonings, spices, peppers, etc., into the meat before cooking. Another very good dish.
The next time I drive through Saratoga, I'm planning to stop and have a bite to eat.
Last visited: September 2003