No pictures available – sorry. It was a last minute decision to give this a try. Charming restaurant located on Alameda de Las Pulgas in Menlo Park where each section is like a room in a house. Very fresh ingredients and their short rib was absolutely amazing. Definitely worth trying!
Archive for the ‘Peninsula’ Category
Charming Flea Street Cafe in Menlo Park
Posted in Peninsula, Uncategorized on August 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Kaygetsu in Palo Alto was absolutely delicious!
Posted in Peninsula, Uncategorized on June 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Kaygetsu is located in a strip mall on Sand Hill in Palo Alto near 280 which is surprising as I wouldn’t normally expect a great restaurant in such locations. It is unpretentious located and the decor is very simple, but the Kaiseki style is anything but. Kaiseki has its origin in tea ceremony, but has evolved in the 19th century as restaurants in Japan began to serve this sytle in a less formal way. According to Kaygetsu, it “is designed to delight the mind and the spirit as well as to satisfy the appetite”.
Here’s the 9 course menu:
Sakizuke (starter): red-bell pepper “tofu” with sea urchin, avocado, chive, dashi sauce and wasabi.
Sashimi: we had Alaskan wild salmon and other fresh daily assortments.
Takiawase (slow-cooked dish): shrimp, jpaanese eggplant, snow peas, sato imo potato cooked in clear fish broth with bonito flakdes and rated ginger and kinome.
Hassun (assortment of flavors): soft-shell crab with spaghetti squash, anago (sea eel) roll with burdock, cucumber with kinzanji miso sauce, lotus root stuffed with mustard, seasonal fish, miso marianted and grilled seared kampachi (amberjack) sushi
Agemono (deep fried fish): bamboo shoot and kobe beef (American), yuba (tofu ski), hajikami giner, shiso leaf
Yakimono (grilled dish): organic petaluma chicken roll with minced fish, corn and carrot, endive and orange salade, truffle oil dressing
Gohan mono (rice dish): rick cooked with vegetables, dark red miso soup, house picked vegetables
House-made original desserts: black sesame kudzu mochi, green tea/banana roll cake
Shokolaat is chocolaticious!
Posted in Peninsula on April 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »
My friend has recommended Shokolaat to me for awhile and I’ve driven past it on so many occasions while dining in Palo Alto. Finally, I was able to convince Alvin that we should go try it. It was a good decision. The restaurant has a big outdoor seating in the front but we opted to sit inside to stay warm. When you walk in, you’re faced with a bakery-like counter full of chocolate sweets and desserts. What a sight! We were seated in a corner table with a good view of the restaurant and open kitchen. I like the simple and nice contemporary decor. The menu looks delicious and I settled for the braised ribs while Alvin opted for their flank steak; hopefully leaving room for dessert. Both were tender and juicy. “We found a new place in Palo Alto”, we both exclaimed. For dessert, you can simply walk over the dessert counter and scout the endless plates of cakes and tarts and chocolates. I salivated over this crispy dark chocolate thingy while Alvin went for the hazelnut chocolate mousse. We’re told they’re famous for their chocolate souffles though so we’ll have to try that in the future. We’re super excited to now have another place to dine on a casual evening other than La Strada. Their restaurant menu is more comprehensive than online, but it gives you a good idea the type of food they prepare!
http://www.shokolaat.com/ on University Avenue in Palo Alto, CA
Bistro Elan is still one of my favorite.
Posted in Peninsula on February 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Hidden in between tree plants is the narrow entrance into this charming French restaurant on California Avenue in Palo Alto. With an open kitchen, the restaurant is bustled with customers and waiters. We haven’t been back for over 9 months which is a really long time considering we used to go there at least once every two months. When you are seated, they always bring a very small plate of exactly one per person serving of cheese biscuit (yum!), salami and olives to start the evening. Bistro Elan always have fresh produce. Selections on their menu change relatively frequent, but there is always a few of our favorite entrees that thankfully, remains constant. Their steak is always perfectly textured. They used to offer skirt steak which I love, but they’ve stayed with either the hanger or flatiron steak for the past couple of years. They also have one of the best fries! Their appetizers and desserts are really good, but we’ve learned that ordering both is too much for us, so we would skip appetizers, sadly and save our tummy for desserts. This time, I ordered the chocolate souffle and sadly, was the least favorite of the many desserts I’ve had at Bistro Elan. Their coffee is always good and the service is always pleasant. Love this place…always good food.
I highly recommend making reservations for normal dining hours. Otherwise, expect to eat after 8 p.m.
Evvia in Palo Alto was basically good.
Posted in Peninsula on January 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
After finding out that Evvia restaurant in Palo Alto was the sister restaurant of Kokkari in San Francisco, I decided to finally give it a try with my best friend Jovis. As you walk into the restaurant, the hot stone oven on the left side of the restaurant breathes warm air that immediately made me feel all warm and fuzzy. The rustic decor is very charming. Classic Mediterranean cuisine, the menu was neither unique nor different. I ordered the roasted chicken and Jovis ordered the lamb chops. My roasted chicken was one of the most tasty chicken I’ve had in a restaurant…not quite as good as range, but still noteworthy. The citrus juice and the fried potatoes enhanced the classic roast chicken dish. It wasn’t anything special, but it was comfort food and that suited me just fine on a cold January night. The waiter suggested a white wine from Santorini and I wished I had remembered the name and/or the varietal, because it had the perfect blend of floral and mineral. It was beautiful and easy to drink on its own or with the roasted chicken. Evvia is a pleasant place for comfort and classic Mediterranean food.420 Emerson St
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 326-0983
The Village Pub in Woodside
Posted in Peninsula on January 28, 2009| 2 Comments »
The Village Pub is hidden behind an office building along a small row of charming buildings in the mountains of Woodside west of 280 Highway. A small sign hangs outside of Coldwell Banker and if you drive too fast, you might just miss it. As you walk through this narrow alleyway, it opens up to a parking lot where to the right is the restaurant. If you thought it was a “pub”, you’d be disappointed. It’s a really nice, classically elegant French inspired restaurant. What I love the most are these oval tables that sit parties of 4 or 6. There were six of us, our newlywed couple, Emily and Danny and our mutual and ultra talented floral designer, Nancy and her husband Kevin. I’ve read great things about this restaurant and was looking forward to trying it. They have a classic dinner menu and a bar menu. Our adventurous friends, Nancy and Kevin both ordered off the bar menu: crispy duck confit and steak and frites. The duck confit smelled and tasted so good as Nancy was kind enough to share a piece with me. We ordered extra pomme frites and it was so yummy, comparable to Bistro Elan which I’ll blog about next time we go back again. I ordered Moroccan quail and while the quail was tasty, especially with the Moroccan spread, I’m not a big fan of the cous cous. Alvin ordered potato encrusted seabass. He thought it was good, but uneventful. Emily ordered duck breast dish and Danny ordered bacon-wrapped trout. The best was saved for last as I ordered a chocolate souffle. It was divine! That dessert alone is worth going back again. The only downside to what would otherwise have been perfect was that our waiter made me feel like he was rushing us through dessert. When I ordered the chocolate souffle about 5 minutes after our friends did, he blatantly pointed out that it would take another 20 minutes, which I ordered anyways because we weren’t in a hurry. And as I was still holding onto the dessert menu in my hands while talking to Nancy, he yanked the menu out of my hands. I didn’t appreciate that. The service was, for the most part cordial, but nothing special. Considering the little choices of fine dining in that area, I supposed The Village Pub is worth going again for special occasions.
The Village Pub
2967 Woodside Road
Woodside, CA 94062
(650) 851-9888
Pasta Moon in Half Moon Bay is yummy.
Posted in Peninsula on January 28, 2009| Leave a Comment »
My husband and I go to Pasta Moon restaurant on Main Street in Half Moon Bay probably at least twice a month. It’s not a short drive and we usually go on weekdays to avoid the long lines on weekends, so going after work is quite a trip, but so worth it. It’s a charming restaurant on a charming street in the quaint Half Moon Bay. The service is always friendly and attentive and the food is quite authentic. They are known for their lasagne which I think it’s big enough to feed four people. My husband loves it as do another friend of ours. But me, I go for the linguine with claims except I ask for the fettuccini instead. Their pasta, I believe, is “homemade”…it is just the right texture, perfect chewiness. The sauce is the perfect blend of fresh herbs and clam sauce with a hint of spice. And to top it off, they add small chunks of pancetta, Italian bacon which I think adds the perfect final touch to this yummy dish. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back soon! Their wines are reasonably priced and their other entrees such as the tuna pasta are very good as well. We love their sorbetto trio to end the perfect dinner, but they recently discontinued that dish. It’s worth the drive…it will be a very pleasant experience. Just remember to make reservations and be prepared to still wait 15-30 minutes on a weekend even with reservations. Let me know what you think!
Bay Area Food Snob 