Vitals: Open 5 days a week from 5:30 am to 12 am kid-friendly credit cards accepted
Sometimes, you just have to eat fast food and eat something that is quick and familiar. We wanted to hit the beach early and didn't want to go searching for a breakfast place so here we were at McDonald's. That said, it was clean, the service was quick and we were able to get in and out in under 10 minutes.
What's neat about this location was that in addition to their usual fare, they also offer more localized food options. Pictured here was the spam, rice and egg combo. It was actually pretty good! When you travel with a toddler sometimes you just have to get a few things and hope and pray they want to eat some of what you've offered. The spam and rice, while not my choice of meat, was a hit with the toddler (hurray!). I had my usual Egg McMuffin.
Ono Hawaiian Foods 726 Kapahulu Ave Honolulu, HI96816 (808) 737-2275
Vitals: M-F: 11 am - 8 pm Cash only small but can be kid-friendly
Talk about a salt overload. I guess I'm not used to that much salt. As long as you don't have high blood pressure and aren't necessarily worried about your cholesterol, this place was pretty good. There wasn't enough space inside and parking was a pain, so we opted to take food out and eat it at the condo. My only other complaint is the lack of veggies, but with that, on to the food.
What did we order? We ordered a combination with lau lau and kalua pig and the Salt Meat Watercress a la carte. The portions are quite generous. My favorite? The Salt Meat Watercress by far. It was basically a soup with a lot of soft and fatty meat with chopped watercress. The broth was amazing - it was salty and it had a certain richness that was nicely complemented by the slight bitterness of the watercress. I'm sure they used a lot of herbs in the broth, but I couldn't quite figure it out, probably a mixture of ginger and some other herbs. In any case, the meat and watercress mixed in with a bit of rice was so fulfilling. It seemed strange to have soup in such a hot place like Hawaii, but it was so good.
The combination plate was also pretty tasty. Even though the meat was rather salty, I just made sure to eat a lot of rice with the meat. There was a small sampling of some other things (like a lomi salmon (not a fan) and haupia (coconut dessert - nice but too small)).
Again, this place was cash only and with the combo plate at around $14.95 and the salt meat watercress at around $10, we were looking at a $30 lunch. Not bad considering we were eating more authentic Hawaiian food that actually tasted good, but still, it was a bit on the pricey side.
We went here because we had heard about the lemon crunch cake. From what we heard, it's a must try. It's out of the way from the regular places, a bit hard to find (and not in a great area), but it was an interesting place to have dinner. Who would have thought about going to a restaurant in a bowling alley? We were not disappointed with the food here. We tried the mixed plate with Furikake Ahi, Alley Fried Noodles and salad (pictured above, around $14) and I tried the oxtail soup ($13.50). The fish was fresh and flavorful, the noodles and salad were typical.
The oxtail soup. It's an interesting dish and quite good but a bit on the salty side. The soup base was a bit heavy on the soy sauce, but it wasn't too overpowering. While there isn't much meat, it is very soft. The condiments it came with was nice, so that I could make it my own. Now on to the dessert. We tried the lemon crunch cake and the pumpkin crunch cake (each, $4.75). The lemon crunch cake had a butterfinger type crunch topping with a whipped cream frosting. I couldn't really taste the lemon, but there was slight hint of it and the cake was was pretty light and not too dense. It was really good, but even better? The pumpkin crunch cake. It had a thick topping of whipped cream, a pecan type crust and a pumpkin pie like filling. It was sweet but not too sweet and decadent. You can't go wrong with either of these choices, but if I had to choose, I'd have to favor the pumpkin crunch cake.
933 Kapahulu Ave Honolulu, HI 96816 (808) 737-5591 website
Vitals: Sun-Thurs: 5:30 am - 9 pm Fri-Sat: 6 am - 10 pm $ ****
On our way to Boots & Kimos, we decided to take a pit stop at Leonards (carbo loading, but loving it!). They just made these Portuguese doughnuts - we ordered the plain sugar and the cinnamon. They were warm, slightly crispy on the outside with a soft, slightly doughy but light and fluffy inside. Service is on the slow side (I was waiting behind a person who just couldn't decide what to order - they do have other pastries there). Awesome doughnuts - super yummy and bigger than I expected. There were pretty cheap too (around $0.8/doughnut, cheaper by the dozen).
2500 Kalakaua Ave # A Honolulu, HI 96815-3683 (808) 923-3731 website
Bleh. They claim to have the "best" burgers, and I have to disagree with their point here. I think watching birds fly freely throughout the restaurant just killed the mood for me (doesn't seem clean to me).
It is one of the more reasonably priced restaurants right across from the beach (not counting McDonald's but rents must be pretty high), but it's still no excuse for mediocre food. The burgers just seemed average. Although the menu says they use 1000 island dressing - it just doesn't work well in a burger. Maybe I'm a bit biased, and I generally compare burger joints with In-N-Out, and this didn't even come close.
I got the standard cheeseburger ($8.95), hubby got the Schrooms & Swiss ($9.95) and we ordered some sweet potato fries ($5.95) and chicken tenders for the kids ($10.95). We barely finished our meal (the bird helped with the crumbs my kids left). It was a bit unsettling to see 3-4 birds feed off of crumbs my kid left under his high chair. I would have rather gone to McDonald's just a block away....
Vitals: Monday-Tuesday: 7 am - 6 pm Wed-Sun: 7 am - 8 pm *** $
Ted's Bakery is famous for its chocolate haupia cream pie (pictured). We stopped by this bakery (it's easy to miss, a small bakery in a blink and you miss it location by Sunset Beach) on our way to Romy's. The bakery isn't a destination in and of itself, but it makes some nice desserts that you can take with you (to the beach, to lunch, to any place really).
Since we were found this place, we got a slice of the chocolate haupia cream pie and a slice of the chocolate macadamia cream pie as well. The whipped cream frosting was light and slightly sweet, the coconut cream and the chocolate cream complemented each other nicely and the crust was slightly flaky, if a bit underdone. I was expecting the coconut layer to be a bit creamier (it had a slightly gel like consistency), but overall, it was good.
We preferred the chocolate macadamia cream pie. The chocolate cream was thick, decadent and had bits of macadamia nuts with the same whipped cream frosting. Either way, you can't go wrong with either of these choices, both were very good.
Vitals: Open everyday from 10:00 am - 6 pm Outdoor seating outhouse facilities can be kid-friendly (for older kids) cash only **** $$
Based on recommendations from locals, we went to Romy's. The highway in the North Shore is dotted with a lot of shrimp trucks. Romy's, I believe, has their own shrimp farm and they harvest their prawns and shrimp daily. You can tell that the prawns are really fresh. We ordered the butter and garlic sauteed prawns with white rice ($12.75, but you can order brown rice for $1 extra). It's not cheap, but the portions are reasonable, and there is a sign at the stand that says "it's not fast food, it's good food", and they are right.
You have to like garlic to order this dish, it was covered with sauteed garlic. We're not the shell eating type, and so we got a bit messy trying to peel the shells (thank goodness there is an outdoor sink with soap), but the prawns with the garlic sauce is outstanding. The prawns were meaty, succulent and fresh. I didn't even need the side soy sauce that came with our plates. We also ordered a Kahuku sweet corn ($3/ear), and we could have skipped it. The corn was dry, small and it wasn't sweet at all. A coke washed it all down and we were happy.
We actually stopped by Ted's bakery to get some of their famous chocolate haupia cream pie on the way to this shrimp truck and it was a nice ending to a good meal (a bit decadent after the meal we just had, but when you're on vacation......) We've been burning through cash on this trip (it seems like most places are cash only), but it was worth the trip.
Vitals: Mon-Fri: 7 am - 2 pm Sat & Sun: 6:30 am - 2:30 pm kid-friendly cash only *****
Try to get here early (we got there by around 7:30 am each time). The mac nut pancakes here are famous and this reputation is definitely earned. The mac nut sauce is amazing, heavenly, scrumptious, and mouth-wateringly delicious. Creamy, slightly nutty, sweet, but not too sweet, with just a touch of salt YUMMMMMM. It's almost like melted ice cream. It was so good that we came back two more times during out trip (it was just that good). You can order pancakes, banana pancakes or french toast with this mac nut sauce (prices were around $8.95). Pictured above is an order of pancakes with mac nut sauce. I ate all of the sauce and dipped each piece of pancake in the sauce. What's great is that the pancakes are also really good - they were fluffy and light (it would be a travesty to have heavy and doughy pancakes with this amazing sauce). The french toast is also pretty good. I've tried the omelettes and the fried rice, and they were just o.k. If you don't get here early and have to wait, it's only worth it if you get the mac nut pancakes. One of the kids likes salty foods, so the side of fried rice was good (if a little peppery).
Note that this is a cash only place. We burned through a lot of cash during our vacation because it seemed like a lot of places were cash only. Breakfast wasn't cheap each time, but it was worth it. I was always a happy camper afterward, ready to bask in the sun at the beach.
Aloha! Vacation time. A time to try to relax and eat and eat and eat! We were in Oahu for a week and stayed at a condo at Waikiki beach.
Whenever I travel, I want to view some sites, relax a bit, try to become a local and taste the local food. I'm stuffed, full of aloha and ready to write about my favorite places to eat and explore.
I knew that I had to go to a few places - North Shore for some shrimp trucks, Kailua for some mac nut pancakes, and surprisingly, a bowling alley for some cake.
This place doesn't have the best tasting food, the service sometimes leaves something to be desired, and the restaurant decor is a bit sterile, but there is something about this place. I just like the curry. It's like comfort food. The curries are satisfying - they taste good, the portions are large and they just make me feel warm and fuzzy afterwards.
Most of the curry dishes come with a choice of a side salad or soup (miso or corn potage). The corn potage is basically creamed corn - it's ok, but not great. I usually opt for the side salad. The salad is a small with some lettuce, green beans, kidney beans, corn and a slice of carrot and the dressing is good but slightly vinegary. My new favorite dish here is the Keema Curry Rice ($11.70). It's a ground beef curry with shimeji mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, garlic, red chili peppers and either a soft boiled or hard boiled egg. With the recent salmonella scare, I got it with a hard boiled egg, and it was still good, but I really missed the soft boiled egg. The soft boiled egg is just so yummy and it's so nice and gooey. There's a nice mix of meat, veggies and sauce.
My other favorite is the Stone Grilled Curry Rice with tonkatsu (above - $15.50). I had been coming for about a year before one of the waiters asked me if I wanted him to mix it for me. What? I didn't know that they did this! I was a bit peeved as no one had ever mentioned it to me before! This is one of the reasons why I think service is a bit spotty here. The other curry dishes just seem a bit skimpy to me. A piece of meat, some sauce and rice? I want some veggies as well! The stone is hot when it comes out, and there is your meat of choice, some veggies and an egg (the egg usually cooks in the stone pot). I usually smush the rice against the side so that the rice gets a bit crispy. The combination of a fried crispy tonkatsu on top of curry rice is so good.
Hubby likes the Chicken and Ginger Curry ($11.60). At least I know one thing about this place, and that is all the curries don't all taste the same (a lot them do though), and this one has a distinct taste. It has a more peppery taste and it is definitely more spicy than the rest.
Spaghettis and gratins are ok here, nothing special. I know it's a curry AND spaghetti house, but it's mainly a curry house, and I'm going to stick with the house specialties.
The kids plates are also pretty good ($4.95 or $5.95). There is a choice of either a spaghetti plate, teriyaki chicken or curry rice plate. They all come with some corn potage, french fries and some cantaloupe. The big bonus is the toy that comes with the the kid's meal.
Afterwards, I like going to Red Mango, which is located in the same complex, but around the corner, for some dessert. A nice complement to a filling and good meal.
Since the tomato season is starting to wind down, I had to make one of my favorite salads.
Sometimes my favorite things to eat are also the simplest. This salad starts with good and fresh ingredients. To make this salad (I chose to cut up the tomatoes and mozzarella, but I could have also sliced them evenly to create a nice presentation), I just picked up a few tomatoes (variety of heirloom tomatoes), some fresh whole milk mozzarella, some basil and some garlic. That's it.
Recipe:
3 heirloom tomatoes a handful of basil leaves 1 tbsp olive oil 1/4 tsp sea salt 1 clove garlic (optional)
Crush and mince up the garlic into very fine pieces. Put in a bowl with the olive oil and let the garlic season the oil. Add basil (I chose to chop it up into fine pieces as well). Chop up the tomatoes and mozzarella and put it on the bowl with the olive oil and garlic. Mix together. Add salt (flavor to taste).
This salad is light, refreshing and full of flavor.
675 Saratoga Avenue (located in the Mitsuwa market) San Jose, CA 95129 (408) 255-6699 website
Vitals: Mon-Sun: 11:30 am - 7:30 pm (or until they run out) Cash only kid-friendly
I've been on a hunt to find really good ramen in the Bay Area. I've tried the ramen at Santa Ramen, Orenchi, and Halu, and they have all been fab, but then I heard about Santouka and had to try it. If you don't mind eating in a cafeteria-like place or a food court, then you're in for a treat. Some friends don't understand my obsession with ramen, they wonder why I would pay around $10 for a bowl of ramen noodles when I can just buy a package of ramen noodles for 25 cents, add a few veggies and some meat and have the same thing. Au contraire, it is SO not the same thing.
Ramen, when done well is so satisfying. I prefer noodles to be slightly chewy, the meat to be tender and fatty, and the broth to be rich and flavorful. Don't come here if you're on a diet though, it's the trifecta of bad - oily, salty and so good, you'll forget about portion control. The atmosphere is a bit sterile, but the focus is on the food.
Pictured here is the Salt Ramen special (with a side plate for the pork and other sides), and the Soya ramen. As you can see, they usually provide a small slice of fishcake (the white thing with a swirl of pink), some green onion, some pork, bamboo shoots and some cloud ear fungus (black fungus). While the regular bowls of ramen are skimpy on the meat (although you can order extra meat), it is a highly satisfying meal. What's good about this place, is that right before you order, they have a window display that, in typical Japanese style, has replicas of what your food will look like.
The salt ramen, while slightly salty is surprisingly not too salty. The broth has a milky consistency (maybe from adding egg to the broth), and is rich and very flavorful; the ramen noodles were soft, but not too soft, and slightly chewy; and the meat was tender and fatty. My kids love the ramen here (again a sign of good food) and eat up most of my noodles and meat.
The soya ramen seems saltier and has, of course, a taste of soy sauce. It's still good, but my favorite is still the salt ramen.
We've occasionally ordered the meal which comes with a bowl of rice (we choose the one with stewed pork and green onion, haven't tried with one with salmon roe) and a boiled soy egg. The meat is flavorful, but it's a bit of a disappointment. I'd rather just stick with a bowl of ramen.
368 Santana Row #102 (middle section) San Jose, California 95128 (408) 557-8883 website
Vitals: Sun-Thurs: 11 am - 11 pm Fri-Sat: 11 am - 12 am kid-friendly ***
It's a bit chaotic ordering froyo here. There are generally only a few flavors at a time and the toppings are limited. I feel rushed to order because there is generally a long line after me, and whenever I want to try a flavor, I have to ask someone behind the counter to give me a sample, and then I feel guilty if I want to try several flavors. When I first tried the froyo at Pinkberry, I wasn't impressed - the froyo was just too tart and didn't have that much flavor, but I think that I've gotten used to it after a few tries. It's not my favorite place to get froyo (I prefer Red Mango and for certain flavors Tutti Fruitti), but if I'm at Santana Row and I want froyo after dinner/lunch, then it's off to Pinkberry I go.
My favorite flavor is watermelon and after that, the plain will do just fine (green tea is ok too). Before, they used to charge for a certain number of toppings, but now, you can get unlimited number of toppings *yay*. Most of the time though, I don't need to get toppings.
Whenever I do get toppings, I usually get some fruit and mochi (the mochi here are soft and slightly chewy (I hate hard mochis)). It can get kindof pricey (a bit overpriced in my opinion) an, but sometimes, you just need to give yourself a little treat. It's a feel good treat, it's a dessert that is somewhat good for you.
333 Santana Row San Jose, California 95128 (408) 246-6320 website
Vitals: Sun-Tues: 11 am - 10 pm Tues-Sat: 11 am - midnight not particularly kid-friendly accept credit cards ***
This is the place to go if you want to mix, mingle and people watch (hence, not a particular good place if you want to bring the kiddies). It was recently expanded and it is crowded most days. As for the food - if you want good Singaporean food, some of its dishes are actually pretty good, but the prices are rather outrageous considering the small portions (no real value here).
I actually prefer its prior location in Palo Alto (I believe it's been closed). The atmosphere was quieter, I had a chance to enjoy my meal at a reasonable pace and I was able to converse with my friends. At Santana Row, the noise can be deafening.
Singaporean food melds a lot of different flavors likely because it is at the cusp of different regions. Indians, Chinese, Indonesians, Malaysians and other people of Asian descent make up most of the population and that likely had an influence on the food. When I look at the menu at Straits, I see different dishes spiced up with different herbs and spices, especially curry. It's very similar to Malaysian food, and there is a liberal use of shrimp paste, curry and soy sauce to add flavor to dishes. The flavors can be rather powerful.
Favorites here include the Roti Prata (Indian flatbread with yellow curry dipping sauce $7), Singapore Satay Sticks ($9), Origami Seabass ($24) and garlic noodles ($10). The Origami Seabass is particularly good - it is artfully presented in a parchment paper basket and the fish is so tender and flavorful (but again, the portions are rather tiny considering the price).
If you're in the mood for Singaporean place, I guess this is the place to go (don't know many other Singaporean places), but if I wanted good food at a good price, then I'd probably pass. The food can be good, but there isn't much value here as the prices are just too high. If, however, I wanted to people watch, then this is probably the best place to hang out, get a drink and just people watch to my heart's content.
Sometimes, my favorite dishes are the easiest to make and consist of a few simple ingredients.
I love Summer. There's an abundance of fruits and vegetables - especially stone fruits like peaches, nectarines and the like and heirloom tomatoes.
I first discovered heirloom tomatoes at my local farmer's market, and today, there was an abundance of heirloom tomatoes at my favorite stand, the Happy Boy Farm. It was like tomato porn. The tomatoes looked amazing and I couldn't wait to get them into my kitchen and start making my favorite tomato sauce.
I picked up about 3 lbs. of tomatoes (I try to use the brandywine tomatoes), a bunch of organic basil and some small purple garlic.
Ingredients for Tomato Sauce:
3 lbs. heirloom tomatoes 1 bunch organic basil 4-6 cloves garlic 1-2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt (or salt to taste)
First, I put the olive oil in a pan and saute the garlic for 1-2 minutes. Next, I add in the tomatoes and then let the tomatoes simmer (medium heat) for about 30-45 minutes. I add in the basil and salt and then let the sauce simmer some more.
"Authentic French Brasserie" multiple locations in Menlo Park, San Jose and Larkspur
377 Santana Row Suite 1100 San Jose, CA 95128 (408) 984-3500 website
Vitals: Tuesday-Friday 11:30AM to 11PM Saturday 11AM to 11PM Sunday 10:30AM to 10PM Monday 11:30AM to 10PM Brunch is served Sat & Sun from opening until 2:30PM Business-casual, but can be kid-friendly accepts credit cards ***
Met up with a friend for brunch. It was a nice day so we sat outside and chatted a bit before we ordered.
Since I like calamari ($10.75), I suggested it as a starter. The calamari was done well - the breading was crunchy and not too oily and the squid was soft and tender. It laid on a bed of fried onions, which was a nice touch and the mustard dipping sauce was quite good.
Since this was a "French" place, I knew that I would have to try the quiche ($14.50). My friend ordered the eggs benedict (it was "Parisien" style with Parisian ham, not sure if it was any different than regular ham though - $10.75).
The quiche was made with crab meat, mushrooms, spinach and emmenthal cheese. It was just ok. The crust, which should have been flaky, soft and buttery, was hard and tasteless almost. The crab meat was overpowered, it didn't taste like any crab was in the quiche (I could tell by texture that crab was present, but couldn't taste any of it). The flavors were rather bland I have to say. The salad had a vinegary dressing that would have been a good complement to a rich quiche. The portion was adequate. So far, my favorite place to get quiche is at Twist Cafe in Campbell, and this didn't even compete.
As for my friend's eggs benedict, I can't say anything because I didn't get to try it. Maybe next time.
As for Left Bank generally, I think that it's a good place to go if you want french casual food that is simply and well prepared, but I do find it to be rather expensive. I've gone on other occasions and have enjoyed the roasted chicken, the bouillabaisse (good but the portion was rather small for the price - $24.75) and the duck breast (fabulous but expensive at $21.25), but I don't know if I'd go out of my way to eat here, unless I was specifically in the mood for some French food and was willing to shell out some serious cash.
378 Santana Row San Jose, CA 95128 (408) 248-9091 website
Vitals: Lunch M-F: 10am - 3:30 pm Dinner: from 5 pm Brunch Sat & Sun: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm Semi-formal, but can be child friendly
We went here for dinner before catching a movie (date night!). Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to try the 3 course dinner (which is $27 for a salad or soup, entree and a dessert), so we just opted for an appetizer to share, dinner entrees and no dessert.
Santana Row is the go-to place for people watching, a lot of good (but crowded and somewhat overpriced restaurants) and shopping in San Jose. Because of the high concentration of a lot of amenities, a lot of people flock here and it's pretty hard to find parking (unless you go during a weekday/weeknight). I like strolling around the Row, go window shopping and find a place to eat. If one place is crowded, then there's always another restaurant down the street. Luckily, since it was a weeknight, we were able to sit at an outside table. It's almost a casual semi-formal type place. There are white table cloths on the tables, the dishes are presented well and it's a bit pricey.
We opted to try the calamari with garlic aioli ($9). It was not a good start to the meal. We were give a generous portion, but the breading was very oily and the calamari was chewy and overcooked. The garlic aioli sauce was flavorless.
I tried the fennel dusted scallops ($27). The scallops were fresh and done well. Not overdone and not too underdone either (it seems as though many places serve scallops rather raw). The flavor was good, I liked the vegetables that came with it (heirloom tomatoes, some summer squash) and the portion was pretty generous. I guess I wasn't really in the mood for scallops because when I saw my hubby's dish, I knew that I had to switch.
His "pan seared local sole" ($19) was fabulous. It was fresh, flaky and had a fabulous rich flavor (lemon butter caper sauce) that didn't overpower the fish. The vegetables were a nice complement and the potato puree just added a bit of weight that helped fill me up. We've been to Yankee Pier (next door) a few times, and it's sad when a restaurant like Village makes better seafood than one that supposed to specialize in seafood.
I don't know if I would go out of my way to go here again, but I'd definitely give it another try.
Vitals: mon-thur 10am-9pm fri & sat 10am-10:30pm sun 10am-7pm accepts credit cards
Cupcakes that look good AND taste good. While the cupcakes seem a bit overpriced for what you get ($3.25 for regular cupcake and they have minis that are less), they are worth it. I also like that they source from local vendors and try to use organic when possible (makes me feel good about supporting this business). Whenever I eat at Santana Row, for dessert I either head to Pinkberry or to Kara's cupcakes.
The cake part is moist and full of flavor and the frosting is always light, airy but not too sweet. I've been disappointed in some cupcakes where the cake was too hard, dense or dry and the frosting on top was too heavy, not so with these cupcakes. Favorites include the meyer lemon, fleur de sel (salted chocolate cupcake), and the coconut. Cupcakes may be a fad, but I hope this one lasts a bit longer.
Definitely try this place, the cupcakes are fabulous!!!!
3055 Olin Avenue San Jose, CA 95128 (408) 247-9120 http://www.plutosfreshfood.com/
Vitals: Monday-Saturday: 11 am - 10 pm Sunday: 11 am - 9 pm kid-friendly credit cards accepted ***
This is a casual dining spot that has good food at a reasonable price. I have to say that I was a bit confused when I first started going here. I didn't know how to go about to order food, but just kind of follow other people's leads. I particularly like the salads here - there's an amazing array of choices and I get to choose at least seven items. The portions can depend, some servers are more generous than others, but generally, the salads are filling. I particularly like the grilled chicken or tri-tip beef on my salad, just for a bit of protein.
The sandwiches are pretty good too. I generally go with the herb foccacia (although the rustic ciabatta is pretty good too). The portions are quite large and you can't really go wrong with any of the choices.
The kids menu is pretty extensive for a small place. I like the fact that they have a range of choices and include some healthy options. I get a bit annoyed when a restaurant only has deep fried options, like chicken fingers with fries or pasta with butter. For only $3.75, I can go with the combo meal and get a main dish, a side dish, a drink, and a krispies treat. Not bad. For the main meal, I can choose between grilled cheese, turkey or peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches to mac & cheese, grilled chopped chicken breast or tri-tip steak. The side dish can be fries, spuds, string cheese, greens or fruits, and the drink can be milk, juice or soft drink.
We went here early on a Sunday night. It wasn't crowded and the restaurant was quite empty inside (although many tables outside were occupied). The service here is quite nice (I did a quick review of the Yelp reviews and many reviewers complained about the lousy service, which didn't apply to us). If you want seafood (American style), then this place has something that will likely appeal to you.
The menu is quite extensive with a lot of offerings from raw oysters, seafood pastas to non-seafood options like steak, burgers and chicken. Whenever I go here, I always opt for the lobster roll ($19.50). Maybe it's because eating here reminds me of my trip to Maine and how I fell in love with eating lobster rolls. You can have your lobster roll hot or cold. The cold version is basically like lobster salad, cold pieces of lobster with mayonnaise and some celery (kinda like a egg salad) and the hot version is served warm with butter and shallots. My preference is the hot lobster roll. It was so decadent. The roll itself was like a huge slice of buttered bread folded in two, but it was nice and toasted. Inside, there is a fair amount of buttered lobster (there can never be enough), mixed in with some veggies. It was delicious. The lobster roll was served with some chips and coleslaw. I've never been a fan of coleslaw but it added the right counterpoint to the rich lobster roll.
We also tried the market fish with two sides. We were given a choice of different fish (such as sea bass and red snapper), preparations (grilled, baked or pan fried) and sauces (such as plain, lemon caper with butter). The Californian sea bass in a butter lemon caper sauce was also quite good. The portion, while it seemed small at first, was adequate. Sometimes it's hard to dress up a fish, but it was very fresh and the sauce had a delicate flavor that didn't overpower the taste of the fish. I also liked that this restaurant is a part of "Seafood Watch", which is led by the Monterey Bay Aquarium which promotes sustainability practices for seafood. It made me feel better about eating here.
The sides. We had ordered some vegetables and the macaroni and cheese. The vegetable portion was TINY! It was still good, but the small mound of vegetables was pathetic. The mac and cheese, however, was awesome. It was made with cheddar cheese and butter with some breadcrumbs on top. It was flavorful, rich and not too cheesy. Perfect.
Next time, if I can muster up the strength, I'll have to forego the lobster roll and try something else. Or, maybe get my hubby to order something else and try his food.
We were able to get a $25 gift certificate from Restaurant.com for $2 (it's usually $10, but we were able to use an 80% off coupon). What's nice about this certificate is that the minimum was quite low, only $35 (although an automatic gratuity of 18% applies). Although our order exceeded $35, using the certificate enabled us to try a few new things and we didn't feel constrained to order the cheapest dishes on the menu.
377 Santana Row San Jose, CA 95128 Phone 408.260.7082 website
Vitals: Open daily for lunch generally from 11:30-3 Open daily for dinner Sun-Thurs from 3-9, Friday and Saturday 3-11 Credit Cards accepted not really kid-friendly
This is list a tapas version or fancy version of Mexican food or "Mexican cuisine". The decor on the inside is very dark, with dark wood and dark iron chandeliers that hang from the high ceiling, it makes me think that they are trying to recreate the old style restaurants from the late 1800s.
First, the service is terrible here. I was here on a weekday evening and it was surprisingly full of patrons, but sadly, it seemed understaffed as I only saw like 2 waiters for the entire restaurant. Our waiter hurriedly put down our dishes and seemed to dash to the next patron, and didn't even bother to ask if we needed anything (um, the small bread plates are too small, we need larger ones to eat our food, please). We literally had to get up from our table and walk to a waiter to ask for larger plates and to take away the stone that held the guacamole. It took them a while to even ask how we were doing and fill up our glasses of water.
But on to the food. The guacamole is a definite must. They make it fresh and to your liking. The waiter comes with a tray with different ingredients and you can specify how spicy you want it, and whether you want tomatoes, onion, cilantro and lime. With the handmade tortillas, it's such a simple treat that is so yummy.
Appetizers are good but portions are tiny. The cerviche de pescado was good, but it came in a small martini glass. I guess it's artful and presentation was unique, but it make for a skimpy offering.
I've tried most of the entrees or "Especialidades". Favorites include the "Pechuga rellena de guitlacoche" or chicken breast stuff with a mixture of different vegetables and the standard carnitas. I'm a pretty simple gal and most dishes that impress are pretty simple.
If you want to get a side, definitely get the "Arroz blanco con platanos fritos" or while rice with fried plantains. You have to like plantains, but they were soft, sweet and hearty. An interesting side was the "Torta de elote" or savory corn bread with a savory sauce.
As for the kids, the kid menu is very limited. It only had like 4 options. Of course, they had the standard quesadilla with cheese and a rice with beans dish, but I wish it had more choices.
This a pretty pricey place to eat, but I was able to use a coupon to Restaurant.com. Generally for $10 you can get a $25 coupon. Sometimes there are specials and you can get the coupons for up to 80% off. Whenever I use a coupon, there are always a few restrictions (ie, I had to order at least $45 worth of food and they add an automatic gratuity of around 18%), but it definitely saves me a lot. It's great, it enables me to go to restaurants that I otherwise would pass up.
So, if you're in the mood for Mexican and want to try more classical dishes in a nice setting, Consuelo is a good bet. It may be a date place (depending on whether you need to go somewhere) since the service is so slow, you'll be able to linger a long time at your meal and chat with your date.
There's an amazing array of choices and combinations. It's truly a custom burger your way. You choose your meat (beef, chicken, turkey, veggie or market selection), cheese (ranging from blue cheese to classic American), up to 4 toppings and even your bun.
Hubby had a regular 1/3 lb. burger with grilled onions, mushrooms and swiss cheese and I had a turkey burger with grilled onions, roasted red peppers, tomatoes and cheddar cheese.
Maybe I went on an off day, but I was just not impressed with the beef burgers at Counter. The meat was just not that fresh and it just ruined it for me. In some ways, if you just want a traditional burger, maybe Inn-N-Out would do, as these burgers are expensive; however, if you want a customized burger with different unique toppings, then this place is probably a good place to go. Even though the burger was just OK, the turkey burger was good though.
I have to say, the burgers are big! They do pile on the toppings and it's almost impossible to eat, but somehow I found a way.
We also ordered the "Fifty-Fifty", where you get to try two different starters. The choices were fries and sweet potato fries, fries and onion strings or sweet potato fries and onion strings. We chose to try to sweet potato fries and fries. The sweet potato fries were great - crispy with a hint on sweetness. The regular fries were fine, nothing special.
This is a pretty kid-friendly place. The kid menu, while not as extensive as the adult menu, was adequate. We also ordered the grilled cheese with french fries and my kid was satisfied. I liked how we could choose to order apple sauce instead of french fries.
I'd come back again for the sweet potato fries and maybe give the burgers another chance. It's right by a playground, so if I were out with the family and wanted an easy place to grab some food and let my little one play a bit, this would be a good bet.
Vitals: Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. kid friendly credit cards accepted
I know, it's been a while, but I've been busy! This is by far my favorite place to eat on Santana Row. If you like thin crust pizza (it's really thin) then this is the place to go. I haven't been disappointed in anything that I've ordered here.
The appetizers and salads are very good. They use seasonal ingredients and the menu changes constantly. I like to start off with the bruschetta ($10.50) or a chopped salad ($9.25).
Now on to the pizza. You can always choose what you want on your pizza, but they have some pretty inventive combinations. We always get a large pizza (from $15.25-$17). My favorite is an oldy but goody, which is margharita pizza (tomato sauce, housemade mozzarella and fresh basil) but when I'm in the mood for some meat, the fennel sausage pizza with portobello mushrooms and roasted onion is also really good. I've also tried the three cheese, shaved broccoli and pancette, which is pretty good.
The portions are on the small side (or maybe I'm just a big eater), but with a little effort my husband and I can polish off a large pizza. Now that we have a small child, we have to contend with sharing. Maybe it's because the pizza has such a thin crust and the toppings are somewhat on the skimpy side, but it doesn't matter because the pizza is just delicious. Everything just has an amazing flavor, even the crust.
The children's menu is pretty limited, with a couple of pasta dishes with a choice of sauce, or a small pizza (generally around $5). Pretty basic but pretty good.
Pasta is also pretty good here. I've tried the basic Spaghettini with Tomato Conserva, Garlic and Basil ($8.95) and it was rich and flavorful. My toddler couldn't inhale enough of it. I think babies are the ultimate critics, if they like it, it's really good and if they don't, they just spit it out.
The wait can get long so go shopping while you're waiting or go early/late.
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