Favorite Banana Bread Recipe

2-3 bananas
1 cup sour cream
4 Tb butter or margarine
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2-3 Tb flaxseed meal

Optional: chopped nuts or chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Smash bananas in a bowl.  Melt butter and set aside.  Mix all dry ingredients and then add butter, sour cream and eggs.  Mix well. 

Bake in a loaf pan in the oven for 50-55 minutes. 

This is my favorite recipe.  I used a recipe from Allrecipes and modified it to make it a little bit healthier.  I tried to make the banana bread with all whole wheat flour, but it just didn't taste right, and so I gradually lowered the amount of whole wheat flour until it wasn't as noticeable.   It's moist and is so yummy.  Enjoy!

Bonchon

572 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA
(408) 720-8689
http://www.bonchonbayarea.com/

Vitals:
Sunday/Monday: 11:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Tuesday - CLOSED
Wednesday/Thursday - 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Friday/Saturday - 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Visa/Mastercard accepted
Not really kid-friendly for the very young

This is my favorite fried chicken place.  I fell in love with Korean-style fried chicken wings while I was in New York and discovered this place recently, which definitely satisfies any cravings.  You can have a choice of either a soy-garlic sauce or spicy.  I prefer the soy-garlic sauce, but the spicy sauce is pretty good.  I think they make the wings when you order because it can take a while to get your order.  There is a choice to get just wings, a combination of wings and drumsticks or you can get boneless white meat.

The chicken is great - the skin is really crispy and the meat is flavorful and juicy.   When you order a set, you get a choice of sides.  Sides can be coleslaw, kimchi coleslaw, rice or biscuits.  Most of the sides are good, but the kimchi coleslaw, disappointingly, was not made with kimchi.  It looked like regular coleslaw with a bit of spicy sauce (and not that spicy to boot).  Some preserved diakon came with our order.  I generally don't touch this.  It wasn't very good, but it's an acquired taste.

I've only tried a few other things on the menu and they are good (potstickers and tofu/ginger salad).  Go here for the chicken and maybe balance it out with a few other healthier items, like a salad.

Pho Tri Vietnamese Restaurant

Pho Tri Vietnamese Restaurant
1307 Kalakaua Ave
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 953-2279

Good basic pho in a no frills place.  They are a bit skimpy on the bean sprouts and other herbs, which is not surprising considering how these things are not accessible (these items probably have to be imported). 

McDonald's

2476 Kalakaua Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 971-1766

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

Ono Hawaiian Foods

726 Kapahulu Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

(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.

Alley Restaurant Bar and Grill

Alley Restaurant Bar & Grill

Aiea Bowl
99-115 Aiea Heights Dr, Ste 310
Aiea, HI 96701

(808) 486-3499
website

Vitals:
Sunday - Wednesday: 9:00AM - 9:30PM
Thursday - Saturday: 9:00AM - 10:00PM
** Breakfast served 7:00AM - 10:00AM **
kid-friendly


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.

Leonard's Bakery

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).

Cheeseburger in Paradise

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....

Ted's Bakery

59-024 Kamehameha Hwy
Haleiwa, HI 96712
(808) 638-8207
website

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.

Romy's Kahuku Prawns & Shrimp

56-781 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731
(808) 232-2202
website

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.

Boots & Kimos

151 Hekili St
Kailua, HI 96734
(808) 263-7929

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

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.

Curry House

Civic Park Cupertino
10350 S. De Anza Blvd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 517-1440
website


Vitals:
Mon - Thu: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Fri: 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Sat: 11:30 am - 9:30 pm
Sun: 11:30 am - 9:00 pm
kid-friendly
takes credit cards
$$
****

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.

Easy Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

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.

Santouka Ramen

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.

Happy eating!

Pinkberry

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.

Straits (Santana Row)

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.

Favorite Tomato Sauce

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.

That's it. So simple and so good.

Left Bank (Santana Row)

"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.

Village California Bistro & Wine Bar

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.