mdg's Profile
Great place to eat in Eden Prairie
I finally made it up to Hopkins to try Curry 'N' Noodles and had a fine meal with their goat banjara and basmati rice. Their wine list is also the best selected I've seen of the local suburban Indian places - the Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc / Viognier was a winner, and there were several more good-sounding choices. I'll have to go back and try the biryani!
Michael
Eden Prairie - Edina Update
There's good Indian food in both Eden Prairie and Edina - India Spice House and Biryani, respectively. Biryani has a Bangladesh-style green masala that is outstanding. I've had good luck with the goat dishes at India Spice House. Eden Prairie also has good Korean food at Kabuki Sushi (never tried the sushi or Japanese part of the menu) - the kimchee chigae is my favorite there so far. There's also pretty good barbecue at Baker's Ribs, in addition to the aforementioned Punch and Campiello.
Michael
Frankfurt
I forgot to report back, but now that somebody else is reading this thread...
I definitely enjoyed our meal at Zum Schwarzer Stern; I had a really nice venison dish there. The international dishes make it more attractive to a wider range of business colleagues. Zur schönen Müllerin was as delicious as always, and this time I finally had the apple ring dessert. We also had a fine meal at K&K, a small Austrian place in the West End.
I keep meaning to try Klosterhof but haven't gotten there yet. Vinum and Salzkammer look promising too. Maybe next time!
Michael
Just moved to Mountain View from New York. Help an east coast hound find his new favorite haunts!
Madras Cafe is my favorite for regular dosas, while Madura in Sunnyvale is my favorite for rava dosas. Saravana Bhavan and Chaat Paradise are two other fine vegetarian places. Peacock is one of the better all-around vegetarian / non-vegetarian Indian restaurants in Mountain View. Artisan / The Menu does a fine job in the more expensive range, focusing more on sourcing of ingredients than the less expensive places do. Hyderabad House in downtown Palo Alto has amazing achari dishes. And these are just a few highlights of Indian food near Mountain View. Please keep the reports coming!
Michael
Venezuelan Food
There are Venezuelan arepas and other cuisine at Mi Rancho in Sunnyvale, in the Smart and Final shopping center on the corner of Fremont and Mary. Since you're in Mountain View that will be way closer than East Bay! I'm no expert on Venezuelan food but I find it very tasty. If you try it please report back!
http://mirancho.ws/
Michael
Lers Ros worth a trip for a neyorker who lives next to SriPraPhai?
And if you're going to Disneyland, there's really awesome Thai just a few miles away, also better than Lers Ros. I'm still a Lers Ros fan and eat frequently at the Hayes Valley location, but it's not a highlight for people coming from places with great Thai food.
Michael
tall order from my Japanese client: "typical" san francisco seafood restaurant, not terribly inconvenient from SFO, maybe Pacifica?
Thanks for reporting back! I'm including a link for those like me to whom Skool is a new place: http://skoolsf.com.
Michael
La Ciccia
Great report! But every time I've been there they do offer the sheet music bread separately. I've only had it once and it was super, but have always seen it go by to other tables. It's been a year or so since my last visit, though - time to fix that.
Michael
Lers Ros - Yum
I think the quality is as good at both branches, though I have a way bigger sample size at Hayes Valley. Their best things are definitely the more authentic and unusual dishes. And though it's far and away the best I've had in the San Francisco Bay Area - and very good in its own right - neither branch has ever struck me as being as good as at least one great place in Orange County.
And for those who say a place isn't any good because one particular dish isn't good, you're kind of missing the essence of Chowhound - to sniff out and find the great dishes, the specialties, not some generic overview of a restaurant. As the great restaurant critic Robert Nadeau wrote, there are no great restaurants, only great dishes. That's perhaps a little extreme, but a useful attitude to bring to Chowhound.
Michael
tall order from my Japanese client: "typical" san francisco seafood restaurant, not terribly inconvenient from SFO, maybe Pacifica?
Yankee Pier is past security, so it could work for the visitor but not for the local.
My choice would be Anchor and Hope (http://anchorandhopesf.com/). It's in SOMA so it's more convenient to the airport than the neighborhoods you mention. It's definitely non-stuffy and casual, and they serve a mix of local and east coast fish and seafood.
Michael
good italian in Sunnyvale/ Mountain View area
You don't have to go as far north as Redwood City, but I do think you have to go as far north as Palo Alto. Vero in downtown Palo Alto is excellent with great authentic Italian tastes, and Cafe Renzo (also downtown Palo Alto) is also quite good.
Nothing else further south that I've tried tastes anything like Italy to me. Your odds a finding good Italian food at a random Italian restaurant in Sunnyvale or Mountain View are exceedingly remote.
http://www.veroristorante.com/
http://www.caferenzo.com/
Michael
Thai / Korean in or near Mountain View?
Thai Spoons is in Sunnyvale on El Camino just east of Mary, so it's not that close to Castro. It's not a destination - nothing Thai in South Bay is - but the best one that's close to me.
Michael
Thai / Korean in or near Mountain View?
Indeed, there's no Thai restaurant down here remotely as good as Lers Ros in San Francisco. Tommy Thai's looks a lot like Thaibodia in San Jose, which was not good. But it's nearby so I might give it a try anyway.
The best I've found in the area is Thai Spoons in Sunnyvale (http://thaispoons.com). The pad kee mao is especially good there. It's a small strip mall storefront with no alcohol, but it's tasty.
There's a new Sudam Korean restaurant in Los Altos, which is closer to Mountain View than the alternatives listed, but I haven't tried it yet. Santa Clara is definitely the hotbed for Korean food in this area.
Michael
Little Star Pizza, SF now has a South Bay Campbell location called Blue Line Pizza!
Oh goodness, how could I forget Howie's? Yes, make that at least four fine pizza places in Silicon Valley!
The tasteless crust is what I despised about Patxi's; sounds like it hasn't changed.
Michael
NY hound visiting San Francisco. Must Try Foods?
Well now that I've been to Blue Line, I want to revisit this. First, thanks for the recommendation of Little Star. I've never been so I'm going to operate under the assumption that Little Star and Blue Line are pretty similar in quality given the common parentage in the partnerships. Blue Line's deep dish is indeed better than anything we had in Chicago in that style.
But I think the characterization of the crust in comparison with Detroit style is inaccurate. It had been a couple years since I had Chicago-style pizza, so I wanted to double check first, but the crust thickness is very similar to Detroit style. Chicago has a deeper dish than Detroit, so the fillings may indeed be thicker than in Detroit. But the overall flavor and texture sensation of Detroit pizza is far closer to Chicago deep-dish pizza than any "Sicilian" slice I've had in SF or New York (never been to Sicily, alas). Detroit style square pizza is nowhere near as bready as that.
Anyone want to subsidize Robert and me to do a definitive compare and contrast analysis of Chicago and Detroit deep dish pizza styles, plus their Bay Area counterparts? Robert can guide to Chicago favorites and I can do the same for Detroit. I'd do it just for the travel expenses.
For the Bay Area we can just cut to the chase with Little Star and Tony's. Little Star would trounce Tony's because they do a far better rendition of Chicago pizza than Tony's does of Detroit pizza.
But if I was visiting from New York I still don't think I'd go to any of our pizza places, with the possible exception of Gialina.
Michael
Little Star Pizza, SF now has a South Bay Campbell location called Blue Line Pizza!
This beats any of the deep dish pizzas we had on our last visit to Chicago. We had the classic and the most obvious difference is the ingredients - higher quality sausage, higher quality vegetables - and less overwhelming cheese. The crust is excellent, far better than the tasteless thing we had at Patxi's years ago (maybe they're better now; we never had the urge to try again). As bbulkow mentioned, it's lighter than many Chicago-style pizzas, but every bit as tasty.
The beer and wine lists are exceedingly well chosen. The wines by the glass have an intriguing mix of mostly familiar varietals with less familiar producers and regions. The Sicilian Nero d'Avola was a perfect match with the pizza, as was the wonderful draft Stone Ale.
It's great to now have three fine pizza places in Silicon Valley in such different styles - Blue LIne for Chicago-style deep dish, Napoletana for Napoli-style, and A Slice of New York for gas-oven New York style.
When we arrived we were told it would be a 40-minute wait, which was nearly exactly right. They know what they're doing in the front of the house as well as in the kitchen!
Highly recommended!
Michael
Aachi Aappakadai - Chettinad in Santa Clara
After seeing lots of raves from bbulkow and others about this new Chettinad restaurant in Santa Clara, we finally tried it. Everything was good. We had two of the weekend specials. The Nethili Meen Fry (Indian fried anchovies) made a great start, and the Ennai Kathirikai eggplant special was our favorite dish of the bunch. We also had the Aappam with Goat Curry from the regular menu. The aappam was very interesting and tasty; the goat curry was fine and made a nice complement.
All of these dishes were new to me. I'll have to get back another weekend where they have the goat paya available, but there are still lots of new things to try here. This was my first time at a Chettinad restaurant; it's great to discover these new tastes!
Aachi Aappakadai
3075 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
http://aachiaappakadai.com/
Smoking Pig BBQ, San Jose - Southern style ribs/brisket; Peanut Butter Pie w/ Pics
We finally made it last night and it was as good as this looks. I had a three-meat combo of brisket, ribs, and Louisiana hot link with the beans; my wife had the quarter-rack of ribs with the mac & cheese. Everything was very tasty - the first real barbecue we've had in Silicon Valley in a long time. We both enjoyed all our meats better without sauce. The sauces were OK, but they muddled the great flavors in the rub and smoking. Both sides were great; I need to try the greens next time.
There's a nice selection of bottled beers - we had excellent Samuel Smith choices, a lager and a pale ale - and an intriguing wine list. We may try the wine list next time. We tried to get the key lime pie for dessert but they were out. I don't like peanuts so we had the banana pudding - a rich pudding with banana and cookies, topped with fine whipped cream.
It is so nice to have real barbecue in the South Bay again. I'm sure we'll be back!
Michael
Smoking Pig BBQ, San Jose - Southern style ribs/brisket; Peanut Butter Pie w/ Pics
Oh, does that look good. Must try soon! Thanks so much for the update.
Michael
Date Night - Classic California Cuisine?
Everything I've had at Zuni has been great. You don't have to order the roast chicken, and with just the two of you, you can try more things if you don't.
Chez Panisse downstairs is indeed the classic mothership, but it sounds like hubby wouldn't enjoy it. Zuni is a better bet than Chez Panisse upstairs, especially for someone staying in San Francisco. It's lively and celebratory, but not formal and dressy.
None of the other choices you're considering are as good a match for your description of what you want as Zuni. Make a reservation now; you can always change your mind later, but Zuni's popular and can fill up quickly.
Michael
Date Night - Classic California Cuisine?
Zuni is the obvious choice in San Francisco for simple, artful California food. Gary Danko is fine but more complex and less specifically Californian. I think Zuni is closer to what you're looking for.
Michael
Upscale indian restaurants to host a party - Peninsula or South Bay
Turmeric once upon a time was good, creative, and upscale, but I haven't been in quite a while so I'm not up to date. Sorry for the outdated information.
If you want more creative dishes, Amber Dhara in Palo Alto and All Spice in San Mateo may be the best bets, but I don't know what their party capabilities are. All Spice probably wouldn't work so well since it's a converted house with lots of smaller rooms. Amber in Santana Row may work too but that's another place I haven't been to in a while. Amber Dhara isn't so much creative as offering different, delicious regional dishes that I've never seen in the Bay Area before.
Another possibility would be Madhuban in Sunnyvale - that's the larger location, not the smaller one in San Jose. It too has a nice atmosphere and some more creative dishes.
Enjoy - there are lots of good choices out there!
Michael
Fresh local (maybe organic?) restaurants in Sunnyvale/ Mountain View area
And next door to Calafia is Mayfield Bakery and Cafe, a good (though pricy) classic California restaurant with lots of local sourcing.
Michael
Upscale indian restaurants to host a party - Peninsula or South Bay
The Menu - Artisan Food of India is a new upscale Indian place in Mountain View with plenty of room for private parties (www.themenuindia.com). It's in the same space that Southern Spice and Swagat used to have on El Camino west of San Antonio, but it's remodeled and nicer. Passage of India really isn't in the same category food wise as The Menu, Arka, Sakoon, Amber India, Amber Dhara, or Turmeric.
Michael
NY hound visiting San Francisco. Must Try Foods?
Interesting analysis of the different styles - thanks. Detroit style may look like Sicilian, but in terms of taste it seems Chicago is a closer match. But reasonable people may disagree. I do want to try Little Star sometime, or their Blue Line knock-off in Campbell if that's similarly good...
Michael
South Bay - giantic to-do list in progress
It's a fine list indeed, but far from complete. There are years and years' worth of local postings on Sunnyvale accessible via the search feature in the upper right hand corner...
Michael
Fresh local (maybe organic?) restaurants in Sunnyvale/ Mountain View area
The Menu in Mountain View is an Indian restaurant that focuses on local ingredients. They're in the location on El Camino west of San Antonia that formerly housed Southern Spice, Swagat, and a few other Indian restaurants. Our first visit was quite promising:
http://www.themenuindia.com/
Michael
NY hound visiting San Francisco. Must Try Foods?
Really? For deep-dish, Little Star is even better than Loui's and Buddy's in Detroit?
Chicago places may get a lot more press, but Detroit places have the better deep-dish pizza. And you can't judge that style by the imitation that Tony's does in San Francisco (though it's great to see someone in California at least attempt it).
Michael
south bay bbq?
The only two on this list I've been to are Sam's and Blue Rock, none of which were good enough to make we want to come back. If I were close by it would be different, but these aren't destination places. The best South Bay barbecue place I've been to is Trail Dust in Morgan Hill. I do hope to try Smoking Pig soon.
Central Texan was indeed good when I went many years ago, but is covered in the California board.
Michael
Mi Rancho - Arepas and empanadas in Sunnyvale
I just tried that this weekend. As expected, it was mildly spiced but very flavorful, and made a wonderful filling for the arepa.
In the past I could have put all the relevant information in a restaurant listing that would appear to the right of this discussion, but since the restaurants database has gone away I can't do that any more.
Michael
