Restaurant Review - Cafe Silan, Menlo Park, CA

Cafe Silan is in downtown Menlo Park, at 867 Santa Cruz Ave, Menlo Park, CA.

This is a small, Kurdish restaurant, with some pretty tasty dishes. My favorites:

- The appetizer - flat bread with dip. The dip is delicious!
- Some pizza with keema or ghosht on it. Very simple, and very good. To completely change the flavor, try it with the spicy sauce on the tables
- Salad with kebabs. The kebabs were good, but the salad was excellent!

Silan is on my once-a-quarter restaurant list now

Restaurant Review - Himawari, San Mateo

Himawari in San Mateo in the bay area (California) is one of my favorite restaurants, specially when its getting close to 9 pm (it doesn't close early, except on Sundays).

Himawari is a Japanese restaurant.  They have sushi, of course.  But their specialty is ramen, udons, and that kind of stuff.

My favorites are the Shio Buttercorn Ramen, and the Tan Tan Men.  Having grown up on Indian food, I prefer a bit more taste, a bit more saltiness in my food, and Himawari delivers.

Favorite side dish - the sesame spinach.  (Although I think all their appetizers are great)

It is located at 202 2nd Ave., San Mateo, CA

Restaurant Review - Zao Noodle Bar

Zao Noodle Bar, University Avenue, Palo Alto, California. 

A couple of my friends really like Zao -they say its tasty, healthy, convenient, and decently stylish.  And now for something completely different....

When you order take-out (or take back left-overs), you get one of the great bits of Zao - their plastic bags.  These are tough, resilient, stylish.  They're much better for carrying things than the bags you'd get at Safeway.  You can use them for quite a while, too - they have longevity, I kid you not.

And finally, they're great for odor containment.  I carry an extra Zao's plastic bag in my car at all times.  That way, whenever I get takeout from any restaurant, I can always put it in the Zao's bag, and make sure the car doesn't smell.  

Restaurant Review - Restaurant Des Alpes, Interlaken

During my trip to Switzerland, we stayed a night at Interlaken.  While there, we ate dinner at Restaurant Des Alpes, which is a half open-air restaurant, with lovely views of the alps surrounding Interlaken on all sides.  It was raining and cloudy, but the views were still spectacular.  We sat under a canopy under the rain - it was amazing.

The restaurant had a company of yodelers with alpine horns, who were quite fun.   They perfectly complemented the huge tankard of beer I was handed!

On to food:  we had a veggie lasagna, which was ok.  And a Prosciutto pizza.... what a pizza!  Very soft, thin crust, very light cheese, some tomato, fresh prosciutto and a sprinkling of oregno.  The first pizza in years on which I didn't put even a drop of tabasco, or a single red pepper!  I wish I could eat it once each week.  Pizza dreams....

Restaurant Review - Mingalaba, Burlingame

In the pursuit of excellent Burmese food, Nikhil found Mingalaba in Burlingame. 

Now Mingalaba is supposed to be a hybrid Burmese-Chinese restaurant.  What?  Well, why not?  Ok, point taken.

So is Mingalaba a good local less crowded alternative to driving all the way up to San Francisco or Alameda (yuck) for Burma Super Star?  Short answer - yep! 

Slightly longer answer - well, its not as good.  Everything is very good.  But Burma Super Star is still just that little bit better... for Burmese food.   So if you have time, patience, 30 minutes to find parking, a big group to hang out with while waiting in the cold for 2 hours for your turn at dinner, and only want Burmese food - go to Burma Super Star.  But if you want something pretty good with none of the hassle,  or if someone in your group wants some Chinese food on the side (or even some orange chicken!) then go to Mingalaba!

Plus, a name like Mingalaba also fuels the first 20 minutes of conversation.... each time you go.  Whats a Mingalaba?  What does it feed on?  Do we give restaurants Mingalabas instead of stars from now on?

Anyway, do go there.  And try the tea leaf salad.  Second only to Burma Super Star.  Try the Palatha, which is their version of Roti Paratha - and very very good.  Try their Pan-fried Okra and Shrimp (funnily a wonderful combination) .  Try it all.  And tell them I sent you.

Restaurant Review - Amber India, San Francisco

(posted July 29, 2008)

Amber's newest location, in San Francisco, is the swankiest one yet.  What about the food?  Well, it also beats the other locations out!  (although Amber Cafe in Mountain View always wins for snacks).

Whats good there - butter chicken (yum!), bhindi are really good.  Seekh kababs, kaali daal (black daal) and chicken tikka are ok. But overall the food is very nice.

Amber India Restaurant

www.amber-india.com
25 Yerba Buena Lane
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 777-0500

Restaurant Review - Roti Indian Bistro

(posted July 24, 2008)

Roti Indian Bistro is ok.  But not good.  Seekh kababs, paneer tikka, rote, naan, aaloo gobi, daal makhani.... all ok. 

The decor was nice, and the food smells were good.

I went to the Burlingame location.  Probably never going again - too many really good options available 20 minutes north or south of Burlingame.

Restaurant Review - Burma Super Star

(posted July 23, 2008)

Burma Super Star, with its main location in San Francisco (309 Clement St), is amazingly good (and of course it serves Burmese food). 

Its so good, I rank it at the same level as Banana Leaf (although I've only gone a few times, so it hasn't been tested over time yet)

If you go, you MUST order the tea leaf salad and the samosa soup.  Everything is good, but these two are a must. the tea leaf salad (pictured below) will be tossed at your table... only heightens the anticipation.

There is now a second location in Alameda - I had lunch there today.  Just as great, so I like the fact that I don't have to look for freaking parking in the Clement St area any more if I don't want to.

Restaurant Review - Koh Samui & the Monkey

(posted July 15, 2008)

So first of all, whats with the name?  I've put an explanation taken straight from the restaurant's website at the bottom. 

Now on to the food - it is really good!  If you find a menu item with "curry" in its name or description - order it.  If you find one with "garlic" in its description - order it.  If you find one under appetizers - order it!

This is really good Thai food.

As for the ambience: it was a little loud in there.  Thats great if you're in a partying mood. But there were 5 of us, and only the two people in the middle seats could hear everyone else.

The decor is quite nice, though.  Definitely worth a visit.

Here's the explanation from the  restaurant's site:

Koh Samui & The Monkey is a Thai restaurant. The name Koh Samui & The Monkey comes from the two people behind the restaurant: Chalermporn "Aom" Phanthong, the owner operator, and her husband Chris Foley, the primary investor. Chris and Aom met on a boat while scuba diving off the coast of Koh Samui, Thailand. While Aom was taking a break for her graduate studies in England to visit her family, Chris had just sold his business in San Francisco and was taking a sabbatical traveling through Southeast Asia. Aom chose to honor their relationship by naming the restaurant Koh Samui.     
    The "Monkey" portion of the name is two fold and refers to the small Thai antique store that is attached to the restaurant. First, Monkey in Koh Samui (the island, not the restaurant) is everywhere and treated as friends. Second, Aom is very proud of the fact that she was born during the Year of the Monkey.

Location

415 Brannan St San Francisco, CA 94107-1703

Phone: 415-369-0007

Restaurant Review - Belgian Fritz, San Francisco

I met my cousin Diya and her hubby Kuru this Friday. They're a lot of fun, and like good food.
We had originally planned on eating at Dosa in SF, which I had wanted to try out. However, the wait was long (45 minutes), so we went to the Belgian Fritz place.

My opinion:  I like the place.

Fries:  Quite good. Not at the same level as the fries I had in Belgium, but close enough to not matter.  And I wish you got more varieties of sauces included in the order - for small fries, you get one sauce, for large - 2.  My favorites include the Thai Chilli, Ponzu-based, and Wasabi-cream based sauces.  And I really like their chilli fries.

Beers: they've got an ok selection, not extensive by any means. But for those who like the old standards Chimay and Duvel, that shouldn't matter.

Crepes and sandwiches: Quite good again.  The ham sausage crepe in particular is very, very good.

Ambiance: I like the white/black colors, but in trying to be too modern (post-modern) and hip, they have succeeded in making the chairs not too comfortable. 

Here are some reviews on Zagat, and some photographs -

Restaurant Review - Panda Express

(posted June 16, 2008)

I had been craving the panda for a while, so used my Sunday workout as an excuse to eat there. As usual, Panda was very good - if you like sweet Chinese food (reminds me of Indian Chinese food), clean premises and very fast service.

As usual, one of my items was the Orange chicken. Normally, I end up taking 2 helpings of Orange chicken - its just that good. But this time Panda had a new item on the menu - Sizzling Beef - so I tried that one out. It blew me away! Soft, melt in your mouth beef with a tender yet crispy skin, nice tangy sauce... a new favorite!