Silicon Valley Junket

So I'm stuck in Palo Alto for at least a week until I beat this project into submission. I'll be posting periodically about the eats I find.
I'm on a limited company budget, but I'm nowhere near it. If I keep eating this cheaply, I could almost get away with the French Laundry one night, I think, as if I could get a table. Breakfasts have been at the hotel buffet (no better or worse than it should be at a Holiday Inn Express), lunches have been at my desk, sandwiches brought in so far, but dinner I'm on my own.

Anyway... on to the chow:
Night 1: Pho Vi Hoa in Mountain View, around the corner from my hotel.
Spring rolls were excellent, with plump shrimp and lots of basil. The peanut sauce needed a bit of Sriracha kick, but that's me in a nutshell. The Pho itself wasn't too impressive (why do I order the meatballs? They're always rubbery), and it could have used more than just basil in the herb department. Pretty good, and rather cheap.

Night 2: Marigold - an Indian restaurant recommended on the NoCal Chowhound board. Lamb Samosas were below average: nice flaky crust, but the lamb was mealy and underseasoned. The chutneys were almost flavorless -- although the papadams were among the better-flavored I've had. Tandoori Prawns, however, were excellent: plump, and spicy, served with peppers and onions, nan, a tasty rice, and a small bowl of delicious dal perfect for scooping with the nan.

Night 3: Tacqueria El Grullense, 3636 EL CAMINO REAL,PALO ALTO,CA,94306.
Here's the real chow deal: $9.25 got me two sopas nearly the size of a personal pan pizzas: crunch outside, soft inside, topped with al pastor (not the best I've had but fresh carved off the spit and tasty). Topped with lettuce, tomatoes, crema, cotija cheese, with beans underneath, they're delicious. There's a salsa bar with a fiery red, a cilantro-y green, a thin, limey guac, pickled carrots and jalapenos, plus radishes, limes, cucumbers, and a few things I skipped. Great food. I may go back for lunch, if I can get out of the office.

More later. Tomorrow I'm meeting folks from my company, possibly at The Slanted Door.

Next two nights:
The head of our local office tried to get reservations at The Slanted Door, but said that they have about a 3-week booking!

We went to Le Colonial (link to Google Local)
Great vietnamese-inspired higher-end food.
Had a great class of Pinot Noir, but I can't remember the bottler. Something with an H (like that helps).
Appetizers were a fried spring roll and a "crab hand roll": a big rice paper fresh spring roll that is rolled in a cone shape like a sushi hand roll, filled with dungeness. Spicy thick dipping sauce, mmm.

My entree was a flatiron steak crusted with chili and garlic, with fried lotus root and a green papaya salad. The salad was kind of disappointing, it tasted more like jicama and carrot than anything else. The steak was perfect, though, and a great balance with the pinot. Note to self: pinot, 2 for 2 now, does not evoke my strange reaction that I get to some (but not all) cabs and merlots.


Tonight I took a drive into Half Moon Bay to watch the sun set over the ocean, the first day this week that it's been clear. Ate at a little thai place, Siam House. Nothing to write home about (but isn't that what you're doing mister?), but a decent crab pad thai. The server brought out an interesting little desert: a square of two layers of gelatin: the bottom was clear, the top opaque white. Overall, it had a strong coconut flavor, and was stiffer than even Jello Jigglers. Tasty, and a nice cap to the meal.

Tomorrow: on to Santa Cruz, maybe. Or perhaps Marin County. Who knows?

The weekend: The leftover crab pad thai was delicious (although a little dry) on the beach in santa cruz the next day. The sauce is a little more vibrant orange than the usual pad thai -- the waxed container fell over and most of my lunch got on the towel.

On a Saturday night, there was no way I was getting into the boardwalk neighborhood -- the lots were packed. So I wandered up the road a bit, now quite famished, and had a decent Eggplant with Garlic Sauce and Prawns and more eggrolls (never can get enough). I prefer the skins taken off of my eggplant, but it was still wonderful.
Mei Garden Restaurant 533 Ocean St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Again, with the leftovers, I didn't go out for lunch (Mmm... cold garlic shrimp and eggplant!). Back to Half Moon Bay, at a place I couldn't park next near Friday night: Ono Hawaiian Grill.

This is probably the second best meal I had (after Le Colonial). After a day on the beach, a big glass of lemonade started things of nicely. Not homemade (I asked), but hit the spot.

All meals come with two scoops of perfect japanese-style rice, and macaroni salad, upgrade to tossed salad is $2. Each meal comes in normal, menehune (the little people of hawaii) and blalah ("da big brother-size), with a bigger entree and more rice and macaroni.

If they had fish that was local, I'd have ordered it, but it was salmon, ahi and mahi...and there was smoked pork on the menu. I'll get to that in a sec. Other items include portugese and galbi-style beef ribs and chicken prepared the same way, teriyaki items (chicken, beef, ahi).

I had the Kahlua Pork, listed as "Slow roasted pork with hawaiian salt." The waiter highly recommended it but warned about the saltiness. After a day in the sun, the salt was welcome. Strong smoke flavor, with chunks and shreds of meat. The ribbons of fat had melted to a buttery consistency, none of the gelatinous gristle so common in steaks and chops that I abhor. Aside from smoke, there was little flavor other than salt, chopped scallions, and a lemon wedge, letting the meat and smoke come through.

Definitely worth another visit.

Tomorrow: I've got my eye on one of two persian places I've spotted (although tacos might call me back for more), then home.

JoelF,

If you still have a hankering for tacos, try the tacos de cabeza at "Las Muchachas. See my recent post

Bill/SFNM

OK, I'm done with my project, flying home tomorrow!

Bill's recommendation above led me to that earlier thread, and suddenly tacos didn't sound as good as sushi. Yakko Sushi, at 975 W Dana St, Mountain View, mentioned on that page is only about 2.5 miles from my hotel, and it was a great find, and finally a bit of a splurge on my expense account.

I started with goma-ae , which was awesome: nutty with sesame, with lots of crunchy stems! Too many places just give you a little mound of chopped leaves with little texture.

Next, ika tempura, which was less of tempura, and just a quick fry. The squid was tender (perhaps medium-rare) and crosshatched, served with a spicy ponzu sauce. (Spicy and Fried are the two themes of this restaurant: almost all of their sushi specials have something fried or spicy -- a couple are baked, kinda weird sounding to bake your sushi). Excellent, but I was expecting some crispy, so that influenced my later choices.

Aji was available, and something I'd not had before: spanish mackerel was delicious! $7.50 for 2 nigiri. That and a pair of sake, buttery soft, made a good mid-course. Sea-flavored, chewy, great.

Next up, "Temptation" -- one of the house specials ($9.95). Potato outside (long strands wrapped around the filling like I've seen Iron Chef Sakai do around langoustines), rice, broiled eel with a sweet sauce and scallions inside. This was like a perfect blend of teriyaki, tempura and sushi.

Last one more nigiri order, albacore. More butter-soft fish!

They also have a great green tea, I can't place the flavors, but it was something herby and almost brothy.

Bonus: The hotel has a fruit tree right outside the door near my room with these small yellow-orange fruit. Today, they'd all been stripped off the branches, and were sitting in a box behind the front desk. Apparently, they're [url=http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/loquat.html]loquats[/i] (from looking at that page, they're probably Tanaka loquats, from their size and the lateness of the ripening). An inedible peel, with apricot-colored flesh, and a peach-orange flavor. A large, smooth, spherical stone means not a lot of edible fruit per fruit. Very tasty. Have to snag a couple they couldn't reach on my way out tomorrow.