On our trip to the South Bay of the San Francisco Peninsula, we found food, too much food, most of it very good. This will be a capsule report for the most part.
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San Jose, California greeted us with beautiful weather on our arrival. On our flight from Guadalajara, the lovely Volaris flight attendants had given us ample beverages, but the food was little more than packaged cookies and snack food.
Our first food stop was Erik's Deli in Campbell where we lunched on sandwiches, soup and salad.
Food:***
Service: Self service/fast
Price: Inexpensive $
Ambiance: Fake Old West
Chef Ko Chinese Cuisine, Campbell, CA
Fairly standard Cantonese specialties with a few spicier, Hunan style items. Of our meal, I liked the Hot and Spicy Eggplant with Pork. The Spicy dumplings were pretty good.
The seafood tofu soup was bland.
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| Hot and Spicy Eggplant with Pork |
Food: ***
Service: ****
Price: $$
Ambience: Small, neighborhood restaurant with white tablecloths.
Monday we lunched at Cafe Artemis, a Mediterranean cafe in the Pruneyard Shopping Center in Campbell.
After some o.k. appetizers, of which the best was lightly fried calamari, we got substantial and very well prepared patters of shish kebabs or felafel. All were very good, including the accompanying vegetables. The seasoning was light but appropriate, and the freshness was impeccable.
Food: ****
Service: ****
Price: $-$$
Ambiance: delightful patio dining, with shade. Also indoor dining room, crowded tables.
Rest Rooms: O.k.
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| Tres hermanas |
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| Combination kebab plate |
Tuesday mid-day saw us in the heart of Silicon Valley, downtown San Jose. We met our financial adviser for lunch at McCormick & Schmick.
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| The Sign of the Copper Fish |
Doña Cuevas had a Grilled Salmon Sandwich, which was good but a little dry. The French Fries were very good.
We also split a bowl of Lobster Bisque, which had a somewhat dramatic presentation. It was deliciously rich, although a tad salty.
The usual rich desserts were enjoyed by the insatiable.
Food: ***1/2
Service: ****
Price: $$-$$$
Ambience" Executive with a retro flavor
Rest Rooms: Fine
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| 6 Oyster Sampler |
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| Pass the bisque and lick the pitcher |
Five Guys Burgers-Sunnyvale
Burgers. Fries. Soft drinks.
Burger good, bun bad. Fries soft and limp.
Food: ***
Service: Self service
Price: $
Ambience: Potato sack and red and white checks.
Restroom: Red and white checks. Clean.
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| Sacks on the floor |
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| Big Cheeseburger at Five Guys |
This ends part one. The next post will describe two very different Italian restaurants, located within a short disance of each other. ¡Buen provecho!
6 comments:
One thing we do lack in Mexico at least in our neck of the woods, including Morelia is diversity of good Asia and Italian restaurants. Since going to DF is out of the questions, we must do it at home. I love Calamari but no longer ever order it in Mexico because they have no concept of lightly fried is.
Enjoy your gastronomic experiences, before you return to tainted oyster land....warm oysters never got my attention.
Tancho; we go to el DF several times a year...by bus, using the 50% off INAPAM Geezer Discount. We stay in modest hotels for the most part, $300 to $550 pesos a night. Then we spend the money we've saved on great food.
Soriana sells calamari to cook yourself at home.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
Sr. Cuevas,
When we lived in Milpitas, our favorite "joint" to visit was the "St. James Infirmary" over by Moffet. Now that it is gone, any chance of a review of one of the many brew-pubs that have sprung up over the last few years?
Cheers,
Dan in NC
Dan, I don't know that place. I'm a stranger here myself.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
I haven't been out that way (silicon valley) since I worked at AMD and my last year there was in 1990. I also never went to any of the eating places you spoke of. The hamburger looked good. Look forward to #2 post. Have a great week.
Hi Don,
Thanks so much for sharing posts like these about your travels through San Jose, California. I've blogged about the Baja California area, where there's tons of amazing Mexican cuisine. I hope you'll check out my blog on Mexican food and recipes: A Mexican Fiesta: www.mexfoodrecipes.com. Have a great day!
Maria
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