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Maruichi Restaurant (Mountain View)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $7

2.00 lunch beer (12oz Ice cold Sapporo on tab). Consistent food quality. Friendly and relax service. Can get busy. Fresh ramen. Highly recommended.

Pho Hoa Restaurant (Mountain View)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $8

A solid 3. Consistent taste and quality. Open late.

Q Q Noodle (Fremont)

Taste: 5 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 2 Price:   $8

The noodle here is freshly made. You can order dry noodle with different type of sauces or noodle soup. To get a good taste of the noodle itself I prefer noodle soup with a light clear broth. I ordered the noodle soup with rib broth. The noodle was fresh and slightly chewy and the rib broth was very flavorful. The walls are painted too green for my liking and the service is only so-so. But I would come back again for the great taste.

Korea House (Santa Clara)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $15

The small side dishes are great. The fish omelets (sorry don't know the name in Korean) are very unique. The meat dishes are only so-so.

Tanto Japanese Restaurant (San Jose)

Taste: 3 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $20

I like the yaki-onigiri (fried rice ball) and braised pork nagasaki-style.

The food is tasty and interesting for me to visit once. However, for the price paid the dishes are not that exciting. 6.95 for 5 pieces of braised pork...I think 5.95 for two fried rice balls.

Dinner for 4 with 1 small bottle of Sake and a few simple dishes cost $84. For this amount I would rather have sushi.

China Delight (Palo Alto)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $7

I came here for lunch on a Friday. China Delight is one of the better cheap eat in this area. It is a family-style restaurant located on a quiet side street off University. We had broccoli chicken and sweet and sour shrimp...not exactly fancy dishes but they were done just right. Service was prompt and friendly. If you want quick, simple and affordable Chinese food this is a great place.

Z Pizza (Fremont)

Taste: 5 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $8

Hand made thin crust. Fresh and refreshing ingredients. Pizza at its best.

Shanghai Taste Delight (Mountain View)

Taste: 2 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 2 Price:   $10

Hole in wall Shanghainess food. Taste is so-so. Too much MSG for me.

Bar Code (San Jose)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 2 Price:   $3

Convenient parking and location. The milk tea is not overly sweet which fits my taste. Interior seating is crowded. However, there is plenty of outside seating.

Asj Restaurant (San Jose)

Taste: 4 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $7

ASJ's "noodles with braised beef" is one of the best in town. Their hand made dumplings, flower roll and pork buns are delicious too. The staff are very friendly. We plan to go back on weekend morning to try their Chinese breakfast menu.

Gombei (San Jose)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $13

Hearty Japanese food is the right word to describe Gombei in San Jose. I usually order the unagi don. It is the best Unagi Don in town. The unagi is always chunky and juicy.

Sushitomi Restaurant (Mountain View)

Taste: 2 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $12

I had the Nabeyaki Udon at Sushitomi in Mountain View . The udon was quite fresh, the chicken but the clear soup was too salty and nothing to write home about. For $11USD you can get better udon elsewhere.

Masala Grill (Fremont)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 2 Price:   $5

5.95 lunch special.
Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan bread was passable.
The lentil was a bit too salty.
This is no Chutney but you want something quick and cheap it is not bad.

ABC Seafood Restaurant (Milpitas)

Taste: 4 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $15

Respectable dim sum. Wait time is not too long for Sunday lunch.
They have a good deep fried dim sum selection- sea bass, spicy wings, tofu roll with sea weed..if you crave for deep fried items this place is great.

New Ca Mau Vietnamese Restaurant (Santa Clara)

Taste: 4 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $7

Hole in wall Vietnamese joint with a very loyal audience. Expect to wait during weekday lunch hour.

I like their BBQ pork with vermicelli. The meat is juicy and bountiful and the vermicelli fresh and springy.

Darda Seafood Restaurant (Milpitas)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $7

I like the stir fried beef with green onion and three flavors hand-made noodle. The hand-made noodle is very fresh.

The appetizer (spicy beef tendon) tastes good but has too much MSG. If you get MSG headache like me, remember to ask them to skip it.

Tied House Cafe & Brewery (Mountain View)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $9

Tied House has half price on a few items during happy hours.
The fried calamari has a light batter, not too salty and is fried just right. I found the fried calamari at many other restaurants too thick-battered, over-fried and too salty.
The catfish and corn cake is good too. The cat fish is lightly grilled and surprisingly juicy for brewery food.
The nacho is nothing to write home about except for its large proportion.
The amber light brew is flavorful.
If you are in mountain view and want a quick beer and snack for happy hours, Tied House Cafe & Brewery is good choice.

Top Dog (Berkeley)

Taste: 5 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 2 Price:   $4

Late night hot dog doesn't get better than this!

DOSA (San Francisco)

Taste:  Service:  Atmosphere: 

Sri Thai Cuisine (San Francisco)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $9

We passed by this place many times and decided to try it. We ordered some standard dishes Beef Panang Curry, Tom Kha Soup and Pineapple Fried Rice (came with some real prawns not just 2 or 3). Delicous food. Decently priced.

Daimo (Richmond)

Taste: 4 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $9

The original Daimo came from Kowloon City, the neighborhood I grew up in Hong Kong. One brother of the family opened shop in Vancouver. Another opened the Daimo in Albany.

The food is always reliable and authentic. Seating is spacious with big sun windows. Service is relatively fast. They opened until the AM too.

The Cantonese Beef Stew Noodle is my favorite.

Shalimar (San Francisco)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $11

Good Curry. Conventient Location.

VASO Azzurro Ristorante (Mountain View)

Taste: 5 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $17

Went with moregadgets on 5/21 for a Monday dinner.

Vaso Azurro was tucked at one end of Castro. We didn't know about this place. The chef saw us and greet us at the door. We decided to give it a try.

The interior and crowd was very laid back.

From the menu I ordered:
Fettucini Azzurro 15.95
Flat nodules sauteed with black mussels, rock shrimp, and sea scallops, garlic, scallions,
herbs, EVOO, chardonnay-saffron sauce.
I have to give it a 5 star. I have a thing for pasta served hot to the core. I have a thing for seafood. The sauce was favorful yet light enough to let the seafood spoke out. The mussels, shrimp, scallops were all juicy, fresh tasting and cooked just right. A pasta dish with sausage is about 12bucks here. Add 3 bucks you get fresh tasting seafood. I think it is a great deal.

Moregadgets ordered a seafood risotto with chunky salmon from the special menu. It was delicious too.

Ti Couz (San Francisco)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $10

Went with moregadgets and sulicious for a Monday lunch. On weekend this place gets busy.

Rustic French country deco. Large sun window. Outside sitting.

Ham(Jambon)/basil tomatoes crepe - the ham is on the mild side, but the tomatoes are flesh and favorful. Mushroom/cheese - the sauce is savory and mushroom cooked just right.

However, for its price I was expecting bigger portion. If you have a healthy appetite 1 order of crepe would not fill you up.

Chutney Restaurant (San Francisco)

Taste: 4 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 2 Price:   $10

Open kitchen, no frill Indian and Pakistani fare. Order at counter, take a number and the server bring food to you.

We went for a late lunch so service was fast.
Naan bread was warm and fluffy without too doughy.
Chicken Tikka Masala was cooked just right.
Free serve-yourself Chai tea with meal order. We drank quite a few cups while checking the view on Jones Street.

Street parking can get tough at the Tenderloin.

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Cascal (Mountain View)

Taste: 2 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $25

Tapa sampler: nothing to write home about.
Paellas: too salty and chicken was dry.
Sangria: too mild.
Service: slow.
The only redeemable quality for its price was the lively interior. Spanish missionary style roof beams, royal burgandy curtain, antique lamps and faux concrete architecture.
But for 20 bucks you can find better eat on castro.

Country Gourmet Restaurants (Mountain View)

Taste: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $9

Order at counter rustic dinner with large portion.
Veggilicous Omelet with polenta and scone $7.95.
Omelet is large and stuffed with chunky veggie.
Polenta is served slightly grilled outside, warm and creamy inside.
Corn Beef Hash was only so so.

Sushi Tei (Mountain View)

Taste: 4 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $30

It was moregadgets birthday. Went with moregadgets, tastylicious, moregadgets's mom and mom's BF. 5 people total. Cost $150.

Hokki clam sushi is fresh. The sauce for spicy tuna cut roll is flavorful without overpowering the tuna. The tempura shrimp roll is delicate with savory batter.

Good cut for the sashimi. Tuna sashimi is decent. The salmon was on the lean side. (I like my salmon with marble)

Interior: medium-size interior with a neighborly crowd. Family style deco with "faux" Japanese style sitting booths along one wall. Ample parking.

Service: They were understaffed. We brought a bottle of chardonnay. We thought the owner said there was no corking charge but the bill showed a $10 charge.

A bit expensive overall.

Thai House Express (San Francisco)

Taste: 4 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $12

Value for taste of food is very good. The stew pork is very delicious.

Star Lunch (San Francisco)

Taste: 4 Service: 2 Atmosphere: 1 Price:   $6

We are talking about high quality Stinky Tofu here: crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and stinky all around.
They should drop the name "Fried Spicy Bean Curd" in the menu and call it by its real name.
Don't let the hole-in-wall deco fool you. The is an art gallery right next door.

Shanghai 1930 Restaurant (San Francisco)

Taste: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $20

This review is skew. I went to Shanghai 1930 for a small private wedding dinner. The couple was close friend to the owner who dined with us that night. Obviously the food and service was one stop above average. The menu was modern Shanghai food / western style. The lamp chop was delicious (except there was no lamp chop in Shanghai food). Price was rather expensive. Decoration was a trip back to old Shanghai. If you don't mind the high sticker price it is worth a visit.

Cafe Mason (San Francisco)

Taste: 4 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $8

Good portioned 24 hour American style comfort food in Union Square SF. Breakfast, lunch, dinner is served all day long. Their Tiramisu is delicious and massive for its price. Retro dinner style decoration. If you are near town and hungry for a late night eat, this is a good place to chill.

Sushi Chardonnay (San Francisco)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $18

Nice place at Union Street. Good selection for sushi buffet including tempura, teriyaki, deep-fried chicken etc. Nothing fancy with the decoration. Clientele is the young urban downtown SF type - just like anywhere on Union Street. A good choice when you work up a big appetite for a buffet.

Blue Fin Sushi (Redwood City)

Taste: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $7

Order at counter Japanese restaurant. Great for quick bite and quick business lunch.
Bento boxes and terikayi dishes at great price and served like clockwork. Sushi is respectable too.
Simple decoration. Boss is a Japanese grandma wearing a bandana taking your order the counter everyday. Try the power chicken if you can handle spicy food.

Restaurant LuLu (San Francisco)

Taste: 5 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $20

I am writing this based on my last visit at Lulu in 2003. We went for dinner on a weekend. Parking was horrendous. Despite making reservation we had to wait quite some time for our table. The servers looked like they wished to be elsewhere. However, Lulu still drew a good crowd. The pork chop I ordered was juicy, flavorful and good portion. Even though the food was good I never returned due to the wait time and poor service.

Higuma Japanese Restaurant (Redwood City)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $8

A regular for my office lunch. Not as hearty as Gombei, but worth the money if you in need of Bento in Redwood City. Friendly staff. Smallish and cozy interior.

Lucky Buddha (San Carlos)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 3 Price:   $8

I used to get take-out here on my way from work. Their Garlic Flavored Egg Plant is quite good. Actually in Chinese it should be called "Fish Flavor Egg Plant", but I have yet since a restaurant in using that dish name.

Fresh Choice Restaurants (Redwood City)

Taste: 4 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 4 Price:   $9

I used to come here often when I worked in Redwood City. They have pretty good seasonal pasta and salad selection.