Coupa Cafe

Coupa Cafe, Palo Alto
Mediterranean/Venezuelan cafe off University Ave.

For our weekly writing nights, we're always looking for good places where we can eat, and also sit and write for a while. Coupa Cafe, on Ramona Ave. across from the Old Pro, looked like a likely candidate when it opened recently, and we got the chance to try it out for sure not too long ago.

They highlight their Venezuelan coffee and meals, but the bulk of the offerings would probably be more familiar to people if described as Mediterranean: hummus, pita, olives, panini, etc. They do offer arepas, which are traditional Venezuelan cornmeal griddle cakes, and an appetizer version called arepitas, which we tried. The light, tasty cakes came with cotija cheese and nata (Venezuelan sour cream), with chives sprinkled over them. Simple, but very nice. A little too much for an appetizer for one, but perfect for two to split. The Mediterranean platter appetizer featured a good hummus with crispy, warm pita bread, and a decent salad that could've used a little more dressing.

We were in the mood for crepes, which are also on their menu, so we chose crepes for the main course. The smoked salmon and nata crepe was also pretty simple but quite good, with thick salmon and irregularly distributed cream cheese. The crepe itself wasn't quite on the level of Ti Couz, but was a fine savory crepe, firm and light with good wheat flavor. The turkey and asparagus crepe came crammed full of turkey, asparagus, and sun-dried tomato, which thankfully did not overwhelm the dish. The asparagus, nicely cooked but not overdone, provided a good complement. We also sampled a serrano ham panini, which had nice flavor but was tough to eat due to the stringy ham.

If you're in the back room, the ambiance is a little more relaxed than in the crowded, coffee-centric front. Service is slow, but it's that kind of relaxing place. The people are unfailingly nice and there's a fireplace in the back, amidst the plaster, wood beams, and middle eastern rugs and curtains. And when you're ready for coffee, they will be happy to show off their Venezuelan roasts. For Tim, the attraction is a couple varieties of chai that do one of the best mixes of spicy and sweet that we've found in the area. They offer sugar-free options, but the artificial sweetener intrudes on the chai taste, so go for the Tiger Spice or Flamingo Vanilla. If only for the chai, we'd be going back to Coupa--the food is good but nothing really jumps it ahead of a dozen other Palo Alto places.

La Strada

La Strada, Palo Alto
Fine Italian cuisine on University Avenue's restaurant strip

We've tried a lot of the restaurants in Palo Alto, and walked past a lot more. At any given time, there are probably five or six on our "must try" list. La Strada had actually been recommended to us by some people we met at a party who were fellow foodies, so it rose on our list until we finally got the chance to go there.

It's a narrow space, confined and hard to navigate, at least for the customers. The staff weave their way through it with practiced ease, and they do seem to be constantly in motion. The kitchen is a long area to one side of the restaurant separated by a counter, so you can always see when food comes up and the kitchen smells fill the small area. The bar is a small section of the counter that bends around at the front of the restaurant, and on University Ave., there's a small patio of eight or nine tables.

We were seated inside, almost in the middle of the restaurant. Our server and the was not just attentive, but friendly, making suggestions and asking us what we liked, clearly interested in making our dinner better. When he came to ask how everything was, he really meant it (or else he really sold it). The atmosphere inside was very communal, bustling and well-lit. With the understated wood and plaster interior, it felt like a neighborhood joint.

We all tried different things, sampling the specials for that evening as well as some of the standard menu items. It was hard to decide, because everything looked so good, and the warm, fresh bread they brought out, almost ciabatta-like, made us hungry for more. We settled on...

The buffalo mozzarella salad. I like fresh mozzarella, but this stuff was amazing. I mean, it could've just rolled down the street from the Stanford pastures. I am not a fan of raw tomatoes (though learning to eat them now), but the ones included here were small and sweet, the kind I do like, and the fresh basil over thin cucumber slices complemented the light lemon-flavored dressing. You can always improve a salad with good bread, and the crisp, thin, salty flatbread went well with this salad. High marks for freshness and flavor out of such a simple dish.

Another appetizer, the terrina al forno, was more complicated: clams, mussels, and shrimp baked over red rice. The rice was almost undercooked, but we decided it went well with this dish; had it been softer and stickier, it would have really changed the consistency and not necessarily been better. It also might have soaked up more of the flavorful broth, which we enjoyed slurping. The shrimp, oddly, had heads but no tail shells. All in all, though, the seafood was all cooked well, the flavors blending together very nicely, almost like a "paella lite" (with red rice rather than saffron rice).

For main courses, we got a house-made black olive pasta with lamb cheeks, accompanied by spring peas and fava beans. The wine sauce, smooth and rich, didn't overwhelm the subtle olive flavor in the pasta, nor the flavor of the tender lamb cheeks. The peas and fava beans were similar to the veggies included with the other main course in the "veggie round," and were just as crisp and well-done.

The "veggie round" was a molded round pile of veggies that came with Mark's rib-eye steak. The broccoli and peppers accompanying the peas and beans had the same great flavor and crisp tenderness. The steak itself (I'm told) was a little tough, as would be expected from the cut, but was probably marinated in something like the balsamic vinegar that was drizzled over it, to rave reviews.

Although we were pretty full, we couldn't turn down the dessert that came with the special dinner menu: an apple tart in the European style, flat and round, accompanied by a scoop of vanilla bean gelato. In the gelato stood a flat, dried slice of apple, and to top it all off, candied walnuts and a rich, buttery caramel sauce that was better than it sounds. It wasn't too thick of a dessert, especially for three to share, but it was a perfect end to a wonderful meal.

We've tried a lot of the restaurants on and around University Ave. in Palo Alto. At any given time, there are a select few on our "must go back to list." That list now includes La Strada.

I Tapas, Palo Alto

I Tapas
Traditional and "new" small plates off University Ave. in Palo Alto

Emerson Street in Palo Alto, where it crosses University, is a great place for eateries. There's the Peninsula Fountain Creamery Diner and A.G. Ferrari on Hamilton and Emerson, and Gordon Biersch, Buca di Beppo, Mantra, and Empire Tap Room in the next block away from University. On the other side of University, there's Patxi's Chicago-Style Pizza (the most authentic on the Peninsula), Evvia (the best restaurant in Palo Alto), and a new place called I Tapas that sits in the former location of Left at Albuquerque, a favorite of ours for a little while, until the food started to decline and they closed.

I can't even remember now what was there in between that incarnation and this new one, but I hope I Tapas will stick around for a while. It's fairly modern inside, with nice artwork on the walls and a close, but not crowded, dining room. We were told it would be a forty-five minute wait, but we got called not ten minutes later to come back to the restaurant for an available table.

We've done a few tapas places lately: Solera and Cascal are high standards to live up to. But I Tapas holds its own, with a nice assortment of small plates for different palates. We really enjoyed the grilled asparagus with Manchego cheese and serrano ham, the Spanish olives with roasted nuts and cheese crackers, the pulled pork BBQ with lettuce cups, and the Pinchos Morunos (skewers of lamb). The asparagus had great flavor, with just enough cheese and ham to complement it without overwhelming it. The barbecue sauce for the pulled pork was nice and tangy, and we enjoyed the innovation of putting it in lettuce cups. It was satisfyingly messy. And the lamb skewers proved to be the good kind of lamb, with some lamb flavor (not too gamy) and a really nice mix of Mediterranean spices.

If you like tapas, this is one of the better places to get it. There are so many good places to eat in Palo Alto that it's hard to get on our list, but I think we'd definitely go to I Tapas again. It's worthy of being on Emerson Street, that's for sure!

Gordon Biersch, Palo Alto

Gordon Biersch
Brew pub food (famous garlic fries) and good beer

If you've attended a Giants game at Pac Bell SBC that ballpark where they play now, you have more than likely caught the heavenly scent of garlic and fried potatoes. Gordon Biersch has stands doing a brisk business in garlic fries throughout the stadium, but you may not have known that the now-nationwide restaurant/brewery chain started in Palo Alto, on the site of the old
("once historic"?) Bijou Theater.

The front windows are removable for those warm summer nights, and the high theater ceilings give the restaurant an airy, open feel. There aren't many tables in the restaurant area, so if you go on a busy weeknight, you may be better off sitting in the raucous sports bar area in the back. Full menu is available there, so you won't miss out on any of the great dishes to be had.

We started going here after class once a week during our screenwriting classes at Stanford, and though we're not taking the classes now, the current students have continued the tradition and are nice enough to invite us along, so we find ourselves there more Thursday nights than not. Sometimes we tried other restaurants, because the one drawback of Gordon Biersch is that it can be pretty loud, but we keep coming back.

You could dine for three or four nights on the appetizers alone. The tapas plate, the southwestern egg rolls, the calamari, and of course, the garlic fries, are particular favorites, but you can't go wrong here. The salads are large and fresh, though we usually end up getting just a Caesar or wedge salad (get it with the vinaigrette dressing--it comes with loads of cheese as it is) along with our order.

No main dish has ever disappointed. The sandwiches are big, often hard to finish, which is a shame because they also come with a portion of the garlic fries. Good bread and good meat--what more could you want? The BBQ is good, though compared to other places around here, it's nothing to get excited about. All of their sauces carry lots of flavor, and the ones that say they're spicy really are, at least to my delicate palate. I suspect hardier souls would be somewhat disappointed in the heat, though not the flavor. They do stir-fry and meatloaf, pecan-crusted chicken and seared ahi tuna, steak and jambalaya all well. Pizzas are good too, with nice traditional crust and good sauce, and they'll happily bring you a side of marinara to dip the crusts into (though the pizza dough is good, it's a little bland).

We rarely have room to try the desserts, but I can heartily recommend the carrot cake and the key lime cheesecake from sampling other plates. One of these weeks, we'll eat light enough to be able to fit one of those in, or else we'll just take it home and have it later.

It's moderately priced--entrees can range up to $24 for a good fish or steak, but you can also get a good pizza or sandwich for $10-15. The beers are about average, $5 or so, and they make a good Arnold Palmer if you're on the wagon. It's not the cheapest place in Palo Alto, but it's certainly far from the most expensive, and it's a great place to take a group of people who are in the mood for different things. Nobody will leave unhappy--that's why we keep going back.

Empire Tap Room, Palo Alto

Empire Grill & Tap Room
California cuisine, moderately priced

Two of the places we visit most often in Palo Alto are Buca di Beppo and Gordon Biersch, across from each other on Emerson between Hamilton and Forest. Next to Buca's is a little place called the Empire Tap Room, which we'd often said "we should try" and never did. A while ago, we tried it and liked it, so when we had a friend in town, we went again and were not disappointed.

Inside, it looks like an upscale bar. The patio was crowded, so we opted for the table inside right away rather than the 20-30 minute wait to sit outside. I've since read glowing reviews of the patio--will have to give it a try for next time. But the inside itself is not too bad, though our table seemed to be a favored stopping point for some gnats, maybe residents of the large plant next to us. The staff were all friendly and helpful, and the tables neat and clean.

The food, overall, was excellent. They brought some fresh bread, with oil and balsamic vinegar upon request. Service was a little slow, probably because the outside patio was so crowded, but it was nothing that bothered us much. Our companion ordered the New York steak (sorry, I'm awful about remembering steak types--it was flank or strip) and we split the halibut special (accepting the $2 split plate charge), topped with red pepper puree and accompanied by roasted potatoes. Both dishes included assorted vegetables julienne, and we ordered the parmesan roasted asparagus on the side.

The steak was (I understand) good. The halibut was delicious, tender but firm with good flavor. The red pepper puree was okay, but didn't really add much to the fish from my perspective. The potatoes were excellent, not too soft and really flavorful, and the roasted asparagus was really good, hot and crunchy and tasty. We also ordered their french fries, which were very good, crispy and well-seasoned, though the homemade ketchup tasted a bit too much like spaghetti sauce and the aioli, though tasty, was a little runny. We ate comfortably and weren't too full when the meal was done. For a place called a "tap room," the Empire has a good selection of wines, which were consumed without complaint and seemed to go well with the meal (I had a Diet Coke myself, which was also good).

It's a little pricey, but the food is good, the service is good, and if you want to sit outside, there are few places with as large a patio. If you just want good brew pub food, it's hard to beat Gordon Biersch across the street, and I think eight times out of ten we'd go back there rather than return to Empire.

Three Seasons

Three Seasons Vietnamese restaurant, Palo Alto

The first time we walked into Three Seasons, months ago, it came across as a curious mix between a bar and a fancy Asian restaurant. Bamboo grows around the bar in the atrium, except where the widescreen TV shows sports in one corner. More traditional tables ring the atrium on the first and second floor, and spill out onto the patio on Century Walk.

Service is a little slow, especially when it's busy, but the food here is so good that it doesn't matter. We usually get a few small plates to share and are happy with that. The fried tofu is de rigeur: it's the best I've ever had. The consistency, the light coating, the sweet/spicy sauce, and even the fried onions and scallions on top are delicious every time. All the rolls are good, and if you ask, they'll leave out the cilantro for you. This time we opted for a sea scallop satay rather than a roll, and we weren't disappointed. Though satay is normally served with a peanut sauce, this was accompanied by a yellow curry, with a small side of rice noodles garnished with peanuts. The scallops themselves were large, tender, and delicious.

In the past, we've enjoyed the pea sprouts, though they might not be to everyone's taste. This time I suggested the Japanese eggplant with peppers and onions in a coconut sauce, and again we were not disappointed. The creamy soy-based sauce was sweet, but not overbearingly so, and the coconut was a nice complementary flavor rather than overwhelming everything. We enjoyed the textures of the soft but firm eggplant and the crunchy peppers with some jasmine steamed rice, and that made our meal.

Mark also enjoys their lychee martinis, and I'll let him talk about the drinks if he's so inclined. There's a reason the bar is the centerpiece of the restaurant, I think--besides the wonderful food, the cocktails are reputedly quite good as well. But even if, like me, you don't indulge in that particular vice, there's plenty of reasons to come back to Three Seasons over and over.

Siam Royal Thai Cuisine (Palo Alto)

We get takeout Thai almost as often as we eat in, so it feels appropriate to post a review here even if the title of the blog implies eat-in experiences. Siam Royal is one of several Thai restaurants on the University Ave. strip of Palo Alto (Krung Thai and Thaiphoon being the others that came up in a search--Krung Thai is the restaurant variously called "Pink Thai" for its decor and "Grand Opening" for the banner that remained up for months obscuring the restaurant's actual name). Siam Royal is next to Z Gallerie, and has been recently renovated, which shows in the clean, modern interior of the smallish space. The counter is, somewhat disorientingly, at the back, meaning you have to walk through the whole restaurant to pick up your order.

We ordered crispy calamari, mint rolls with chicken, yellow curry with chicken, mango chicken, pad thai with shrimp, and mango with sticky rice for dessert. The calamari were excellent, with a sweet, spicy sauce that rivals good seafood cocktail as a condiment for this dish. We've tried calamari in several places in Palo Alto, and this was definitely up there with Cheesecake Factory as one of the better ones in the area. The breading is heavier, but crisp and flavorful. The mint rolls, the other appetizer, were cold and wrapped in rice paper, Vietnamese style. Most appealingly to me, they contained no cilantro, an herb it's almost impossible to avoid in cold roll appetizers. Lots of mint, good chicken, and again, excellent light peanut sauce to accompany the roll.

The main dishes were nothing outstanding, but were all fine exemplars. There's not much you can to do ruin yellow curry, and they didn't. The mango chicken had little mango, but the chicken and veggies had great flavor. Similarly, the pad thai had not as much shrimp as I would've liked, but the shrimp were large (rather than the tiny scampi you sometimes find in noodle dishes) and the noodles were good and sticky, with a rich flavor that almost felt more like pad see ew than pad thai. Which I didn't mind, because I like the see ew noodles too.

My big problem with Thai food when I first started eating it a few years ago was that it seemed that no matter how I ordered the spice level, I'd always get something too spicy. While most of these dishes were mild (the calamari sauce was spicy and the mango chicken had chilis in it) and perfectly to my taste, I can certainly see that people who prefer Thai food for the spice would want to ask for spicier meals when ordering here. They advertise themselves as "authentic Thai," but I think it's more like classic Americanized Thai--but that's fine, because that's what we're used to.

Lastly, the mango with sticky rice was okay--again, not great, but then, it had been sitting around for three hours at that point, so that could've been part of it. It tasted good, but the rice and mango seemed to be a little dried out. This is one dessert I really like that is not on the menu in many Thai places, so it was nice to find it here.

All in all, a solid choice for Thai food. And they packaged the takeout really nicely, wrapping the drippy stuff in individual tied plastic bags and using foam clamshells rather than the Chinese takeout-style paper folding boxes. I was thanked by three different staff members on my way out through the restaurant, and all the diners seemed pretty happy. We'd go there again, sit down or takeout.

Spago

We found out last week that the venerable Spago, Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in Mountain View, was going to be closing at the end of May. It was one of those places that we'd always meant to go, and so we snapped up a reservation for Saturday night the 26th.

We'd heard various things about Spago, but the consensus seemed to be that while the food was still good, the service had gone downhill and the décor was very passé. I don't know about any of that--we liked the décor and had excellent service all night. Maybe they're stepping it up now that it's closing, and maybe we're just passé too.

We started off with a scrumptious bread basket that included a walnut bread, an olive bread, and a crispy flatbread. All of them were very good--the only problem was that we didn't want to fill up on it.

For appetizers, we split the crab cake and the local spring greens salad. The salad had peas and asparagus, among other things, in a nice sharp balsamic dressing that worked very well with it. That was good, but the crab cake was superb. Soft, flavorful, with light breading and a light lemon aioli...mmmm.

We split the wild salmon with miso glaze, which was fabulous. The barbecue glaze didn't overwhelm the salmon flavor, and the accompanying veggies (something that was either lima beans or edamame, tender, but not mealy, more asparagus, and a mashed-potato-like base) were delicious with the light lemon creamy dressing. I used some of the bread to sop up the glaze, not wanting to leave any on the plate.

For dessert, we shared the ginger pound cake with vanilla ice cream, toffee syrup, and a Minneola tangelo garnish; and the creme brulee with fresh berries and shortbread. My only complaint about the ginger pound cake is that I wish they'd included a little more tangelo. It really went well with the ginger flavor and the toffee. That said, there wasn't much more to complain about with this dessert. It was wonderful, the outside a little sticky and hard as if honey-baked, the inside soft and cakey. The toffee syrup wasn't too overwhelming or sweet, but worked well with the ice cream and cake.

The crème brulée was good, but not outstanding, a little more like flan than custard. We prefer it a bit more custardy, generally. The berries were fresh and the shortbread quite good as well.

Lastly, we got a selection of the fresh-baked cookies to go, and have been nibbling on them ever since. They are quite good, but I think would have been better fresh.

On the way out, we talked to the hostess a bit. She was sad to see the place close, of course, but said they'd had a nice ten-year run. We're certainly going to check out some of Wolfgang Puck's other restaurants; there's a Spago remaining in Caesar's Las Vegas, as well as a Trattoria del Lupo in Mandalay Bay in Vegas and, well, see for yourself. Yes, it was pricey, but it was definitely worth it.