Tag: United States

Steps of India

Steps of India

as send-off party to my teammate, we had indian lunch buffet at this restaurant. i’ve been to a lot of indian lunch buffets and this place wasn’t remarkable. the buffet table had very few options, around two chicken dishes, four vegetarian dishes and three dessert 

Castle II Korean BBQ AYCE

Castle II Korean BBQ AYCE

they say that if you ever visit los angeles, you shouldn’t miss stopping by at any korean bbq all you can eat resto. not only is it cheap but the quality and variety of meat is impressive. the resto we picked didn’t have a very 

Thea

Thea

our generous manager treated us for lunch at this expensive greek restaurant. it was a thanksgiving event. the ambiance of the place is nice too, the ceiling was high, the decor was elegant, and the place is spacious to accommodate big parties. i was observing vegetarian diet that time so i had their vegetable moussaka, “a casserole of eggplant, potato, zucchini, onion, red pepper, and tomato sauce”. it was delicious! we ordered a couple of items from their dessert menu. we got bougatsa “phyllo wrapped semolina custard, caramel with vanilla gelato”, sokolatina “rich chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and cream”, and baklava “flakey layers of phyllo with mixed nuts, honey, and yogurt sauce”. they were so tasty i wanted more. 

Thea
http://www.thearestaurant.com/
3090 Olsen Drive
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 260-1444

Verdict: 5/5

Mountain Mike’s Pizza

Mountain Mike’s Pizza

out of the blue, i finally tried mountain mike’s lunch pizza and salad buffet for $6.99 which is offered everyday from 11AM to 2PM. this is conveniently located to almaden cinelux which offers $5.50 for all movies before 5PM. i got in the restaurant by 

Crawdaddy

Crawdaddy

we ordered their fried oysters for appetizers considering that we went there for dinner. it was good. the sauce complemented with the fried oysters. given the restaurant’s name, we stayed away from ordering steamed crabs or shrimps. we ordered one pound of steamed crawfish in 

Smoking Pig BBQ

Smoking Pig BBQ

in search for a bbq and ribs place, we found this place. it has a decent amount of parking space but it was full when we came. the good thing is it has more parking space in the adjoining lot. as appetizers, we tried their “wolf turds – this jalapeno is stuffed with cheese and smoked sausage, wrapped in bacon and smoked for two hours”. i enjoyed this appetizer! we paired this with their three sauces: hot, sweet, and the one with mustard. be careful with their hot sauce, it will burn your tongue. i like the mustard and sweet sauces. for our entrees, we ordered their one meat meal half rack ribs, which came with 6 big pieces of ribs, and another one meat meal of one pound of fat beef brisket. the half rack was too much for us. we were only able to taste one rib each. it wasn’t that easy to take out the meat from the bone. maybe their ribs are meant to be eaten by hands. the taste was just alright. we both love the beef brisket. it was so tender and the taste was awesome. i could even eat it without dipping it in their sauces. all meals include one side dish and cornbread. my friend chose coleslaw while i wanted baked potato instead of mashed potato. the baked potato they have was called potato grenade which unusually had mac & cheese inside and the potato was wrapped with bacon. we didn’t enjoy the potato grenade. the mac & cheese didn’t impress my asian taste buds. the bacon wasn’t able to save the baked potato too. i prefer a plain baked potato with cheese or butter over this.

bbq and meat-lovers must try this place especially their beef brisket.

Smoking Pig BBQ Company
1144 N 4th St
San Jose, CA 95112

Verdict: 4/5 (-1 for their ribs and potato grenade)

Patxi’s

Patxi’s

family and friends close to me would know how much of a pizza lover i am! patxi’s (pronounce pa-cheese) is my favorite pizza restaurant in south bay. i’ve tried its two branches in san jose and palo alto. both produced the same quality of taste. 

Bill’s Cafe at Willow Glen

Bill’s Cafe at Willow Glen

the long line outside this restaurant has always made me curious to try this place. it has great reviews too so me and my friend ventured out to have a very early breakfast at this cafe. its menu has a wide selection of american breakfast 

Thai Spice

Thai Spice

Across Walgreens along Bird Avenue corner Willow Street, San Jose, California, is a mysterious looking restaurant that makes me curious because of its darkly tinted glass door and walls. Much as I wanted to have a clue as to what kind of ambiance it has and what kind of customers frequent the place, the seemingly impenetrable facade stares blank at me. It took me more than a couple of trips to Walgreens until I decided to put an end to my curiosity. 
Arm in arm with my daughter, we bravely tried the door which, disappointingly, had a “Do not enter” sign. Not about to give up, but prepared to leave, I turned back to give it another look…and saw a tiny handwritten “Use other door” with an arrow directed to the left. So, what looked like another wall panel is a door, after all.  We pushed it and a creepy black gowned witch from the ceiling greeted us with a creaking door sound background. An early Halloween cheer, I mumbled, it’s only the first week of October. A nice lady in white uniform with a white apron to match greeted us in a friendly Asian sing song voice and offered us a table for two. It was 11am, and only s4 tables far apart from each other have been occupied. We studied the menu and decided to order the more familiar fresh spring roll “guo cuon” and pad Thai. My daughter also added pork in red curry sauce. The waitress asked her if she wants it hot, my daughter said “very hot” and the waitress asked, Thai hot? Yes, we chorused. And so, while waiting for our order, we were kind of gazing floor to ceiling, wall to wall, table to table…but cannot find an exact definition for the place. It is inconspicuous, for one, but maybe, it has it’s own charm for the incoming guests that are now coming in twos or fours and filling the tables. The theme of the place is like an old English tavern or Irish pub, without the bar, or maybe I didn’t look harder. The dark walls and furniture contrasted with the white table lined with white paper. I can imagine a scene in The Godfather happening in one corner table with some characters in clandestine meeting.
My reverie was broken by the arrival of a platter of assorted pickled vegetables for appetizer. 

It  served its purpose as I felt eager to start my main course. My pad Thai had pieces of prawns in it. It tasted fresh and juicy. I cannot decide if my pad Thai was good enough, I just know that my 21 year old son’s version back home was a lot better. 


My daughter’s guo cuon finally came with peanut sauce. It looked very attractive. It also had prawns in it as ordered. It tasted good with peanut sauce.


The final order, pork in red curry sauce was delicious and, yes, Thai hot, as promised!


We truly enjoyed our meal and still have a large leftover to take home. It was also very reasonably priced at US$24.00 inclusive of tax and tip.  
 By the time we finished, more guests teemed the place. We graciously complimented the food and good service. On our way out, we came face to face with a life-size skeleton planted at the door and as we pulled the handle, we were sent off with the more funny than scary “he eh , he eh , he eh, he eh, he eh “
Chez Sovan

Chez Sovan

   we went to this cambodian restaurant for my friend’s belated birthday celebration. i confess i have very little exposure to cambodian cuisine so i was so excited to try this place. it was lunch time on a friday and not many customers were there. 

Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck

i always have this unexpected appetite for airport dining even after coming from international flights which offer heavy meals. i found myself at Wolfgang Puck after walking around SEA-TAC airport. a football game was playing with a big fan crowd. i ordered four cheese pesto 

Pinoy Lechon BBQ & Grill

Pinoy Lechon BBQ & Grill

this filipino restaurant satisfies my craving for comfort food and favorite filipino dishes when i don’t feel like cooking. this restaurant is not a carinderia type where there are already cooked dishes. you have to order the dish and then they will cook it so one has to be patient or not very hungry when they come here. they offer almost name-it-all filipino dishes. i’ve tried their dinuguan, kaldereta, kare-kare, chopsuey, sisig, bangsilog, empanada and lechon! i was expecting lechong cebu but i had to settle with their lechong manila. i have not been disappointed with any of the dishes i ordered from them so far. the dishes are reasonably priced too for their taste and quantity.

Pinoy Lechon BBQ & Grill
2011 Tully Rd
San Jose, CA 95122

Verdict:
4.75/5.0 (-0.25 for the lechon)