Fiesta del Mar

...the search for good Mexican food continues. Andy suggested that we try Fiesta del Mar, which is a place that we drove by very frequently when we lived in Mountain View, but never stopped in to try. Jonathan went there once for lunch with Jim, but it was quite a while ago. So, for a Friday lunch, Jonathan, Andy, and I met there to give them a go!

I arrived first and was greeted very nicely. I was seated immediately and waters were brought to the table within a minute. Chips with three different salsas were placed, and I admired the decor of the restaurant while I waited for the boys. The chairs appeared to be hand-carved and painted to resemble various animals, which was neat. There were also dozens of wooden fish lining the wall - each painted with a different design. The salsas were each quite different - a mild, a spicy, and a chunky. I preferred the chunky, though we ate a bit of all of them.

I chose the chicken chimichanga (this time remembering to ask for double-rice-no-beans), which came with sour cream, guacamole, and fresh cheese on top. I was delighted to find the guacamole very flavorful and the cheese quite good as well. The meat wasn't marinated in anything special, but the chimichanga had a good flavor overall. The rice was plentiful and delicious - and although I was surprised to find small pieces of potato in it, they added a nice touch. I'm not sure if I finished quite half, but came close.

Jonathan went with the chicken burrito. He found the chicken to be really good, and it was quite cheesy. It did come with a red sauce that was weird and that he would substitute out next time.

Andy chose the fish burrito, which came with a creamy sauce. It looked wonderful, and Andy agreed that it was pretty good. He was busy bragging about how much he liked the refried beans, so I guess that's a good sign to those who enjoy them.

I was the only one to take home leftovers, and they were just as scrumptious that evening. Ladies and gentlemen, we have certainly found the frontrunner for Mexican food in this area! Next time I look forward to getting a seafood dish... after all, it's in their name!

Barracuda Sushi

Jonathan, Andy, and I were getting together for a final meal before we left for Christmas. Andy likes this place called Barracuda Sushi in downtown Mountain View for their happy hours, and he said they did brunch, too, so we went there for Sunday brunch. They also have a few other locations in the Bay Area.

We started with ichiban roll, which is one of their specialties. It's white tuna, cucumber, and green onion, covered with unagi (eel) and avocado. I liked it okay, and Jonathan felt the same. It came just before the food, but we weren't feeling rushed either, which was okay. The prices seemed a little high at first, but after the food arrived and nobody could finish their order, it turned out to be appropriate. I had the two-item bento box, and went with chicken teriyaki and the pork gyoza. The chicken was delicious, the gyoza was average. The salad and sup that accompanied the meal were also average. The rice was good, the orange slices were tasty, and I didn't try the edamame so I can't comment on that. The boys both had donburi (rice bowls with egg), one with chicken and one with pork. The chicken was HUGE and both guys struggled to get even close to finishing. Jonathan said he'd get it again.

I also went with the $7 unlimited mimosas (available 11-3 or 4 on weekends), and I was apparently the only person in the restaurant doing so that morning, since they had to make a pitcher of it, and we noticed that it was only brought over to refill my glass, LoL. It was good, I'd recommend it. We're planning to go back there at some point, since they also had television on... although football season is over...

Pho Garden

Another day another pho place. This is a place that opened in downtown Mountain View since we last lived here. We were there specifically for a scouting mission, since they have a challenge that Jonathan and our friend Andy (not Florida-Andy) want to do. It's a giant bowl of pho, which (for our newer readers) is a Vietnamese soup.

So this time, Jonathan and Andy both got the XL (the challenge uses a 3XL) pho and timed themselves on that. They weren't really eating it for the flavor (Jonathan did not spend nearly his usual amount of time seasoning, LoL), but they seemed to like it well enough. I, on the other hand, went for the Spicy Chicken with Garlic Noodles. I thought this would be pho as well, but it turned out to be a broth-free dish. The chicken was plentiful, but the skin was still on it, so it took a bit of work to separate that. The noodles were heavy on the garlic, but that was to be expected. Cucumber and tomato garnished the dish, but didn't really add anything. I added a bunch of lime (having mistakenly ordered "extra lime" since I thought I was being served a pho), which gave the spicy chicken a great flavor, so I'm glad I did.

The guys both decided that they could handle the challenge, and a week later we went back for that! Kathy and Cody joined me in cheering them on, but unfortunately there were a few snags in the plans...

In investigating the challenge, we had found out that you were permitted to remove two of the six or so kinda of meat that was in the gigantic bowl. So, Jonathan and Andy both chose to remove the tendon and the tripe, since those are harder to get down (strange textures and such). However, when the bowls came out, those meats were present. They were promptly sent back. BUT, instead of bringing out completely new bowls of pho, they apparently just tried to remove those meats and added more of others instead. Well, this failed miserably because there was some tendon and a fair bit of tripe that remained in the bowl. PLUS, the time elapsed allowed the noodles to expand quite a bit, which removed the strategy of gobbling down those first. About twenty minutes in, they knew it was a bit of a stretch to attempt to finish off the challenge, so the pace slowed quite a bit. Andy had more optimism than Jonathan about it, and he continued to wolf it down for another ten or fifteen minutes, until he also knew that their efforts were fruitless. They did receive t-shirts for attempting the feat, and I took notes from each of them as to how they'd approach it next time, LoL.

Meanwhile, by the way, I had the chicken pho on that trip... and it was some of the worst pho that I have ever had. I'd never order it again. Pho Hoa is just so much better, LoL. Here are a few photos of the guys eating the gigantic bowls...

Frankie, Johnnie, & Luigi Too

For our first dinner-and-a-movie night in California, we drove over to Mountain View for some Italian food. It was a restaurant we had not been to before, even though it was just outside of the downtown that we frequented last year. Frankie, Johnnie, & Luigi Too had a 25-minute wait, but we were seated after 19 minutes. It was a good thing that I had previewed the menu, since we weren't exactly given a relaxed pace. But that's no big deal, it was after 8 on a Friday night, and we would've been upset if the meal was too leisurely, since we did have a movie to make over in Santa Clara.

Our waters weren't refilled immediately, but they were filled consistently, so no true complaints there. The bread was fresh and hot, with plain butter. We also ordered the sausage bread as an appetizer, since it sounded unique and we were hungry. It was very fresh, with sliced (homemade) sausage and mozzarella baked in. It was served with a good marinara sauce as well, and we even took the final slice home.

Many things on the menu looked good, and I absolutely have to give them credit for unique combinations in their dishes. I went with the linguini pollo alla cuore, which was bite-sized chicken with broccoli, onion, peppers, and tomatoes. It was an oily romano-basil sauce, and as a whole I probably would have placed it near the bottom of the list of Italian dishes I've ever had. But it was unique, and I enjoyed eating one part of it at a time (broccoli, then peppers, etc). I just didn't care for the flavors together (I think the "sauce" killed it for the most part).

Jonathan had the baked ziti, which was also very unusual. It was eggplant, mushrooms, sausage, and ricotta in a tomato cream sauce and smoked provolone baked on top. He liked it a lot there, but reheated he didn't really like the mixed sausage and eggplant in the flavor. So, although both of us had three meals out of the giant plates we were given, only I finished it.

I wanted to like this place quite a bit, since you can get 20% off really easily (Costco deals), but it didn't happen. We may try it again, since it was highly recommended to us by a friend, but we'll have to see.

Honeyberry

Afterward, we wanted dessert, but the Chinese bakery in Mountain View was already closed, so we kinda just started driving, and arrived at Honeyberry, a frozen yogurt place none of us had been to before. Frozen Yogurt is not a very good description tho, since they only had 4 flavors... they had about 12 gelato choices and another 6 in shaved ice! There were some interesting items on the menu - chocolate-covered strawberries and waffles were on there, strangely enough. I tried the oreo, vanilla, and double espresso gelatos - all incredibly smooth, but the double espresso was realllllly strong. The fresh strawberries and kiwi were nice toppings. The blueberries were sour, the green tea was strong, but otherwise there was nothing that stood out about the other flavors that everyone else got.

There was a frequent buyer card, but you had to buy like $60 worth to get $3 off. Clearly the worst one ever. There is, however, one of those opportunities to guess what your creation will weigh (to the tenth of an ounce), and if you get it right, you get a gift certificate (and the amount escalates with how heavy your cup was, from 10 ounces to over 26!). The overall atmosphere was the icing on the cake... we will not be back, nor recommend the place. It was very unfriendly.

Shabuway

This past Thursday night, Andy, Kathy, JB, and I all went to Shabuway, a place downtown that we always walk past but have never been in. It labels itself as a Japanese fondue place, and the service is incredibly fast (tho not precisely accurate).

Kathy and JB each ordered a large shabu shabu plate (really thinly sliced raw beef and a platter of like 5 kinds of vegetables). Andy had the large with extra meat, and I got the 10-piece shrimp potstickers. Similar to Mongolian hotpot, you get a pot of boiling liquid (again, we got the divided half-and-half with plain on one side and spicy on the other). I didn't care for most of the vegetables (Kathy might have been the only one who truly enjoyed them - she even ordered an extra platter of them), but otherwise it was good. The pricing is fair. They all enjoyed the kobe beef (they were out of lean meat); I thought it tasted just like all other beef. My shrimp tasted more like pork, but that wasn't really a problem. We had a hard time getting our water glasses refilled, and the server wasn't very happy that Kathy wanted extra spicy broth. Lastly, Jonathan and I ordered a side of udon noodles, but instead received an unagi bowl. It was a great deal and tasty eel, but we had to repeat our order twice (the waitress didn't write it down and she mixed up several things when repeating it back to us), and we still received the wrong item.

In the end: I don't really have much purpose in going back, but if you like beef, I say give it a go!

Pasta?

Jonathan's parents were visiting, so one night we went to eat with them at Pasta? Trattoria, where our server was truly Italian! The bread was good and crusty, but I wasn't too impressed with the Macaroni ai Fromaggi, which was macaroni and cheese with ham. It wasn't really "baked" like the description stated, and the hint of nutmeg in the sauce was strange and uncalled for. Jonathan tried the Gnocci Tartufati, which he liked but I didn't care for due to the truffles in the cream sauce. His dad liked his Fusili con Salsiccia (corkscrew pasta with sausage), and his mom had a spicy penne dish with tomato sauce.

In-n-Out, Take Two

Now, we've been to In-n-Out before. But it's been a while for me (although JB had some while I was away), and I've been dying to order by the secret menu.

We went through the drive-thru and took home our meals this time, which was interesting. They actually have a live person with an electronic tablet taking orders instead of a speaker box. This is rain or shine, as we've learned. We each ordered cheeseburgers "animal-style" (JB had a double, I had a single), JB got regular fries, I got fries "well-done," and I ordered a vanilla milkshake.

We both liked the animal-style, it was great. In case you've never seen the secret menu, it's basically mustard-cooked beef, and has extra pickles, secret sauce, and some grilled onions. I liked it a LOT (pickles are probably in my top 20 favorite foods if you didn't know), JB thought it had way more pickles than necessary but enjoyed it. Next time, I'd get "no lettuce" and maaaybe "extra toast" (meaning the buns are crispy). The "fries well" weren't that special... especially since they forgot to give us ketchup. I might give up on their fries altogether, since it's not like they have honey mustard or bbq or anything. The milkshake was soooooo cream-heavy it was ridiculous. Never again with a meal. And only maaaaybe as just a dessert.

Word to the wise: don't take an "animal-style" out of the wrapper, it's a mess if you do!

Roundtable Pizza

Roundtable Pizza is a much bigger place, and is a chain. We had seen many commercials for them before we actually gave them a go. Our local branch is in the same plaza as Safeway (the grocery store), so while it's close, we don't get them often... they're kinda pricey. But, they do make a very good pizza. We first tried the Meatball Marvel. It had a great crust, one of those mid-rise crusts with handrolling pinches along the edge.... yum! They put seven cheeses on it (seriously!), meatballs, tomatoes, garlic, and caramelized onions. I picked off about half of my meatballs (just not as big a fan as Roundtable is, LoL), but Jonathan liked the flavor combination quite a bit. That was the only specialty pizza we've tried from them, and I honestly don't remember what else we've tried... probably just pepperoni, LoL.

Fast Pizza

Fast Pizza is a mom-and-pop place, located in a plaza maybe a quarter mile from our place. They take about fifteen minutes (great, we have enough time to finish what we're doing, then head down there), and are very good. We've had them several times, both pick-up and delivery. They were the first pizza we got while we were out here, and quickly won us over. We've had two or three of their sauces, and many of their toppings. Our favorite combo is pepperoni and green peppers, with a side of garlic cream sauce. It's fantastic. The only thing I wouldn't recommend: the breadsticks. too blah.

Sushi 85

Thursday nights are a general "out" night for us, as I've apparently only just figured out, but maybe you guys have seen this pattern for a while now. Jim and Viv joined us for all-you-can-eat sushi at Sushi 85. For $25, you don't get a buffet, you get a laminated list of rolls and nigiri, and just mark off what you want! Each person can order three items at a time, so you get a great variety pretty fast.

I wasn't in the mood for a lot of nigiri (same with the rest of the table), so I ordered a couple pieces of ebi (cooked, split shrimp) and a couple unagi (eel) and called it a day. Ebi was average and unagi was a little dry, which doesn't jive well, since it's already served with sauce. JB got two orders of sake (raw salmon), as he really likes their salmon. I wasn't as big a fan, but it could be my pieces (toppers to rolls, will mention soon) were more stringy than his.

There were several rolls on the table I didn't try, since they had crab in them (like the California. the Green Dragon. the Rainbow). But they were generally gobbled up, so I'm guessing there were no complaints!

The worst roll goes to the New York Roll, which was (cooked) shrimp and cucumber. Cucumber was too overwhelming when there weren't a lot of flavors present. Of course we ordered a Philly Roll (salmon and cream cheese), and it was good, although a lil heavy on the cream cheese. JB insisted on a Lion King Roll, which was immense. Easily the largest I've ever seen (even bigger than the Beauty & the Beast at Siam Orchid, which previously held this record in my eyes). It was a crab and avocado roll with baked salmon and a special sauce on top. I ate a few pieces of the top salmon, and it was really different (in a good way). [the photo to the right is a stock photo I found online, but in the left corner you can see the craziness that is the Lion King Roll] Then there was the Tai Ji Roll, which was eel and cucumber with white tuna on top. That was a slight letdown, probably because I treasure a tasty eel, and theirs isn't top-notch. We had an overpowering choice... the Ocean Roll... it had too much in it... tuna, salmon, albacore, spicy tuna, and cucumber. The final roll of the night was the Popcorn Shrimp, and it was great!! It wasn't the crumbly popcorn shrimp like you'd get at KFC, it was more like a sweet-and-sour-type fried shrimp. It and a yummy sauce topped a roll that had shrimp and cucumber in it.

Overall, it was good. The variety was a lot greater, but there were no sashimi options and the nigiri wasn't too impressive.

Bangkok Spoon

On a Sunday afternoon, we went downtown and tried Bangkok Spoon. It was an interesting place. The decor was really neat. The server was the most American Asian guy we've had in California. He spoke like a New York Pizzeria owner, and was pretty friendly.


Jonathan had the Panang Curry, with chicken and rice. He enjoyed it quite a bit. I had the Bangkok Spoon Clay Pot, a house specialty. I didn't care for it, though Jonathan liked it quite a bit when he tried it. The glass noodles were really sticky and sweet, and the bits of bacon were strange. Prawns and cilantro rounded out the dish, which I just couldn't get into. I took home leftovers, but they didn't get eaten and had to be thrown out in the end.


Overall, I enjoyed the place for its decor and staff, but didn't care too much for my dish. I don't really think I'd go back, mainly since the pad thai (the safety Thai dish, let's not lie) has tofu in it, and that's just not gonna fly with me. It was also a bit pricey for lunch, but not disturbingly expensive.

Fast Food Chinese

One night, after the gym, we wanted to try this Chinese place around the corner. Well, actually we've tried to eat there at least two other times, but they close early. REALLY early. Like 8pm, even on weekends. Which is rather ridiculous, considering this is not a small town by any means. But anyway...

We went to Express 7 Chinese Fast Food, and picked up some takeout. Everyone online recommends you get takeout, but eat it there or take it home, since they give you more that way. I find this interesting, but our boxes were HEAPING full, so I guess it's true! Mine made for three meals! Anyway, it's set-up like any Chinese place in a mall... you pick rice or chow mein, then 1-3 entrees. You have the option to add a soup or an eggroll (or a fortune cookie for a dime, which is ridiculous, since they're free EVERYWHERE ELSE). We were there about 7:15-7:30, so it was nearing the end of their day, and as you can imagine several of the items were completely gone. I can't comment on the full menu because of this, especially since I might have ordered different items if they had been available.

Jonathan chose the fried rice (which had peas in it, so it was a no-go for me), and I got the chow mein. He said the rice was average. The chow mein was probably the worst I've ever had... it had LARGE chunks of celery, too much cabbage, and the onions were almost raw. The noodles were also very plain, so I'm glad I could add some soy sauce. Jonathan chose the beef-and-broccoli and the dai chin chicken. The beef-and-broccoli was very standard, but the dai chin chicken was fabulous. Easily the best thing that either of us ordered. I tried the honey chicken and the five-flavor chicken. The honey chicken was strange. As in, it tasted more like honey-barbecue than honey. Think: KFC honey-barbecue chicken. Yikes. The five-flavor, on the other hand, was rather bland for being labeled 'spicy' at the place... AND I even asked the server how spicy it was, and she emphasized "spicy."

It is also worth mentioning that I've pretty much given up forks when it comes to Asian food. It's just so much more efficient to use chopsticks. Really. Because of this, I need restaurants to provide me with quality chopsticks. Unfortunately, the chopsticks here were the absolute worst I have ever been issued. They were very thin, and very splintery. I actually put them down after a piece of wood got into my mouth, and switched over to a fork. Another thing worth mentioning... they only take cash. But the only place you can see that this is the case is above the cash register... so it doesn't help you after you've already ordered and had your food boxed up. Luckily, they have an ATM in the corner of the restaurant, otherwise Jonathan would have had to drive home and get more cash than we had on us (clearly I don't bring my purse to the gym). So between the mall-level food and the need for cash, it's not that great of a place. Especially when Hangen is not even a mile away from the apartment, and so much better.

Mongolian BBQ

Another Thursday night, another opportunity to get together with some friends. Jim, Vivien, Andy, JB, and I headed downtown for some Mongolian. There's a place called New Mongolian BBQ that we've been meaning to try since we first saw it. In the front window you can see the cook creating meals on a huge hot stone with a point sword, and it looks awesome. But, let's start from the beginning.

We enter, they quickly seat us, and they bring out 5 small bowls of soup, a platter of sesame dough sticks, a pot of rice, and glasses of water. The dough sticks weren't very good, as they were kinda.... unleavened, for lack of a better word. The soup was egg-drop-ish with carrots and tofu. I enjoyed the temperature at which it was served, but otherwise it was kinda "eh." At some point, a pitcher of water also appeared at the table, which allowed us to refill our (small) glasses whenever we needed. There was a station where you could get eggrolls, which were good but kinda hollow... as in 60% of the eggroll was the wrapping.

We headed up to the buffet line, where you put ingredients into a bowl and then give it to the cook to stir-fry, so-to-speak. There was beef, lamb, pork, tofu, and chicken. There were noodles. Broccoli, baby corn, cucumbers, pineapple, cilantro, green onions, onions, green peppers, celery, and probably some other things came next. Finally, you added on your sauces.

There were 7 or 8 different ones, and there were "recipes" on the wall to indicate how to mix them to create the "original," "chef's choice," and "spicy" combinations. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in creating a good "spicy." I made the "chef's choice" on my first run, while several others tried "original" and Andy tried making a double batch of "chef's choice." Neither Andy nor I even tasted a sauce, which was strange when you consider how much minced garlic went into the mix. We chatted about why nothing was spicy, and before you knew it we were on our second trip up. JB was able to create a good mix, but he had very few vegetables on his plate, so I think the meat just soaked up the spice. Jim and I ended up with "barely taste it" mixes (I added chili oil to mine, he added chili sauce). It turned out to be a good thing that there was a pitcher of water on the table, as I had to add soy sauce to both my dishes in order to make them tasty, and then they were rather salty, LoL.

After you pick up your cooked meal, you can add garlic powder or sesame seeds (garlic powder helped a lot with the bland flavor). Oh, and there was also a soft-serve machine (vanilla only), which was a nice touch. To review, you got a meal cooked to order, plus ice cream, eggrolls, sesame dough, soup, and rice, all for just $9.99/person. It's a good deal for the money, but could be a lot better if someone could figure out a good mixture of sauces. I'm thinking maybe a teriyaki-barbecue combo could be good...

Pho Ngon

Jonathan had a little bit of a sore throat the week before the Florida trip, and in our book that means a trip for pho. Pho is a Vietnamese soup of sorts. And Pho Ngon has had a "grand opening" sign over the store since we've been here, so we stopped in for some.

It wasn't the best pho ever, and it might have been $1 more than the standard bowl, but it was good. Jonathan got the flank steak and I got the shrimp. He noted that the flank steak was very good, but a little fatty. I tried it and thought it was gummy. The shrimp were incredibly fresh, which I really appreciate. Jonathan thought it was flavorless. The accompanying platter featured mint, jalapenos, bean sprouts, and lime. The cilantro was in the soup (along with onions), and they put a perfect amount in. I needed to ask for extra lime (one wedge per person isn't enough, I use two or three). The broth as a whole was a tiny bit sour, and I used some soy sauce in it.

There was a television on with some sort of Asian Idol show or something... several girls singing and it looked like there was a judge, etc. There were a bunch of plants on the counters and stuff, but you could still see quite a bit of the preparation/kitchen area. The service was quick, but we were there at 8pm on a Wednesday, so I can't imagine that's a prime time.

The reviews on yelp are pretty bad, and recommend other places. I'll probably do the same. I liked the downtown place better, and there are tons of others that we have yet to try.

Hong Kong Bistro

Another weekend lunch in downtown Mountain View. I think we've avoided this place until now because it's a little too fushiony. By this, I mean that they have an easel outside on the sidewalk that lists special like "garlic string beans" and "creamed corn." But we gave it a try, and it turned out to be great.

I ordered the shrimp chow fun, and Jonathan got the mango shrimp special. The special came with a potato-ish soup (maybe porridge?) and hot milk tea. He had a choice of potato, rice, or spaghetti (?), which I thought was strange. He went with rice, and the dish was served in mango peels, which is always a nice presentation. The shrimp were delicious, lightly fried in a syrupy-sweet sauce. There were TONS of mango chunks in the meal, so it was a little too sweet to finish in one setting. My shrimp chow fun (fun is a rice noodle instead of mein, a wheat noodle, from what I can tell anyway) was a huge portion for just $7.50. The shrimp were cooked just right, and the noodles had a good flavor to them. There was a hint of mushroom in the dish, and some onions, but otherwise no vegetables.

We both took home leftovers, and I had mine for dinner that night... it was so delicious!

Yakko Japanese Restaurant

On a recent Thursday, happy hour was canceled so Andy, JB, and myself went downtown to have dinner together.

We got to Yakko (a sushi place) about 7pm, and were immediately seated at a booth - the type that's designed to look like Japanese seating, so you sat on a cushion on wood, with your feet (shoes removed) hanging down into a space. The menu was large, and some of the sushi rolls had amusing names ("screaming orgasm" was tuna over daikon, "new girlfriend" was like a rainbow roll, etc.).

We ordered a simple tekka roll for the table (plain tuna), and it was about as expected, pretty plain. We all ordered combination dinners, which included miso soup, salad, and ice cream. I chose the tuna sashimi and chicken sukiyaki. Andy picked tuna sashimi and beef teriyaki. Jonathan ordered a different type of combo, and his came with shrimp and vegetable tempura, a california roll, tuna sashimi (smaller portion than Andy or I had), and beef teriyaki.

The salad was pretty blase, mostly lettuce, and the dressing wasn't very gingery. The miso was also average, but it was strange in that all of the tofu sank and sat at the bottom of the bowl. The tuna sashimi was great - very fresh and just excellent all around. This was my first sukiyaki experience, and I don't care for the food. It's a soup with a lot of vegetables in it, and tofu and chicken. The broth is a bit sweet, and the chicken was like the kind a mother or grandmother would put in soup (aka real and not perfectly square). There's also rice noodles in it, but they weren't enough to act as a saving grace. The vegetable tempura Jonathan had was interesting - it included carrots, broccoli, peas, and some triangular vegetable. The beef teriyaki wasn't worth noting. On the ice cream front, the guys had green tea (which tasted just like the real thing) and I had chocolate (yum).

The bill ran $70 with tax and tip for the three of us. A bit much, considering the quality. But, service was good, and the atmosphere was nice, so it was worth trying. I doubt I'll return, particularly because I prefer a Japanese menu to have a larger sashimi/nigiri selection.

Red Rock Coffee

We're not really coffee people, and when given the opportunity, I usually take a hot chocolate or a spiced cider on a cold morning instead. I did spend a year working next to a pizza cafe and got many a free cookie and coffee-drink from there. That's when I learned about the differences between lattes and americanos and macchiotos, etc. Although I do love an after-dinner espresso before a night of fun on cruises.

So to try out a coffee shop is not really common. It happened when I was helping out a stranger, really. I volunteered to help someone with a graduate school project, and we did it on the second floor of a local coffee shop, Red Rock Coffee. I was thinking of getting a mocha espresso, but ended up with a blended mocha (think cold and creamy). It was delicious, although I'm not really into spending $4.25 for a little caffeine-y goodness.

The place itself is on a corner in downtown Mountain View, and is rather pretty on the outside. Not because of paint or anything like that, but just because it is built in large stones instead of the same look every other storefront has in downtown. The menu is quite small, serving coffee/tea drinks and bottled waters.

Dim Sum: Not For Dum Dums

Jonathan and I have been looking forward to trying a full dim sum meal for some time now, as we love the small selection that can be found in certain restaurants in Florida. We've been twice since living in California. Andy and Jim, and Jim's girlfriend Vivian invited us to a dim sum lunch in downtown Mountain View the first time, and we went with just Andy the second time. Both times we went to Fu Lam Mum, which is on the north side of downtown. The place is two stories, but uses a gigantic atrium with only a handful of tables upstairs, when it might have been smarter to have a smaller atrium and more upstairs seating.

Servers bring around carts with covered baskets and plates of food. This ranges from chicken feet to egg custard tarts to pork dumplings. There are also pork-filled pastries, rice paper-covered shrimp, pork-rice-mushrooms in leaves, and a variety of other things. You just let the servers know what to put on your table (which has a big lazy susan), and then you share the dishes. The servers mark on your receipt what you got, and then it is tallied up later to get your total bill. The difficulty: the servers don't speak English, and the dishes aren't labeled. So if you're not sure, you take a gamble. Luckily, Andy could communicate with the servers, so we were set.

We loved pretty much everything we tried, especially the shrimp dim sums (and I'm not sure of the pluralization, so feel free to correct me). I didn't care for the leaf-filled option or the sweet pastry with pork, but we're definitely dim sum fans in general and can't wait to try more. The Chinese broccoli is also worth noting... I thought it was bitter, JB thought it was sweet. It looks nothing like regular broccoli except that it is green. However, it has the stem of asparagus and leaves like spinach. I included a stock internet photo, the only difference from ours being that the oyster sauce was served on the side for ours, not drizzled across (which was a good thing, since it was way too salty for my tastes).

Luckily, this place has a night special, where after 9pm you can get three plates of dim sum for $10, so we want to try that next. :)

Something to beware: only three people out of five had tea with the meal (trip #1), but they charged us for five people. Since the table was set with cups at each place setting, I guess that's how they charge... but Andy and I didn't even turn our cups over so they would be usable. Perhaps it could have been argued, but we didn't bother, since we only caught it at the last minute. The second trip, none of us had tea so it was a simple solution.

Xanh: A Vietnamese Lounge/Restaurant

Kathy felt like Xanh, and we are big fans of Vietnamese, so we headed there the other night for dinner. As are most of the places I've written about, it's in downtown Mountain View, and it was a nice night (clear in the upper 40s) so we took a walk down there to try it out. It was a Thursday night at 7pm, and there was a thirty minute wait to seat the three of us.

The lounge area was pretty fantastic, but it was packed so we weren't able to sit and enjoy appetizers/drinks. We walked around downtown instead, but I did snag a few pictures of the room. There were comfy-looking couches and low lighting. The silver decorative hanging balls were fun to look at, and the entire side wall was smooth stones with water pouring down them. (the photos on the website are quite a bit better than the ones I took, so if you're interested, just click on the link at the beginning of this post.)

Instead of giving us a pager, they actually phoned Jonathan to let him know that our table was ready. We were seated in a side room that was bordered with exciting paintings and ball-bearing curtains. There were clear glass panels and a wall of shelving with fancy lighting on bottles.

The three of us shared dishes, which was easy to do since there were appetizer plates on the table when we sat down. We ordered the Traditional Roll to start with, which was a spring roll filled with poached pork and shrimp, rice noodles, green apple, cilantro, mint, cucumber, and shallots. There was no soy sauce provided, but Kathy and JB both enjoyed the peanut sauce with the roll. Then we had the Ahi Tuna Tartare, which was served as a cerviche/guacamole dip with wonton chips. It was made from ahi tuna, cucumber, avocado, mango, green apple, scallions, and some kind of herbs. It was mixed in front of us, and set in a vase of dry ice (see the photo!). I loved the concept, but the rush of flavors was a bit strange, and the cucumber was not chopped finely enough. We want to give it a try at home, but we'll probably alter the dish a little, especially since our Magic Bullet is sitting at the house in Melbourne. Then we got a dish of glass noodles with dungeness crab that included scallions and fried shallots as well. I didn't try any, as the crab was shredded and I couldn't eat around it. Both of the others enjoyed it, and Kathy mentioned it is one of her favorite dishes at the place. Finally, we had the Peppercorn Beef, which was filet minion over potatoes, asparagus, and bell peppers, all in a decently-flavorful peppercorn sauce. The beef itself was quite good, although the potatoes were horribly unflavored... they could have used a spice rub in addition to the sauce. It was the priciest dish, but then again it was filet minion.

We did not have dessert or anything, but I did want to mention the glasses. They are really neat, and the ones for soft drinks are even cooler than the water glasses. The blue cup is a candle.