L. G. wrote: >Three of us from Santa Cruz are picking up a friend at the SJ airport >next Friday, late afternoon and heading for the Tina Turner concert at >Shoreline. >We'd like to grab a quick meal before the concert I might suggest Castro St. in mountain view, which is lined with restaurants. It's also fairly close to the amphitheatre. There's good Indian (Sue's Kitchen), Chinese (Szechuan Garden, Hunan Gourmet), bad Thai (Amarin - avoid it, you won't have time to put up with their service), Pho (Pho Xe Lua on Moffett), and what feels like hundreds of other restaurants. The most trouble-free way to get there from Santa Cruz would be to take 17 over the hill to 85 north, then the Moffett Blvd exit from 85. Take a left at the bottom of the offramp. About a mile down, after moffett crosses central, it becomes Castro St. There's parking around there, or a big parking garage in the block boxed by Castro, Villa, Bryant, and Evelyn. To get to the amphitheatre from downtown MTV, go one block west of Castro st. -- using any surface street: Villa, California, Middlefield, Central Expwy -- to Shorline Blvd, turn right, and follow shoreline until you hit traffic :-). Allan
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
din btwn sjc & shoreline
>I might suggest Castro St. in mountain view, which is lined with >restaurants. It's also fairly close to the amphitheatre. > >There's good Indian (Sue's Kitchen), Chinese (Szechuan Garden, Hunan I had a really bad meal at Szechuan Garden the other week. We must have spent 20 minutes going through the menu to find something remotely interesting to order and the food, when it arrived was mediocre at best. My date couldn't even eat her hot and sour soup because it had an off flavor to it. Not one thing was good and there's no way I'm going back. I've heard enough recommendations for this restaurant (and a friend of mine used to take me there and my memories of it are OK) that I have to assume it was once good. It no longer is. Don't go there.
I also have to recommend Tien Fu. My wife and I eat here almost weekly, and have rarely had anything less than an excellent dining experience. Our personal favorites are the sesame chicken, cashew chicken, and mixed fried rice. We also really enjoy the sizzling rice soup and the green onion pancake appetizer. We've also tried a bunch of other things on the menu, and they have all been prepared very well with high quality ingredients (sp?). Give it a shot, I don't think you'll be disapointed. Jody S. wrote: >Just thought I'd throw in my perennial recommendation for Tien Fu. >Everything I've ordered has been tasty. My faves include Tien Fu Chicken >(might be too sweet for some folks), Kung Pao Prawns, Dry Sauteed String >Beans. They're also currently featuring asparagus dishes. >What I like most of all is the lack of both huge puddles of oil left on >your plate and inedible gristly bits of meat. I've never come across either >of these two near-standard Chinese restaurant items at Tien Fu. >Give it a try, >Jody --------------------- Jesse J. Contreras "Oxen pull cart up hill, but bird make nest in tree"
There are/used to be Tien Fu restaurants out in the avenues in SF and another in San Rafael - 4th St or thereabouts. I haven't eaten at either for a long time, but I too remember good meals. One memorable thing was an incredible dipping sauce for the potstickers, loaded with garlic. Yum, no vampires around here. Cheers, Linda Jody S. wrote: > > Dave E. wrote: > (snip) > > Just thought I'd throw in my perennial recommendation for Tien Fu. > > Everything I've ordered has been tasty. My faves include Tien Fu Chicken > (might be too sweet for some folks), Kung Pao Prawns, Dry Sauteed String > Beans. They're also currently featuring asparagus dishes. > > What I like most of all is the lack of both huge puddles of oil left on > your plate and inedible gristly bits of meat. I've never come across either > of these two near-standard Chinese restaurant items at Tien Fu. > > Give it a try, > > Jody
Someone wrote: |> Jim H. wrote: |> |> I hope you have tried it at lunch and not at dinner |> |> Maybe that's the trick because I've never been there at lunchtime. Why |> would it be so much different though ? Do they have completely different |> cooks during the two shifts ? I can't say beyond the evidence I personally gathered, but I tried it again today. The HotAndSour was OK, better than most but not as good as Hangen, and the crunchies they bring with it were very sad, greasy, tasted day old. But the Asparagus Beef (plus spicy) was as good as it gets, and the Hot Braised Shrimp (I may have called it something else before?) was fabulous as always. I think the secret is that the onion sauce is made fresh when you order at lunch, while they premake the sauces for the dinner serving. I was watching him throw stuff together today, as good a show as any Benihana, because this guy was really working it. Flames POURING up past the rim on all sides of the wok, bursts of more flames leaping up every time he added another ingredient. I enjoyed it, and I'm picky about food. If I had to bitch the asparagus dish was rather oily, but fresh and crunchy enough to make up for it.