Lunch on the Peninsula: Suggestions Wanted

Medusa wrote:
> The people in my work group are looking for good, moderately
> priced restaurants to try eating lunch at. Especially places
> with novel kinds of ethnic food. We're in Palo Alto, so we're
> particularly interested in places in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Los
> Altos, Mountain View or nearby.

Here are a few (assuming Chinese doesn't count as "novel"):
  - Mango Cafe on Hamilton, Palo Alto.  Good hot Caribbean food (sauces on the
    table to make it as hot as you like), reasonable lunch-sized portions,
    soothing smoothies.
  - Swagat, on El Camino a few blocks NW of San Antonio Rd., Palo Alto, has a
    very nice Indian lunch buffet.
  - There's a Vietnamese place just off Menlo Ave. a block west of El Camino
    in Menlo Park; just okay for dinner, I've never tried it for lunch.
  - Viccolo Pizzeria on University in Palo Alto has "ethnic Californian" food
    (a joke, but the stuff is more unusual than "real" pizza, which we've often
    heard isn't available here anyway, and quite good if you ignore authentici-
    ty issues); the pizza is pricey, but the few sandwiches are a good deal.
>
> By the way, today we went to Estampas Peruanas in Redwood
> City. The seafood with rice and the chicken special
> lunch were good; the ceviche was out of this world.
> Definitely worth another visit.
>
Estampas Peruanas may be the best restaurant in Redwood City now (I think of 2030 as the competition for that title, but I've heard there's been a change there), certainly the most interesting.  Their dinner portions are so large that I wouldn't have thought of it as a lunch place.  In addition to the various seafood soups/stews, I highly recommend (at dinner) the Arroz con pollo, and a Prawns with garlic (Camarones al ajo?) which is pure heaven for real serious garlic lovers.
                                     Al Eisner
                                     ([email removed])
                                     San Mateo County, CA

Someone wrote:
>
>The people in my work group are looking for good, moderately
>priced restaurants to try eating lunch at. Especially places
>with novel kinds of ethnic food. We're in Palo Alto, so we're
>particularly interested in places in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Los
>Altos, Mountain View or nearby.

I like Peking Duck on El Camino near California; it's a bit expensive for a Chinese place, but still 'moderate' and worth it.  Kirk's on California is good if all you want is burger and fries.  Jing Jing in downtown Palo Alto is considered the canonical Szechuan restaurant (the Jargon File says so ;-), but don't bother unless you can walk or CalTrain it.

Homma's Brown Rice Sushi (around the corner and across the street from Printers Inc on California) has to be experienced to be believed.  The new Healthy Choice Persian restaurant (in the complex next to California Ave Caltrain) is pretty good and dirt-cheap for all-you-can-eat.

(Can you tell my primary destination in Palo Alto?)

Someone wrote:

>   - There's a Vietnamese place just off Menlo Ave. a block west of El Camino
>     in Menlo Park; just okay for dinner, I've never tried it for lunch.

If you mean the Vietnam, I'd honestly love to hear your recommendation for a better Vietnamese restaurant. I'm no expert on the subject, but I always enjoy the food there and the service is at least respectable. I'd like to know if I'm missing something.

-Brenda

Medusa wrote:

   The people in my work group are looking for good, moderately
   priced restaurants to try eating lunch at. Especially places
   with novel kinds of ethnic food. We're in Palo Alto, so we're
   particularly interested in places in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Los
   Altos, Mountain View or nearby.

   By the way, today we went to Estampas Peruanas in Redwood
   City. The seafood with rice and the chicken special
   lunch were good; the ceviche was out of this world.
   Definitely worth another visit.

Amelia's, also in Redwood City, for papusas. On Main street, I think, in downtown. Very reasonably priced.

I don't know if they are open for lunch, but Gombei in Menlo Park on El Camino is great for Japanese.

I recently was introduced to the very good Hangen in Mountain View (on Castro) for Chinese (don't know if you consider that novel enough).

It gets mixed reviews in this newsgroup, but I like Sono Sushi on Castro in Mountain View for sushi, especially at lunch when it's busy and the stock moves fast.

>I don't know if they are open for lunch, but Gombei
>in Menlo Park on El Camino is great for Japanese.

It's open for lunch.
>
>I recently was introduced to the very good Hangen in Mountain View
>(on Castro) for Chinese (don't know if you consider that novel enough).

What is hangen?  I've never heard of it.

Another place I like for a Cantonese-style is Ten Fu (El Camino) in Menlo Park.  Fresh tasting  - typical of Cantonese-style.  A stir-fried asparagus and shrimp tastes like asparagus and shrimp without all the accoutrements.

-
>Deborah Gronke Bennett       System Software Engineer, IOS Technology
>[email removed]            (408)-526-4000
>Cisco Systems
>170 West Tasman Dr., San Jose, CA 95134-1706