Cambodian Cuisine

After hunting for something exotic to eat during my last day in Cupertino, I finally found Chez Sovan. This family-run restaurant serves authentic Cambodian food. Cambodian food is similar to Thai but has unique flavors and taste. Initially we were a little unsure if this place will turn out to be a hole-in-the-wall, but the restaurant turned out to be a nice and airy one, with a very homely feel. The Sovan family seems to actually live in the section behind the restaurant, and we could see young kids playing and studying the room behind. Like I said, homely... :-)

If there is one thing you should eat here, it has to be the catfish amok. Absolutely fabulous and unlike anything I have eaten before. This dish is a kind of fish loaf steamed in a banana leaf with curried lemongrass and coconut milk and served piping hot. I loved the taste, texture and flavors: catfish has never tasted this nice!

Before the Amok we had started with Tom Yum soup which was sort of like the Thai version, but contained a lot of veggies, especially baby-corn. We also ordered the Samlaw Curry Moin, a chicken stew with carrots, potatoes, coconut milk and curry spices. This was good too, spicy but also a little sweet from the carrots.

And finally we ordered the Cha Me Kathang, flat rice noodles stir fried with mixed veggies and meat. Quite similar to the drunken noodles we ordered at Krungthai the other day. Again, milder in spice to the Thai version.

Great food, nice atmosphere, completely off the beaten path and great value for money! Portions were quite large and the prices modest. I know I am coming back for that Amok again.

Chez Sovan is located at 2425 S Bascom Ave., Campbell, CA 95008. Phone: 408.371.7711

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Tapas And Paella at Picasso's

Yesterday, a friend and I drove down to Picasso's restaurant for a taste of Spain. This small eatery in downtown San Jose specializes in Tapas and Paellas. Being a Saturday night the restaurant was packed and we were lucky to get our table almost immediately. The walls, no surprise, are decorated with prints of Spain's most famous cubist painter whose name adorns the restaurant.

Like everyone else in the restaurant we ordered Sangria for drinks. Sangría is a wine punch from Spain. The word sangría comes from the Spanish sangre meaning blood. It typically consists of red wine, chopped fruit (in our case, apple), a sweetener such as honey or orange juice, a small amount of added brandy, triple-sec or soda. Interestingly, the locals will never order Sangria in a bar; it is something you will only serve in house parties. So, bar sangria in Spain is aimed almost exclusively at tourists.

We ordered some small plates from the Tapas menu. The Salteado de Champinones y Setas was an assortment of sauteed mushrooms featuring button, shitake and portabello mushrooms flambed in garlic and paprika with Spanish dry sherry. The Pinchitos Morunos de cerdo was a spicy dish of marinated chicken fillet. While the dishes took way too long to arrive, when they did, they were well worth the wait.

We ordered the Paella a la Valenciana for our entree. This is traditional paella featuring chicken, calamari, chorizo, mussels, shrimps and saffron rice. Please note that you can order Paella for a minimum of two people and it takes about 20-25 minutes to prepare. The paella was interesting, sort of like a Spanish version of the Indian biryani but made with parboiled rice.

The verdict? The food is great but the service was extremely poor on the day I was here, with long wait times and an indifferent waiter. For the kind of restaurant this is, the prices are also a bit on the higher side.

Picasso's is located at 62 W. Santa Clara Street, San Jose, CA 95113. Phone: 408.298.4400

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Awesome Persian Fare

Arya Global Cuisine: Persian, Italian and American says the banner. Hmm, interesting combo methinks as I walk into this restaurant on Stevens Creek and Blaney, Cupertino. Turns out this new eatery has opened only about five weeks back.

The Persian owners ran an Italian restaurant in the Orange County area before they moved to the Bay Area, which explains the rather unusual combination of cuisine they serve here. However, I must warn you that the menu is mostly Persian with some Italian dishes and hardly anything that seems American! The decor is beautiful and classy: the colors, the paintings, the granite, etc. Everything is bright and new right now, as you can expect.

Starters include the Tadig, which is a crispy rice dish topped with three different sauces of Gheimeh (tomato, yellow split peas), Ghormeh (leek , parsley, spinach, coriander), and Fesenjoon (walnuts and pomegranate). Entrees include staples such as the Chelo Kebab Soltani, Lamb Kebab, Baghali Polo which is stewed Lamb Shank with dill rice and Gheimeh Badmemjoon which is made of fried eggplant in a tomato sauce, yellow peas & onions.

I ordered the Kubideh combo: Persian kebabs that are very mildly spiced when compared to their Indian brethren, made of finely minced beef and chicken. These skewers of meat are served with a large amount of buttered Basmati rice and a grilled tomato. The Kubideh was excellent; the skewers were juicy and succulent and spiced just right. In fact, this is probably the best Persian food I have eatan so far.

For dessert I ordered the Tiramisu which is made fresh every day. This too turned out just perfect.

The menu contained other interesting Persian dishes I haven't seen before including stews (Khoreshts) made with minced meat and vegetables that were intriguing, and usually not available in the run-of-the-mill Persian restaurants. I expect to try these out in future trips; this place is within walking distance of The Cypress where I usually stay. Service in this restaurant was very good, so all in all a great addition to the Bay Area dining scene.

Arya Global Cuisine is located at 19930 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino 95014. Ph: 408.996.9606

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Of Breakfasts, Quick Lunches & the Wii!

For some reason, the concept of eating breakfast outside your home hasn't caught on in India yet. In the US, it's pretty common to see people eating out or picking up food on their way to work. The only ones you see at places that open early for breakfast in India are students and retired people. Also, Indian breakfast places are almost always idlis, dosas, and vadas. Therefore it is not surprising that even McDonald's doesn't have a breakfast menu in India.

The last two days were busy and full of meetings held in different locations within the Bay Area. On days like this, I start with a good breakfast, so I can skip lunch if schedules are very tight. Park Place at the Cypress offers good breakfast options, but I prefer walking down to Le Boulanger which is right next door. I highly recommend the Vegetable Medley omtette on sliced sour dough.

After a quick meeting in San Francisco downtown yesterday, I popped into The Flytrap but only ordered a dessert. Also, when I was passing the Virgin superstore I happened to notice a small note that said "Wii available today" and rushed in to see if that could be true (they are sold out everywhere, even on Amazon). The store had apparently recieved eight of them the evening before and were already down to two. Now I am a proud owner of a Wii bundle!

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A Taste of California

Another team dinner, this time in lovely Los Gatos. Overlooking the lush Santa Cruz Mountains and the Los Gatos Creek Trail, California Cafe aims to provide "an escape from the outside world". The restaurant has a large oak-shaded outdoor patio and a bright, cheerful interior.

We started with some seared pot-stickers, tuna sashimi salsa, and crispy Italian spiced calamari with glasses of David Bruce 2005 Sonoma Pinot Noir (this wine comes from a winery just up the hill from here). They have a progressive wine menu at this place, where the top of the menu is their sweetest selection and the one at the bottom is their driest. Makes it easy for a guy like me, who knows less about wine than about food!

I chose the salmon-wrapped scallops with crisp parsley potato, apricot jam and seafood dumpling as my entree. Very interesting dish indeed!

I had to leave early, so I didn't wait for desserts. If you are travelling from The Cypress (like I was) to this restaurant, stick to the inner roads.. In spite of the red lights, you will probably make it earlier than if you took the busy freeway.

The food, California cuisine, is good with some really interesting selections on the menu. The wine list is reasonably long too. But it was the service that was really exceptional; our waitstaff was very helpful, quick and knowledgeable.

California Cafe is located at 50 University Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95030. Phone: 408.354.8118

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Maggiano's Little Italy

The team dinner was in Maggiano's Little Italy, a restaurant located in Santana Row, San Jose's new European-style shopping, dining and entertainment destination. A family-style Italian restaurant, the decor is warm and friendly with rich oak-panelling, hardwood floors and crystal chandeliers.

The Bruschetta, Italian garlic bread toasted and topped with a tomato bruschetta relish made of diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic, was good. But it was the Mozarella Marinara, whole milk mozzarella cheese breaded and fried,topped with provolone cheese and marinara sauce, that was the absolute delight.

Maggiano's salad consisted of iceberg and romaine lettuce, crumbled bleu cheese, crispy Prosciutto, red onions, tossed in their signature House Dressing.

The Fettucine Alfredo was passable, with traditional fettucine noodles tossed with broccoli in a creamy alfredo sauce. The Four Cheese Ravioli was homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese, cream cheese, mozzarella, and provolone filling sprinkled with house cheese, then browned in the oven and served in pesto-alfredo cream sauce with a touch of marinara. Good stuff, as was the Veal Piccata made of veal cutlets, sauteed and served over aglio spinach.

Dinner ended with Tiramisu made from cookies soaked in espresso, coffee liquer layered with mascarpone cheese, dusted with cocoa powder and served with chocolate.

The verdict? The food is pretty good when you are not bothered about the calories. I would recommend this place for an evening with the family or a group of friends. I wouldn't come here for a romantic dinner for two. Maggiano is located at 3055 Olin Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128. Phone: 408-423-8973

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