Restaurant Review: Zucca

There's not a lot of restaurants in downtown Mountain View that are not Mexican, East Asian, etc. I guess that's what happens when you live in a California town. You're influenced by the locals in just about every way from architecture to food. It definitely gives the area its own flavor, but in all honesty, that food is not my thing. I like savory stuff a lot better (think Italian, French, Spanish, etc.). So when the time came to pick out a place for my birthday I had the difficult task of finding a place that not only served that kind of food but also could fit a group of 10+. After calling around two towns and 10 restaurants later I stumbled upon Zucca. I have walked through town so many times and for whatever reason this place didn't stand out to me (I didn't even realize it existed) so I wasn't sure where it was or how good it would be. The food ended up being really delicious (mediteranean - both Italian and Greek). We tried the appetizer platter, cheese plates, ravioli, burgers, salads, and just about any other dish you can think of. There were no complaints from anyone at the table. The hospitality was also excellent. I tried really hard to avoid being sung to and the waitstaff would not let me do that. When I didn't order dessert they brought over small glasses of champagne for everyone and forced the Birthday Song on me. Definitely a place I would go back to for a large party, a visit from my parents, or a future date night (and maybe then I'll actually order a dessert).

Restaurant Review: Scratch

Restaurants that are not your typical Californian fare (Asian or Spanish) are pretty hard to come by in downtown Mountain View. Don't get me wrong, I love sushi, chinese (that doesn't have MSG because I'm allergic), and sometimes I do have a hankering for Indian. But as a whole my favorite cuisines are usually on the savory side (like Italian, French, etc.) not the spicy side. So when I was out for my friend, Kristen's, birthday and she told me about this restaurant her boyfriend works at, it took a lot to not leave her party in Santa Cruz and rush over to Scratch. She described the menu as fancy American comfort food. Umm...have you seen my Mac and Cheese recipe? Or my chicken pot pies? Or burgers? Do you know about my love for butter and all things cheese? My stomach secretly thinks it's Paula Deen's granddaughter.

After I found out about the restaurant I schemed ways to get myself there and managed to make lunch plans with 4 different groups of people. I really only expected one of these plans to work out, but somehow every one did and I went to Scratch 4 times in 2 weeks. I think the waitstaff probably thought I was a freak. But I was able to try a huge portion of their lunch menu and hang out with awesome people, so it was worth it!

The first time I went I had the Scratch Burger with fries and it was phenomenal. I rarely get burgers outside of The Counter because I am so picky about how I like them, but this was so juicy and delicious. I ate everything on my plate. I have no idea how I did it because there was so much. But I couldn't let it go to waste. Since then I've also had the grilled cheese (which was also good, but mine was overcooked. Boo to burnt bread), their signature pizza, and the Americana pizza (which is essentially margherita). It's so hard to come by decent pizza here and the Americana pizza was just what this picky NYer wanted. It's not like I had a whole NY style pie, but the personal sized pie was really good and I now have a place to go to when I've got a craving for something better than Domino's. My friends have gotten salads and the cuban, among other things, and other than the relatively small sized portion for the salad, nothing has met with complaints. I've never had enough space to eat dessert (that tends to be a dinner thing for me), but half the menu looks like things I'd love to get (including seasonal creme brule and butterscotch pudding (both of which come with really yummy looking cookies) and a smores bar). It's too bad the dinner prices are not as affordable as the lunch ones. Or well, someday.

Time for a couple of pictures from the website of food!



Drool.

Cascal Restaurant Review

Downtown Mountain View has a ton of restaurants, but really not that much variety. Most of them are either Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, or Sushi. There's a few exceptions, but for the most part that's what you've got. I'm a lover of savory food so I was pretty bummed to learn that there weren't a lot of more European influenced places (and the two I've been to weren't that impressive). However, when I learned there was a Tapas restaurant I nearly fell off my chair and practically ran out the door to go there for dinner. (For those of you who don't know, tapas means small plates. So think teeny tiny appetizer sized dishes that you can get a ton of and share and taste. Most places are Spanish, but there's also some other cuisines that do it too.) A few weeks later I had my first reservation at Cascal.

Since that first dinner there I've been back another four times and it has never disappointed. I've probably tried three quarters of the tapas menu and half the dessert menu (everything is great), but my personal favorites are the mushroom empanadas and stuffed dates (wrapped in bacon like most good Spanish food and stuffed with cheese). I also really like the goat cheese arepa (a corn cake with tomato chutney on top). Everything is rich and a great mix of flavors. I used to go a little crazy there because everything was so good, but usually my eyes were too big for my stomach so now I just eat two tapas and when it's dinner pray I've got enough space for dessert. I'm not always successful at that because their bread is also amazing and as a bread fiend I go a little overboard when I find bread that I like. I think the bottom line here is everything is delicious, so no matter what you order you will not be disappointed.

Whether you're there for lunch, a romantic dinner, or with a group of friends it's a great spot. It can get a little loud, which is sometimes annoying when you want to have a more serious conversation. But as an all purpose restaurant with great food, it's definitely high up there on my favorite places to go. Just make sure you get a reservation if you want to try it out. Any day of the week, once dinner time hits, there's a wait. Obviously everyone else knows it's really good too!

And now just a couple of pictures of the food from their website:

Sakoon Restaurant

I am not an Indian food fan. I'm not even a spicy food fan. Ask anyone and they'll tell you I am the biggest wuss when it comes to anything spicy. I don't even like to add ground pepper to my food because that is too much. So when it comes to certain ethnic foods I tend to stay away from them or order whatever is the blandest, sweetest, or savoriest thing on the menu and keep my fingers crossed that I can tolerate it. Unfortunately, though, every guy I have EVER been with loves spicy food. I wonder, is that a guy thing, or am I just attracted to guys who have opposite food tastes as me?

Poor Nick, he's stuck with me for the rest of his life. He loves Mexican, Indian, and anything with a kick. For years I told him I would go to an Indian restaurant in London with him, because it was my favorite of all time (they have a really good curry that I can order super mild) and we didn't make it there due to lack of time. Hopes and dreams were crushed (that was the closest we ever got to even looking at an Indian restaurant let alone eating at one). Then last weekend we went to our town's art and wine festival. On our way to the main street we made a quick detour through the farmer's market. There was a new vendor that makes Indian sauces I wanted to show Nick (again, things were rather mild so I was excited on his behalf that we might find something we both liked). I don't know if Hell froze over or pigs were flying, but trying all the different sauces really got me in the mood for some Indian food. So on a whim after we walked around the fair a bit we tried out a restaurant, Sakoon, and now I am hooked.

When we went there was only buffet. I don't know if that's a normal Sunday at lunch thing or if it was because of the festival in town, but I was able to try a lot of different stuff. Little potato puffs, fried cauliflower, two different kinds of curry (including the one that I like!), tandoori chicken, two salads, and a dessert...obviously I was hungry. While some of the things were definitely too spicy for me, everything was still good. The one thing I was disappointed in was the mango lassi. It was so thick and yogurty (yeah, I made that up), that I felt like I was drinking mango yogurt. I couldn't finish it as it was a meal in itself.

This past weekend Nick and I went back and had dinner. He had the lamb gosht which he devoured and I had another coconut curry. Mine was actually spicier than his was, which was a little disappointing. But I will try all of them until I find one I like...or maybe next time just as for it mild? Sakoon also has a wide array of fancy naans and stuffed breads, so while I have now tried the plain and the rosemary pesto and enjoyed them both greatly, I will be making my way through the list and trying all of them including the Kashmiri Naan which is stuffed with nuts, coconut, and rose. I plan to go back today with my student buddy at school, so maybe I'll order than then? And maybe then I'll also finally get to try the triple chocolate creme brule (according to Nick that's too weird of a dessert to order at an Indian restaurant. I say who cares. It sounds too good not to try).

Now here's some pictures of the yummies from their website: