Horace K.'s Profile

If you've been to Sumiya, then Gaku will seem extremely familiar -- largely the same menu, same great quality, and even some of the same wait staff! Being freshly renovated and new though, there are a few differences. The wait for tables, for starters, is not nearly as long, though we'll see how long that lasts once word about Gaku gets out. Also, the restaurant itself seems much roomier, and the decor more minimalist and modern. And no more shared bathrooms!

The variety of yakitori served here is pretty much identical to Sumiya. Where they differ is in the portions -- at Gaku, you can order different skewers individually, whereas at Sumiya, skewers tend to come in pairs. This is a boon for those who tend to go for things that others may not like (liver, anyone?).

One thing Gaku has that I haven't seen at Sumiya is the pork neck with garlic. Pork neck is absolutely delicious, and I love garlic to death, so the combination of the two is a match made in heaven. I'd really like to see how else the owner of Gaku and Sumiya will try to differentiate the two restaurants. So far though, even as a new and fresh Sumiya clone, Gaku is off to a great start. And I love that I can be even closer to great yakitori now!

I was hoping to see enoki bacon on the menu though, especially since it was taken off the menu at Sumiya. Alas, no dice. Boo!

L'Atelier definitely has the feel of a sushi joint, with seating being predominantly at the bar and a small row of tables lining the side. That's fine though, because the bar seating gives you a complete view of the kitchen, which is immaculate and incredibly entertaining to watch.

I opted for the tasting menu, which was heavy on the seafood. The scallop seared in butter and topped with a scallion and ginger oil sauce was very good. The foie gras steak was good, though a little unimaginative in preparation. I had high expectations for the quail stuffed with foie gras, but I was completely let down -- the quail ended up being dry and tough, with that annoying tough dry "skin" from over-searing.

I also sampled the jambon and spaghetti, which were both excellent. The side of bread, which apparently they make on-site, was amazing. And to round it off, the service was extremely attentive.

So why three stars? In short, I felt that the food wasn't that inspired. The seafood dishes -- the scallop and the sole filet -- are practically carbon copies of Chinese dishes; revelatory, perhaps, if you've never had it before, but for a seasoned Chinese seafood eater, par for the course. There wasn't even a French spin on the dishes! How lazy. Also, the inconsistent quality of the preparation was a little disappointing.

It definitely didn't help that Picasso at the Bellagio (where we had dined two nights before) set a pretty damned high bar for our dining experiences in Vegas!

Such an amazing dining experience. The ambience is beautiful, with muted lighting, bold paintings aplenty, gorgeous decor, and a front-row view of the Bellagio fountains. The food was, accordingly, exquisite.

Definitely opt for the wine pairings if you go with the prix fixe menus, because the sommelier here absolutely knows their stuff. Standout dishes were the foie gras steak which was seared with an amazing crust, the poached oysters which were prepared with the most amazing vermouth-based sauce (seriously, I don't think I've ever tried as hard to get every last drop of sauce out of the half-shells and into my mouth), and the seared veal chop which was perfectly tender and juicy and served with a very light au jus.

Desserts were fantastic also.

Finally, a restaurant in the South Bay that serves decent Cantonese-style cuisine!

The roasted duck is very good -- not quite Hong Kong levels of goodness, but I can say with a straight face that it's the best that I've had in the Bay Area. We also had the XLBs (very good), the fish porridge (fish was a little fishy and the porridge itself a little bland, but otherwise reasonable), wontons (a little too firm but good), and a clay pot (nothing to write home about).

We finished off with the HK-style sweet egg puffs, which were rich and tasty and, in my opinion, a must-order.

The decor is honestly so authentic and has such a HK "feel" that I practically felt like I was back in Hong Kong. It's clean, bright, modern, and obviously geared towards maximum efficiency. The immersion is helped by the fact that the predominant language spoken both by the staff and the customers is Cantonese.

A restaurant like this doesn't aim to blow away its customers with virtuoso acts of cooking prowess or an elaborate dining experience. Its aim is to provide solid, dependable food, and in this regard, Cooking Papa executes perfectly. I just hope that this quality of food will be maintained over time, because places like this do have a tendency to deteriorate. Until that time comes though, I'll be coming here regularly, and that is a pretty solid endorsement coming from an HK native.

Throw away everything you know about Korean restaurants. This is not some run-of-the-mill Korean joint with mediocre meat, questionable decor, and non-existent service. Every aspect of the eating experience at Jang Su Jang screams "premium restaurant".

Let's start with the food. In general, avoid the marinated meats -- not because they're bad, mind you, but because the quality of the meat is so good that the marinade would just mask the natural flavor. My favorite was the unmarinated beef rib-eye, which was intensely marbled and practically melted in your mouth. We also ordered the pork belly, which was decent, and the unmarinated beef ribs, which were decent (but paled in comparison to the rib-eye).

The service here is amazing. We had a waitress constantly hovering around our table, cooking our food, taking away plates, and serving us more side dishes. She actually refilled one of our side dishes without me even noticing! They change the grill after every round of meat, too, which is a very nice touch. Tables are graced with a small button to call the wait staff; I have no idea whether they were even hooked up, but I've never needed to use it. Still, it's nice to know it's there.

Round it off with clean and modern decor and reasonable prices (considering the quality of the food and the ambience) and you've got yourself a solid 5-star dining experience.

One small annoyance though: despite the impressive ventilation hoods positioned over each grill, smoke still gets everywhere. I'm inclined to think that they don't even turn them on. It's a small price to pay, I think. Also, the wait for dinner can get pretty long (generally 30 to 40 minutes), so either make a reservation or be prepared to wait.

Between Orenchi and Santouka, I pretty much have all my ramen needs met in Northern California. I'm never setting foot in any other (existing) ramen place again.

I had the Orenchi ramen, which is simply ramen noodles in a tonkotsu broth with lots of assorted toppings. Compared to Santouka, Orenchi's ramen is a little heavier, with a richer and deeper broth and thicker noodles. I also love the soft-boiled egg that they put into the ramen, and the chashu was very soft and tender. Very tasty!  It really reminded me of Maruichi's ramen, only executed much, much better.

I really liked the decor as well -- for some reason, it reminded me of ramen places in LA. Very simple and dark, but comfortable. The staff were extremely friendly, though we kept having to wave them down for tea refills.

I was at the point where I was getting a little tired of Santouka, so having Orenchi's ramen is definitely a refreshing change.

B Street and Vine is great if you're just looking for a simple and quick meal, but their full-course dinner options are a little anemic. If you're coming here for dinner, here's my recommendation: just go nuts on their bruschetta plates and ignore everything else, because their bruschetta is *fantastic*.

Being first-timers here, we ordered the tri-tip sandwich and a salad in addition to the bruschetta platter, and neither the sandwich nor the salad held a candle to the bruschetta. The tri-tip was cooked reasonably but lacked flavor, and the salad wasn't too memorable. For the most part, they were ignored in favor of the bruschetta, and only received (reluctant) attention near the end of our meal when we felt guilty about leaving uneaten food on the table.

Yeah. It's all about the bruschetta. My favorites are the prosciutto with fig, and the salami with pesto. I love my cured meats!

Paradiso is a homely cafeteria-style restaurant tucked in the back of a rather well-worn deli, situated in the midst of warehouses and auto shops, and patronized by lots of (literal) blue-collar workers. It wouldn't have been out of place in a 40s-era newsreel about the Depression.

They serve hearty Italian food, but I don't know if I'd consider it *good* Italian food. I almost felt that the emphasis of the food was more to fill the stomachs of its patrons cheaply, rather than serving a tasty meal. They definitely don't go easy on the carbs -- the lasagna pasta and spaghetti were probably the thickest I've ever had from a restaurant. This isn't a good thing, seeing as it left me feeling like I was eating a giant pasta cake.

To me, the 4.5-star average rating of Paradiso is a definitely optimistic.  I hear their sandwiches are pretty decent so I may come back for those, but I'll pass on their hot food.

It is cheap though, I'll give them that!

If you're familiar with the Shabu House in SF, walking into its Burlingame counterpart is a bit of a shock. The SF location is unassuming and cramped, but cozy. This one, on the other hand, is brand-spanking new, ridiculously spacious, and feels a little institutionalized with the astoundingly long tables tucked away in the back. To be honest, I was rather worried that the quality of the food would suffer as a result.

Thankfully, I can report that the shabu-shabu here is as good as the Shabu House in the city. Learning from my experience at the SF location, I went beef-only this time, and it was awesome! Tender, juicy, not-too-thin-but-not-too-thick slices of meat. The ginger chicken broth here is to die for. It's mild enough not to drown out the flavor of the beef, but flavorful enough to impart some much-needed flavor to the vegetables.

And free green tea ice cream at the end of the meal! How awesome is that?

The wait staff were extremely cheerful and spunky, and added much pep to the meal. I'll definitely be back!

Side note: While my plate of Kobe-style beef was tender and incredibly juicy, my friend's (sliced from a different chunk of meat, only minutes earlier) was a little chewy. Be warned.

I was actually surprised by how cheap everything is. Around $10 for the regular-sized beef platter, and you get your choice of either Kobe beef or rib-eye. The low prices are deceptive though! I ordered the Kobe beef, which was thinly sliced (too thin, in fact) and not very tender. I can definitely see how they can get away with charging $10 vs. Shabuway's $13 or so; Shabuway's regular serving size is larger, and their beef thicker and more tender.

I tried some of my friend's rib-eye, and that was much better. Thicker-cut, and extremely tender. I'd definitely order the rib-eye next time.

I also felt that the ponzu sauce was a little too salty -- too much soy sauce, probably. The veggie plate that comes with the dinner is killer though, with a side of udon and vermicelli. Yum!

There was only one waitress handling the entire restaurant so the service was occasionally slow, but she was extremely cheery and friendly. Definitely left me in a good mood.

I'm glad there's finally a shabu-shabu place close to San Jose downtown, but if you're willing to make the drive to Shabuway in Mountain View or even Shabu House in Burlingame / SF, you'd find shabu-shabu that's much better.