Adam "FrimFram Sauce Extraordinaire" L.'s Profile

I just got take out today from Cha Am, so can't comment on the service (or, sadly, on dessert for that matter).

But the red curry dish I ordered for lunch was *delicious*!  Moderately spicy and perfectly creamy curry with a nicely proportioned mix of vegetables, basil, and chicken.  Both the curry and the rice that came with it were generously portioned.

The decor and atmosphere?  I'd say relaxing / comforting.  Certainly not authentic Thai, nor ostentatious.  Just pleasant.

And from what I've read from the reviews, curries are what's especially good at Cha Am, so I hope to stop back, try a different curry... and some dessert!

(side note:  you should have seen the envious / pissed looks on peoples' faces when I walked back with my curry to the conference I'm attending, while they were suffering through the all-too-common gross sandwich box).

Delicious!  Totally a great place to take a date or a small group of friends.

I went with two friends today and we shared the following:
- Sesame tuna:  cooked perfectly, and accompanied by lettuce'y stuff in a very tasty vinaigrette.
- Roti:  Mmm!  The best roti I've had in the Bay Area, actually.  Crisp, buttery, awesome
- Corn fritter:  Very corn'y and flavorful.  I thought it was pretty good, one of my friends that it was amazing. It is apparently "award winning."
- Lemongrass noodles with chicken:  Tasty and filling, but nothing very exciting.  Chicken was very nicely cooked and all white meat and tender.  Noodles and veggies were in a sauce that seemed more sweet than lemongrass'y, though; not much of a bite to this dish.

The atmosphere of this place is definitely eclectic and classy and -- contrary to what I feared when seeing the exterior and interior of the place -- our bill was not in the stratosphere.  Including tip, we each paid $18 for the shared plates + 1 drink (one friend ordered a ginger ale, apparently made fresh with real ginger).  Certainly more than one would pay in a hole-in-the-wall asian place and with smaller portions, too, but for a classy restaurant with excellent service, not bad at all.

Was just here with a friend.  We only had drinks, but boy were they good (albeit a little on the pricey side, especially since my "medium" looked pretty darn small).  My buddy had a coffee with a charming bit of art on top, and I had a very foamy and delicious cappuccino; you know you have a winning cappuccino when you take a sip and you wouldn't even think of adding sugar to it, it's that tasty.

Next time I'll try the savory food or chocolates.  They look yummy!

Oh, and the place was surprisingly crowded, even at 10pm on a Tue night.   Parking was no prob, though, since it was right across from a parking garage (free!  I love Palo Alto for that :)

This has to be one of the most friendly & most fun places to dance in the Bay Area.

- Super-nice and talented instructors (this is a GREAT place to get the hang of lindy hop!)
- Very good floor
- Live bands every month!
- Comfy lounging (couches, free snacks, etc.)
- Diverse set of dancers who don't cop attitudes
- Easy & free parking
- Just 1 minute off the 101
- They even take credit cards!

Check out their site at http://www.wednesdayni....  And just go!  You'll have a blast! :)

This is my old stomping grounds before I moved to suburbia.  And boy do I miss it!

Let me count the ways...
- Talented instructors
- Great floor
- Affordable price for many hours of dancing
- Comfortable, friendly atmosphere
- Nice mix of music
- Generally easy parking (I rarely park more than a couple blocks away, and usually much closer if I get there early)
- Delicious and cheap food nearby (the Thai place... yum!)

If you're into lindy hop and live in or near SF, go to the 9:20.  If you love swingin' tunes, go to the 9:20.  If you've been meaning to get off your ass and learn how to dance / get a new hobby / get some exercise / meet some new people / get out of the house, go to the 9:20.

Check out their web site for more info: http://www.920special.com.

It's a bit hard to critique this place. Flavors were great, portions generous, the help understated and respectful if a bit underwhelming.  But overall, I didn't really enjoy the experience.

For one, I got no guidance.  I didn't realize that there was complimentary chai tea until I saw the small note on the menu board *after* my meal.  I wasn't asked if I wanted rice with my meal (for some dumb reason I just assumed it came with the main dish, but I think that's a Southern California Chinese Restaurant issue I'm used to from my youth).

The lamb curry was flavorful, but beset by lots of bones and marred by quite a few pieces that were tougher than a defiant cowboy.  The plain naan, on the other hand, was delicious... just lightly crispy on the outside, moist and fluffy inside but not greasy.  The mango lassi -- like everything else -- was generously portioned and sweetened just right.

And at the end when I went up to pay, I noticed the (IMHO rude and Visa-guideline-violating) sign that said $15 minimum charge for credit cards.  Also, I was not asked how my meal was, which I think is a rather lame omission, both courtesy-wise and feedback-wise.

I might try another dish here sometime, but am not going to jump at the opportunity. Show owner comment »

I'm not a fan of pearls in my tea, though I bravely tried this strange stuff again here.  Hmm.

The next time I came back, I tried coconut milk tea, and it was moderately tasty but the flakes of stuff did not appear to be real coconut, nor were they particularly appealing.

The fried chicken nuggets I ordered were affordable and plentiful, but seemed to be composed about 40% of yummy greasy fried stuff, 50% of somewhat tasty chicken fat, and 10% of something that may or may not have been actual chicken meat, it was a bit difficult to tell.  I'd have given a resounding thumbs up on this hellishly-unhealthy concoction if I'd been drinking a lot beforehand, but without alcohol impairment and the odd cravings that go with it (so I hear), well, I don't think I'll be ordering this again.

The "chocolate" toast, well, 'twasn't to my liking at all (just sickly sweet), but I'm guessing this is a cultural comfort food kinda thing that I just can't appreciate, sort of like how we yanks love peanut butter but my European friends find it to be inexplicable and disgusting.

I could imagine going back, just to satisfy my curiosity re: the 4200 different varieties of teas and smoothies, but am not especially excited about the place.

Just tried this particular location for the first time, and Round Table Pizza for the first time in probably a decade or so.

My friend and I had a two-topping large pizza, which ended up being just about the right amount to share for our dinner.  We picked it up, and it was ready 20 minutes after we ordered, which is quite reasonable.

After coupon, we paid around $14; that's not too bad, I guess, but the non-coupon price of $21 is just outrageous for a slightly-better-than-your-average-pizza-chain pizza.  Crust was crisp and tasty, but sauce was either too minimal or flavorless to the point where I didn't really notice or appreciate it.

I may try another pizza here sometime, but only with a coupon.

Wow!  And I mean WOW!  I just saw a musical here ("The Producers") and was absolutely bowled over by how professional everything was, from the excellent pit orchestra to the spot-on sound system (and sound guy, too, I'd guess), and -- the most important part -- simply amazing performers.  I was expecting (somewhat snobbily, but frankly also based on experience) "city college" quality... a cute but sometimes ear-hurting amateur production.  What I got was  something pretty damn close to a full-price downtown production, but with much less in the way of moolah pain and parking inconveniences.

Okay, to make this a more fair review, I do have a few nitpicks.
- No bar. But the ones in city theatres tend to be crowded and overpriced anyway.
- No bathroom or drinking fountain inside the theatre; had to walk around the corner and -- even as a guy -- wait and wait.
- The audience seemed a bit less energetic than I'd expect given the hilariousness of the performance.
- Only 8 costume changes and maybe only a half-a-million dollar set instead of a dozen costume changes and a $42 million dollar set.  Oh, the horrors! :D

*  *  *

Anyway, you'd be crazy not to support this theatre, particularly if you live in or near the South Bay.   Not only do the people associated with these performances deserve your support, you (and your hard-earned time and money) deserve the downright awesomeness of the Foothill College Theatre experience :).

I'm an idiot, so the first words I send to my kind hostess of the evening, who thoughtfully offered to order on everyone's behalf, "Well, I'm fine with almost anything, but would prefer a mix of veg and meat dishes and..." just then I realized D'OH, this is a *vegetarian* restaurant.

And a tasty one it is, too :).  I'm not very well-versed in veg Indian cuisine, but I found quite a few dishes that I enjoyed here, and the spiciness was just about right for my palate.  The mango lassi was refreshing and not overly sweet, the service was quite good (our water glasses were refilled many times), and the price was pretty reasonable considering how many dishes our group ordered.

I still prefer north Indian cuisine, I think, but would be up for trying this place again.