Reviewed: Amir's Kabob House
: 794 Lighthouse Avenue · : Monterey · : 831-642-0231 · Review Title: We love this place
My Rating: Thumbs Up!

My Opinion: My wife and I found this place two weeks ago. We were pleasantly suprised by the quality of the food and the fair price. The lamb and chicken are delicious. The texture of the lamb is amazing, tender and cooked to perfection. We came back tonight and still love it. I hope this place lasts a long time.

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Street: Lincoln Ave/North Santa Cruz · City: San Jose/Los Gatos · Type of Cusine: Greek ·

Description: small setting, Greek food
Review Title: Greek
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: love this restaurant, told many friends about it, whatever you order make sure you get some Opa fries! Always crowded, dining inside and in front on Lincoln Avenue. Always too full after dinner to order desert, but I bet that is great too.

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Street: 915 S San Tomas Aquino Road · City: Campbell · Phone: 408.374.1800 · Type of Cusine: Pizza ·

Description: Palermo Pizza has been serving up excellent pizza, pasta, and more for over 20 years. Now under new management as of Winter 2009, we have a fresh new look with expanded seating, a bar, video games, and two HDTVs tuned to whatever big game is happening right now.
Review Title: The New and Improved Palermo Pizza
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: Those who live in the San Tomas neighborhood of Campbell have seen a lot of changes in the owners of Palermo Pizza in the past few years. First there was Nico, a family guy who made a killer pizza with so many toppings you wondered how it cooked all the way through. Then there was the unpleasant Michael, who made cheap, blah pizzas and converted half the restaurant into a middle eastern bazar. And now, thank goodness, there's Harry, a congenial fellow who has completely transformed the place into a family-oriented neighborhood sports bar that serves some of the best pizza around.

Harry did a complete renovation of the Palermo and re-opened the place in November or December of 2009. It's clean, it's well-lit, and it has 2 big-screen TVs for watching whatever big game is on (football, hockey, whatever). The tiling on the floor makes the place a little noisier than I'd like, but it's a great place to grab a beer and watch a game over dinner. It's also a heck of a lot cleaner than Nico's place ever was.

And Palermo's pizza under Harry's direction is fantastic!!! Everything tastes incredibly fresh and it's all made from scratch in the restaurant. The cheese, in particular, is really good. I recommend ordering the "regular combo" - I'm totally addicted.

Give the new, improved Palermo's a try - either in-house or take-out. With this economy, we need to support our local businesses, and it's clear Harry needs some more patrons to keep the restaurant afloat. I hope he can keep the place open - it's part of a dying breed of great neighborhood eateries.

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Street: 20735 Stevens Creek Blvd. · City: Cupertino · Phone: 408-257-9888 · Type of Cusine: Vietnamese-Chinese ·

Description: This has restaurant is pretty cheap and has some good items on the menu. Hours: Monday - Sunday 9:00a.m. to 9:00p.m.
Review Title: Pretty Cheap
My Rating: It's OK
My Opinion: I have tried a couple of items at this restaurant and liked most everything. My favorite is number 10 and my husband likes number 6. The Beef stew is not that great so do not order it. The flour cake is ok here.

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Street: 20007 Stevens Creek Blvd. · City: Cupertino · Phone: 408-777-2988 · Type of Cusine: Chinese ·
Review Title: Great food that's worth the bill!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: The decor may be a funny mish-mash of upscale items and the name may strike as odd, but do not be fooled! The "i" in i-Restaurant is the direct English translation for "love", in Mandarin Chinese.. basically, they hope you'll love their food! And the food has been consistently good here, every time I've gone in.

I'm not really sure where to start with their menu. They offer a huge selection of entrees and sides, being vegetarian, I recommend their hot and sour soup (best of any Chinese restaurant I've ever had- seriously!) and the coconut taro dish. Whoever is the head chef here has a great sense of being able to bring out distinct flavors, and their plates aren't drowned in too much soy sauce or oil, which is a problem at a lot of Chinese joints I visit.

As for the parking, do not shy away! There is more in the back, more than meets the eye from Stevens Creek- they're at the corner of Stevens Creek and Blaney. I highly recommend a visit to i-Restaurant if you're looking for a nice lunch or dinner out.

This is an automatically generated post created when a new opinion has been posted to the Opinion Boards. You can comment on this opinion directly or post your own opinion]]> Reviewed: Yas Restaurant
Street: 1138 Saratoga Avenue · City: San Jose · Phone: 408-241-5115 · Type of Cusine: Persian ·

Description: Small, locally-owned Persian restaurant on Saratoga Avenue not far from Westgate Mall and San Jose Public Library's West Valley Branch.
Review Title: Say Yes to Yas Restaurant!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: I went here last night with 5 other people from Social Wave for dinner. It was my first time at the restaurant, and I was wowed by their food and friendly service.

My dinner, Sheereen Polo, was out-of-this-world delicious. But many of us shared bites of our various dishes with each other, and it was all incredibly tasty. The portions are enormous, so be prepared to take home enough leftovers for dinner the next night. And the price was very reasonable for the amount of food and the quality. (My dish cost $14, and I will get 2 dinners out of that.)

I'll definitely be going back, and encouraging my friends to try it, too!

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Street: Meridian and Foxworthy · City: San Jose · Type of Cusine: BBQ sandwiches, homemade pie ·
Review Title: very good!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: I went there 2 weeks after opening. I read the write up about it in thw Willow Glen Reader. I met the owners, they live in Willow Glen and this has been there dream for over 5 years. They serve pulled pork, chicken and ribs with a side dish choice of beans, fries, cole slaw... It was so good I had to go back with friends. I have told many people about it. And it is not a chain!

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Street: 600 W. El Camino Real · City: Mountain View · Phone: 650-968-1751 · Type of Cusine: Indian ·

Description: Salads, Wraps, Traditional fare, tandoori, kids meals, desserts, and etc.
Review Title: Wonderful food
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: I ordered the Veggie delight which is veggie curry with naan, dal and salad. The curry was really good and not that spicy. The dal was tastey and the salad was fresh. The price was not that bad, usually indian food can be pricey. My husband got the lamb wrap, he said it was not that heavy and it was the perfect portion. He said the lamb was cooked very well. My friend had a traditional dish called Pav Bhaji, which is mixed veggies cooked special with spices and served with toasted Indian bread. She said it was excellent. I would definitely return here.

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City: Milpitas, CA · Type of Cusine: Malaysian ·
Review Title: Best Food Ever!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: Always packed, reservations are recommended. This place has the tastiest, freshest food ever! Very clean environment, friendly servers, excellent food! Did I forget to mention how delicious the food is?!? Try the garlic asparagus (very crisp & flavorful). Don't forget the pineapple fried rice served in a scooped out half pineapple. And for dessert, mango with sticky coconut rice.!

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Street: 2597 Senter Road · City: San Jose · Phone: 408-998-8826 · Type of Cusine: Vegetarian (Vietnamese) ·

Description: Various vietnamese vegetarian dishes.
Review Title: Food is delicious
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: I tried the special combination soup #40 and it was really good. The broth was a little sweet but I loved all the veggies they used in this soup. My husband had #43, "Quang" style Yellow noddle soup, he said it was very good. We also tried the spring rolls and summer rolls, these were really fresh. I would go back here and try their other dishes.

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Street: 826 S. Winchester Blvd. · City: San Jose, CA 95128 · Type of Cusine: Louisiana Seafood Boils ·
Review Title: NEW FIND!!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: With an amazing atmosphere decorated in a New Orleans style theme, you will endure a unique and pleasant experience.

Remember the old saying “Do NOT judge a book by its cover”? I drove past Cajun Crab House several times because of the way it looked from the outside. I finally gave it a shot and it was this saying that came to mind.

If you like seafood and you like spice, Cajun Crab House will become you’re new favorite. It’s just minutes from Campbell and seconds to Santana Row.

Don’t forget to order a side of corn bread!


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Street: Campbell Avenue · City: Campbell · Type of Cusine: Pizza! ·

Description: Good time, great food...
Review Title: Good times!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: I just wanted to give mention to a fairly new pizza spot in down town Campbell. My son and I were looking for a place to grab a bite to eat after going for a bike ride and ended up at Slice. For $11 we were served enough pizza to easily fill up both of our tummys and the service was excellent! Great atmosphere and eating outside was very nice in beautiful down town Campbell.

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Review Title: Warning! Addictive with Lactose Free Options Too!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!

My Opinion: I know it's getting colder now, but with ice cream this good, who cares? Ok, for those of you who are a bit more temperature sensitive, they also have desserts and coffee drinks there. I've tried the Srawberry Fresca Gelato, Cafe Mocha Gelato, Lemon Sorbet, and Strawberry Sorbet there. The two strawberry flavors were my favorite, but all were simply excellent.

Everything we tried was rich and distinct in flavor and some were not as sweet as I expected it to be. That's awesome for those of us who think flavors for dessert should be something other than sweet, even sweeter, and too sweet to eat, but if you're there to feed a sugar habit, make sure you get a taste of a few items first. There'll be plenty on the menu that will satisfy your sweet tooth.

Speaking of flavors, they have some unusual ones as well like Lychee, Green Tea, and some other ones that I can't remember. In addition to the frozen desserts, they also have baked dessert items and boxed premium Belgian chocolates. They just opened so perhaps by the time anyone reads this, they'll have other things added to their menu as well.

It's about time that Downtown Campbell had a top notch dessert spot and to boot this one's not bad as a hangout either! There's free Wi-Fi, comfortable couches, good lighting, and they just featured local musician, Kaila D'Sa last Thursday.

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Street: 4996 Stevens Creek Blvd. · City: San Jose · Phone: 408-248-7191 · Type of Cusine: Thai ·

Description: Your visit to Blue Mango begins with a warm smile. The setting is unmistakably Thai and inviting with its gold and green motif. A large beautiful painting of the Temple of Dawn commands attention with its depiction of the King's boat proudly floating by on the Chao Praya River. Having first opened in 2002, Blue Mango has since won many local awards, "Best Thai" and "Best Vegetarian," from the San Jose Mercury News, Citysearch, the Wave and the Metro.
Review Title: A Mighty Fine Place to Thai
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: The dinner social we had at Blue Mango last night was my second time at the place and both experiences were excellent! We had the spicy garlic beef, the chicken yellow curry, and some kind of mango shrimp salad last night. The mango shrimp salad was the only thing that didn't suit my fancy.

The food there is very flavorful, reasonably priced, and the staff is very friendly. It's Thai food with a touch of fusion. It's a must try if you like Thai.

This is an automatically generated post created when a new opinion has been posted to the Opinion Boards. You can comment on this opinion directly or post your own opinion]]> Reviewed: Merlion

Description: Singaporean Fusion Cuisine in a swank "rustic-modern" setting.
Review Title: An Expensive Comedy of Errors with Questionable Food
My Rating: Thumbs Down
My Opinion: Mary and I went to this very trendy looking fusion restaurant in Cupertino with my family a few weeks ago on the recommendation of my sister. Despite it being Sunday evening, the place was packed and there was a fifteen minute wait to get a table. The owners of the restaurant are Singaporean immigrants themselves and already own other restaurants in the area.

Water spouting "Merlions" welcome you at the front and rear entrances of the restaurant and a very hip looking cocktail bar with widescreen HD TV's make Merlion a fusion of modern and traditional decor as well as a fusion of cuisines. It all seemed very promising.

Then they seated us and it all went downhill from there. They didn't have any room indoors, so they sat us on the front patio that faces the scenic traffic of Stevens Creek Blvd. Our table wobbled and our seats were obviously chosen for how they looked rather than how they felt when you sat in them. They were slightly more comfortable than say if someone replaced your bike seat with a ski. Unless you have extra padding, one side of your pelvis kept falling through the large slats in the chair.

Then there was the anxiety over the water spouting Merlion. I'm no bacteriophobe, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how great it would be if a strong wind blew and I could get my dinner coated with some delicious bateria infested water from the large fountain about 10 feet away.

Ok, so how's the food, you're probably thinking. We had differing opinions about the quality. We had differing opinions about the quality, but it definitely came late, came wrong, and forgot to come. The wait staff there on that night could only be described as the 18 stooges... They delivered to the wrong tables, forgot orders, and just generally appeared completely lost to the point that one guy came out with one of our dishes and stood there staring blankly as the wonderful mobile like movement of cars humming down Stevens Creek Blvd. We actually called out to him, but the cars sound like the ocean if you're standing in the right place. He was in his happy place, holding a plate of somewhat warm food. We called again and he snapped out of it and came toward our table with our food.

The only bright spot I could see in the experience is that the food was very artfully presented. If you like food that looks good, they get high marks. Call me picky, but I want my food to taste good too. Some of it did. Some of it tasted pasty and less than warm.

To be fair to the restaurant owners, they did show up in person and appeared to very sincere in their apologies and took one of the entrees off the bill. It was also only a couple of weeks since their grand opening and they just lost one of their managers so things were really screwed up. I'd like to be sympathetic, but its hard for me to believe that you can get a comedy of errors this spectacular by a perfect storm of dumb blind bad luck alone.

Mmmm.... bacteria infested fountain water!

This is an automatically generated post created when a new opinion has been posted to the Opinion Boards. You can comment on this opinion directly or post your own opinion]]> Reviewed: The Counter
Street: Santana Row · City: San Jose · Type of Cusine: american ·

Description: good burgers, friendly service
Review Title: The Counter
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: mmmmmm, the fries! Best burger I have found in the south bay. You get to make your own burger, what type of cheese, bun, sauces and more! I want to go back and try other combos! You can also do the same with chicken or vegie burgers.

This is an automatically generated post created when a new opinion has been posted to the Opinion Boards. You can comment on this opinion directly or post your own opinion]]> Reviewed: Black Angus
Street: Blossom Hill Rd · City: San Jose · Type of Cusine: Steak House ·

Description: Dinner for two speicals: $35 for four course meal
Review Title: WATCH OUT FOR THE DRINK PRICES
My Rating: It's OK
My Opinion: Although the deal is pretty good, BEWARE OF THE DRINK prices. You get an awesome appetizer plate of your choice, great soup or salad, a very tasty although small (6oz on average) piece of meat of your choice (I recommend the prime rib), and all followed with a great dessert, even a la mode if you like. BUT When the bill comes you find that a cup of coffee is the price of a latte (2.50) and a cocktail that is mostly ice and thick glass is absurd ($8).

We have never finished the meal, and always brought the dessert home for another time. The bill with normal tip still came to $62. I could eat lots of places for $62/two persons. Right next door, the fish market is far more reasonable.

This is an automatically generated post created when a new opinion has been posted to the Opinion Boards. You can comment on this opinion directly or post your own opinion]]> Reviewed: The Espresso Garden
Street: 4720 Meridian Ave. · City: San Jose · Phone: 408.723.3737 ·
Review Title: PRESENTS LIVE MUSIC
My Rating: Thumbs Up!

My Opinion:
The Espresso Garden now has LIVE MUSIC... grubbing food... free wi-fi... and yeah! MUSIC

This is an automatically generated post created when an opinion has been added to an existing review. You can comment on this opinion directly or post your own opinion.]]> Reviewed: Cafe Bastille
Street: 22 Belden Place · City: San Francisco, CA · Type of Cusine: French ·

Description: Various French dishes
Review Title: Awesome food
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: I had the following for lunch:
CROQUE MONSIEUR “Roasted Ham and Cheese Sandwich”
FLOATING ISLAND with Caramel Sauce
POMME FRITE with Aioli


This is an automatically generated post created when a new opinion has been posted to the Opinion Boards. You can comment on this opinion directly or post your own opinion]]> Reviewed: Cafe San Jose
Street: 1583A Meridian Avenue · City: San Jose · Phone: (408) 265-3020 · Type of Cusine: Breakfast and lunch

Description: " A tasty, friendly eating establishment for the whole family to enjoy"
Review Title: Very good!
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
My Opinion: They have a large menu. Friendly service.

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