I don’t know about the other food, but don’t order the bbq pork lion on the lunch menu. It’s overly oily, thickly breaded w/ no bbq taste.

It’s always a good sign when you go to an ethnic restaurant and you see people of that restaurant’s ethnicity as the majority eating happily. Thus was the case at Hyderabad House, a small, dimly lit Indian restaurant near Borders on University Avenue. It’s quite small so I wouldn’t recommend bringing a big group but for a casual dinner for two or four this place shines.

There was a bit of wait for the food which was unexpected because you order the food upfront at the register and then they bring it out…but it’s also a good sign, that they are actually making the food fresh as opposed to just ladling things out. You can enjoy a hot milky chai tea as you wait and admire the landscape photography of India on the walls. The wind will be bustling and sweeping outside, but inside you’ll feel as if you’re in a slighly exotic cafe. The majority of the diners when I was there were Indian men…perhaps this place reminds them of mom’s cooking?

If you get the Chicken Tikka Masala I recommend dipping everything in the sauce. The basamati rice our dishes came with was fragrant and fluffy. We even found a stick of cinnamon and bayleaf buried in the rice. A basamati mama would be proud. I like that the rice and naan always comes with the curries so you don’t have to order seperately and get a huge plate of rice that ends up either being overindulged in, wasted, or brought home and forgotten. The naan was chewy with a light taste of butter, a bit over charred on the edges but nothing that a bit of tearing with the fingers wouldn’t solve.

I’m certainly not an Indian food connesiour but if if I were looking for hot flavorful food that pleased every taste bud this would be the place to go.

Remember that scene from The Mask of Zorro where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Bandaras are tangoing acorss the room and there’s that music playing in the background and all throughout the rest of the movie it’s that sound, that mood that seems dangerous but romantic all at the same time?...well, you won’t find danger (maybe romance?) at Cascal but every Friday night they have a live band that definately could have been featured in the movie. This would be an ideal place to bring a date but it’s not so posh and pretty that you can’t come in jeans with a group of friends, order a pitcher of sangria and sit under one of the many heat lamps that dot the outside eating areas. I’ve had some hit and misses with this restaurant in terms of food but the ambiance is always great – lively, noisy, this place is a good way to feel like you’re not in Mountain View, though you really are… just don’t order the spainish tapas platter. It’s pretty and when you see a waiter cruising by with a plate you’ll be tempted but while it’s a eye candy looking dish the individual components of the dish are either too sour or strangely sweet. You’re better off ordering what sounds good to you indivdually on the tapas menu or trying one of the other samplers. Tapas restaurants tend to be a little more pricey. Try not to pick this place if you haven’t eaten all day, they really try to focus more on quality then quanity.

Satura Cakes has finally opened in Palo Alto! They have a cafe in Los Altos as well but its more fun to eat cream puffs or anything for that matter on University Avenue’s eclectic street. This is a dessert specialty cafe but they also have some light lunch items like open faced sandwiches and quiches. Go here for the desserts though, they are made with really fresh ingredients, you can definately taste this in their strawberry shortcake…just thinking about it is making me hungry. You have two light layers of delicious cake seperated by an airy whipped vanilla foam and the whole thing is topped with thin slices of strawberries that are just sweet w/o the usual sugar dustings you find on these type of desserts.

Why is everything so fresh and light tasting you ask? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that these desserts are based on the recipes of a famous pastry chef in Japan and they like their sweets to be part of la dolce vida – portions are smaller then what you’d get at the Cheesecake factory e.g. but who really wants to lay down to sleep after dessert? You want to eat something and feel like the nights still young and your waistlines not for nothing! I’ve purchased some of their chocolate covered almonds and they are delicious as well – if you like the texture of cocoa nibs then these almonds will satisfy, they are more crisp then your run of the mill Kirkland brand, almost toffee-ish. The Tiramisu here is good too – it’s presented in a clear oval dish for you to appreciate the chocolate and cream layers and dusted with the requisite cocoa. But really, if you go here, do try the cream puffs – the cream is just creamy enough, the shell is crisp and thin and chewy all at once and once you finish I hope you’ll ask for one to go to share with a friend because they box up desserts for you in the cutest white box with a sticker of a birthday cake and when you go home you may put it in your fridge and wake up the next morning to contemplate whether or not to eat it or give it to the friend you had originally bought it for – and in the end whatever you decide, now you know where to find the best cream puffs.