Came here yesterday for the “Dine Downtown Palo Alto Mondays” prix fixe. The decor is very nice, especially the wall waterfall fountain. Mantra serves “Californian cuisine with Indian influences”, and it’s good… just not worth $20+ per dish. You can get much better Indian food for much cheaper, though as for Californian… I can’t think of any good Californian places in the area.

Mantra’s food is interesting, but overpriced.

Especially from a place that is so universally highly rated. I came here for one of their famous prix fixe Sunday dinners, which may have been a mistake since we couldn’t order off of the regular menu. Our choices were salmon or a lamb burger. The lamb burger was tasty and not gamey at all, and the salmon was well-prepared… but neither dish really stood out at all, and neither dish was worth the $40 we paid.

Also, they crammed our table into a very weird spot between the atrium and the main dining room, so that our chairs kept banging against the glass patio doors. I don’t know what made them think they could fit a table there.

I’m sure it was just an off-night, but there are many other restaurants to try on my list before I come back to Lucques again. I want to rate this place 3.5 stars, but I’m rounding up just based on its reputation.

This is the best pizza I’ve ever had. Better than Grimaldi’s, Lou Malnati’s, Cheeseboard, and Zachary’s. The toppings are very high quality and the crust is perfect, (thanks to La Brea Bakery’s Nancy Silverton). Mozza does thin crust pizza to perfection, and it’s currently my favorite place to eat in LA.

Make reservations though, because this place is packed and pretty small. If you’re lucky, you may be able to walk-in and get a bar seat.

This is definitely my favorite place to eat in SJ Japantown. Think of it as a fancier Gombei (Kubota was started by Gombei’s owner). Sure, it’s a little more expensive, but the food is great and, unlike Gombei, you don’t have to wait forever for a table. The decor is also much nicer than Gombei, making it a pretty good date place. The service is also pretty friendly.

My favorite dish is definitely the beef short ribs, though their sushi combos aren’t bad either. Kubota also seems to use better quality meat and fish than many of the other Japantown restaurants. In short, if you’re looking for a nice dinner in Japantown, Kubota is the place to go.

Yes, the meat quality is much better than In-N-Out, but you would expect that at almost twice the price for the same size burger. Don’t get me wrong, I love the burgers, but I just wish they had more toppings like grilled onions (I prefer more flavors with my meat). The Shake Shack is definitely the perfect place to grab a burger and shake and chill in the park on a nice, sunny day.

Warning: Watch out for the birds- they’ll poop on you!

After hearing rave reviews on Chowhound of their roast chicken and burgers, I just had to try them. Man, this place is crowded. We came in on a weekend around 1pm and were told we had an hour wait. But thankfully, after 15 minutes of standing in the packed bar area, the host came and told us we had a table. We ordered the roast chicken, burger, and a side of fries. The roast chicken lived up to expectations, as did the burger. The fries were good, but nothing to write home about. All in all, we had a very nice eating experience. I definitely want to come back here to try other dishes on their menu.

I’m sorry, Banana Leaf- it’s just not working out.

I’ll cut straight to it: Banana Leaf does decent Malay/Singaporean food, but it’s not worth the price or the crowds. I’d rather go to Banyan Garden (in Union City) or Layang Layang (in Cupertino). When it first opened, I loved going there because I had been yearning for some good Malay food. Their Roti Prata is tasty, as is the Huat Dan Ho and the Banana Leaf Rice (more commonly known as Nasi Lemak). The fried banana/ice cream desserts aren’t bad either. But after several visits, I started noticing how small the portions were and how much I was paying for it. Then I realized that I didn’t like that many dishes on the menu… and that the service was usually lacking. I’ve tried a large part of the Banana Leaf menu, and while the food’s not bad, you can get better food (and larger quantities) for your money at the other places I mentioned.

After hearing good things about Tanto, I came here expecting a meal on par with my very delicious dinner at Gochi. Maybe we ordered the wrong items or came here on an off night, but I didn’t think the food here was that great. We ordered the sashimi salad, garlic beef, pork clay pot, and seaweed onigiri. All of those dishes were merely average. Note that we didn’t get the clam ramen, which is what many people seem to rave about. I’d much rather go to Gochi than come back here.

If you’re looking for a nice dinner in the South Bay, Christine is the only place to go. The cuisine is “contemporary Pacific Rim and Mediterranean with French influences”, but I just call it Californian. This place feels very much like Chez Panisse. Tucked away in a tiny business plaza, it’s very easy to miss. The dining room is intimate, but has a very casual, relaxed vibe. Overall, Christine fits right in with the affluent-yet-informal city of Palos Verdes (which is right up the hill). As far as the food goes, the brick-flattened chicken is excellent, as well as their risotto (usually) and pork chops. Their Oven Roasted Filet Mignon Medallions are also very popular. But, you really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu- at the very least it’ll still be good.

http://www.restaurantchristine.com

I agree that the food isn’t that great here. I’ve tried almost all of their pasta dishes and I don’t really like any that much. BUT, they do have good pizza and tiramisu, and this place is better than say, Buca Di Beppo. You could get the same kind of food at Pasta Pomodoro for much cheaper.