Tandoori Oven -- 5/5

Welcome back from Thanksgiving Break! Hope y'all had a fantastic week off, even if it was overshadowed by research papers and Dead Week midterms... who the hell thought that was a good idea?

I arrived back at Stanford yesterday after brunch had already closed. I was about to head to CoHo for one of their killer paninis, when I remember that a) it was Sunday, and hence time to check out another new restaurant, and b) I had a really tempting coupon for Tandoori Oven, so off we went to California Avenue for my last supper lunch before the reality of finals set in.

1. Food -- 3/5 The tandoori paneer salad (romaine with cucumbers, tomatoes, walnuts, cranberries, the house vinaigrette, and light, delicious, traditional Indian paneer cheese) was fresh and pleasant, but a little dull overall. At least, it didn't have the creativity and flavor I usually expect from Indian restaurants. The chicken tikka masala wrap, on the other hand, was great--easy to understand why it's advertised on their Specials board as their "best wrap yet." The curry is fun and balanced, and the naan is fluffy and fresh. And pretty healthy, to boot! As the menu advertises -- "All Fresh! Never Frozen! No Trans Fat! No MSG!"
2. Service -- 4/5 Nice, but nothing special. A cute guy behind the counter takes your order, and a nice server promptly delivers it to your table. Very fast turnaround!
3. Price -- 5/5 This is where the restaurant earns its top marks. For regular Joe Sixpack, appetizers are around $6 and entrees are around $10. If you happen to have a Stanford ID, however, everything changes. The Stanford discount totally blew my mind: just show the cashier your ID and pay $5 for any ala-carte curry or wrap, OR buy one, and get one for $2 (this applies to everything on the menu). My friend and I had a good meal for $14 between the two of us. These people know their audience.
4. Location and Setting -- 5/5 Lovely! Bright, beautiful murals on the walls; high level of cleanliness; indoor and outdoor seating; right next to Starbucks and across the street from Culture Frozen Yogurt on California Ave.
5. Good for... lunch or dinner with a group. Paying at the counter will help you avoid the awkward check-splitting process at the end of the meal, order turnaround is super-fast, the menu is extensive enough to appeal to pretty much everyone, it's in walking/biking distance of campus, and the student discount is fantastic. Highly recommended.

Printer's Inc. Cafe -- 3/5

And so continues the search for the perfect (off-campus) study spot! As has been the case lately (especially with our renewed good weather), I found myself procrastinating at the California Avenue Farmers Market this morning. While a pleasant experience, it was quickly followed by the guilt of such time management weakness in the face of required reading, a term paper, and grant proposals, and the instinct to buckle down and read another chapter of The Rational Optimist led me straight to the most intellectual-looking, hipster-y cafe on the block.

1. Food -- 3/5 Despite the temptation of beautiful grilled sandwiches, yummy-smelling Mexican dishes, tasty baked goods, and a huge list of coffee drinks, I ordered the Printers Salad: mixed greens with grapes, walnuts, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. Pretty good -- crispy red grapes, crunchy almond slices (they ran out of walnuts), and enough dressing to add flavor with only minimal wilting of the greens. There was, however, too much goat cheese for me. As delicious as that stuff is, disproportionate amounts of any cheese overwhelm a salad and kind of mitigate the otherwise healthful lightness.
2. Service -- 4/5 It's very hands-off. You order at the counter, take a number, sit down, and your dish is brought. I'm totally cool with that, especially when the purpose of my visit is to study, but it depends on your preferred level of staff involvement. Also, my server was very sweet when she came to inform me (albeit a bit belatedly) that they were out of walnuts, and to ask what I'd like instead.
3. Price -- 3/5 Most dishes run around $8, and they're pretty big. Sandwiches all come with salad, salads all come with bread, and I'm pretty sure most of the entrée-sized dishes can be split, taken home, and saved for the next time you don't feel like hitting up Lag dining. Again.
4. Location and Setting -- 4/5 Clean and pleasant. They have a nice outdoor seating area with a wraparound bench that was pretty comfortable to curl up against and do some heavy reading. Also, free wi-fi. Yay!
5. Good for... relaxed brunch/lunch, with buds or alone. It's energetic enough to be fun, but plenty of people are there reading or on their computers. Very versatile that way.

Oh, and also... GO STANFORD. 48-14, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

Evvia Estiatorio -- 4.5/5

Oh. My. God. YES.
A few months ago, my dad ended up on a plane with someone who couldn't shut up about this restaurant, and he's been trying to get me to go ever since. For some reason or another, it never worked out until this weekend, and I cannot believe it took me so long to get to arguably one of the best restaurants in the Palo Alto area. Not that I've been to all that many so far, but sometimes, you just know.

1. Food -- 5/5 Delicious? Consistently. Healthy? Well, there are plenty of healthy options. Exotic? Mediterranean at its finest. Classy? Oh, so classy--such a step up from the Greek I'm used to at diners and delis. We ordered: Anginares Souvlaki (super-tender grilled artichokes, eggplants, and bell peppers with creamy Greek yogurt), butternut squash with pomegranate and pumpkin seeds (I can't remember the Greek name for the dish, but it was fantastic), Avgolemono (chicken-lemon-egg-rice soup... the best way to describe it is as egg drop soup without the drops, because the egg has been tempered into the broth. Not like anything I've ever had!), and Fakes (good old lentil soup. Hard to go wrong there). We debated splitting Moussaka as an entrée, but it would've ended with busted GI tracts, and we had to save room for dessert! We took the waitress's advice and ordered Galaktoboureko, which basically looked like egg rolls, but was actually phyllo rolls filled with vanilla bean semolina custard and topped with a scoop of pistachio ice cream. No words. Just happiness. I could practically taste the love in every dish.
2. Service -- 5/5 Our waitress was very friendly, engaging, helpful, relaxed, blah blah blah everything you hope for in a waitress. Food came quickly, even on a busy Saturday night. We saw the owner and his wife checking in with the couple at the table next to us, and (bonus!) cute Greek waiters abound.
3. Price -- 2/5 Apps and desserts around $10, entrées anywhere from $20-30. Yeahhhh... thanks, Dad.
4. Location and Setting -- 5/5 On Emerson, within a block of University Ave. Parking can be a bummer, especially on weekend nights, but there are a few free lots around, so just budget in a little time to find a spot. The restaurant itself was decorated beautifully. It's very Mediterranean and atmospheric without being distracting or drifting too far towards Epcott-desperate-worldliness.
5. Good for... night out with the 'rents. Or, if you're feeling wealthy and courageous, an anniversary date. Save this one for occasions -- it deserves the special treatment.

I think I've said all there is to say. Good night, and good food.

Zao Noodle Bar -- 4/5

I finally took myself out to eat this weekend. It required actively not thinking about how little spare cash I have right now and a big dose of decisiveness -- so many restaurants to choose from, and only one meal a week to get through them all! Found myself at Zao Noodle Bar on University Ave, a colorful, modern, pan-Asian place that my eye has been diverting to for weeks.

1. Food -- 4/5 I had a delicious entrée salad from their fall specials menu -- grilled chicken and mandarin slices on mixed lettuce with pesto vinaigrette. The basil added an interesting, and in my experience more Western flavor, and it worked. It would've worked better if the dressing had been a little more flavorful, but the chicken was well-cooked but tender, and the rest of the flavors in the salad were delicious. Beware: the crispy rice noodles included on most of their salads are piled SKY HIGH. It took about five minutes of finagling before I could eat any salad without sending rice noodles toppling onto the table -- either ask for fewer, or to hold them entirely.
2. Service -- 5/5 Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. I arrived at about 4:45, before the dinner rush came in, and got to pick a little two-fer against the wall. Took out my laptop to do some work on grant applications (even though, to be honest, it felt a little inappropriate in a sit-down restaurant -- I was desperate!), and no one treated me strangely for it. My server was extremely nice, attentive, and speedy. My iced tea -- with free refills, by the way -- arrived practically before I'd finished ordering it, and my full-size salad was out by the time I'd finished my "Research Objective" paragraph. Then, when I wanted to stay and work for a while but was afraid of taking up a potentially valuable table, my server was very reassuring and accommodating, allowing me to stay and type away about heritage preservation in developing nations for what I later realized was nearly two hours.
3. Price -- 5/5 Who would've thought? A full-size salad and a never-ending glass of mango ceylon iced tea for only $13? On University Avenue? Hot damn, I'm okay with that.
4. Location and Setting -- 3/5 Many points for mid-University Ave location. Minus a few for closely set tables in a very echo-y room full of families with small, shrill children. Sorry, not so much my thing. Maybe if the walls absorbed sound a little better?
5. Good for... pretty much anything. Solo nights on the town, dates at any point in the relationship, night out with friends, or parental visits! You name it, I can see it.

Hmmm... maybe next time I'll actually eat some noodles.

Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant and Bar -- 4/5

Last weekend, a bunch (5) of us had plans to take our friend out to this cool-sounding Cajun place for her 20th birthday. Of course, we only found out that afternoon that it was closed for renovations. I'd passed Coconuts plenty of times walking around Palo Alto, and the bright colors promising Caribbean nostalgia and flavorful food always looked inviting, so I suggested it as an alternative, and we went for it.

1. Food -- 5/5 They serve you family-style, which I love. My biggest problem with going to restaurants, especially alone or with only one other person, is how difficult it almost always is to choose just one menu item! We started with the AMAZING sweet potato fries and a caesar salad (to attempt to ease a little bit of the guilt of our rich entrees), and then split: curried chicken with steamed rice, boneless jerk pork with curried sweet potatoes and root vegetables, and shrimp creole. The curried chicken won best overall; the pork was delicious and tender but fattier than I would've liked; I only got to have one shrimp, because it was a kind of small dish for the five of us to split, so I don't really feel qualified to comment on it. We were way too full of delicious food by the time the dessert menus came out, but maybe next time!
2. Service -- 3/5 When we arrived, the hostess was on the phone with someone who was apparently being really picky about ordering and insisted on having most of the menu read to him/her. You could tell she was losing her patience (though honestly, I don't blame her), but luckily the person seemed satisfied and hung up before she could blow a gasket. She recovered quickly and was very sweet to us. It took a long time for them to come take our order, and we were really hungry by the time it arrived. At the end of the night, our server didn't really understand how we wanted to split the bill between our cards and seriously overcharged one of my friends, so we had to re-do it. She was very sweet and patient with us, though, and everything worked out in the end.
3. Price -- 4/5 We each ended up paying about $18 to split two appetizers and three entrées, which is pretty damn good for Palo Alto. Most entrées run $12-20, and apps are about $7-10. Reasonable prices for a special occasion/night out with friends. BONUS! Get 10% off if you show your Stanford ID.
4. Location and Setting -- 5/5 About a block and a half south of University Avenue -- quieter neighborhood, which facilitates easier parking and less hazardous sidewalk navigation. Indoor or covered patio seating available. Has serious potential as a mood-booster in the winter months, what with all those bold colors and painted palm trees. Deliberately and delightfully tacky.
5. Good for... going out with friends and celebrating in pseudo-Caribbean fashion, of course!

Can't wait for an excuse to go back and try the crab pasta and the sweet potato pudding. Yeah mon.