About 6 months ago, we were mourning the retirement of Adam Sun, the former
owner and amazing chef at Szechwan Cafe on California in Palo Alto. Adam was
a great cook, an inspired fruit and vegetable carver, an enchanting flute player,
and he seemed to remember most of his customers’ names and tastes after just a few visits. (Also, Szechwan Cafe is right across the street from Know Knew Books,
a used book store always worth the browse.)
At the same time that Szechwan Cafe changed hands for the worse, two of
our favorite Vietnamese restaurants also closed. This was not good!
We have been hunting for alternatives for dinner-out-on-the-drive-home
ever since. Several weeks ago, our search was rewarded with two new
and excellent finds:
- Joy Luck Place Cantonese Cuisine
Cupertino Village (near 280)
10911 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, CA - Saigon 75 Vietnamese restaurant
(near San Jose State, at 8th)
304A Santa Clara Street, San Jose, CA
We went to Joy Luck after it was strongly recommended by some friends.
It is sure to become a regular stop (and not just because it is near where my
daughter takes singing lessons). On Monday, my family had a meal of salt and
pepper crab, scallops in black bean sauce with snow peas, braised eggplant,
and sweet and sour chicken. With the exception of the chicken, this was possibly the
best Chinese food we have tasted since we flew home from Beijing. It is also
near the Ten Ren tea shop for those with a taste for cold milky tea with “spit
balls” (tapioca pearls).
Tonight, we ate at Saigon 75 for the second time. We were just as pleased
this time as we were two weeks ago. Paul and I had clay pot dishes (he had chicken
and I had catfish), Jessica had a lovely green salad with chicken, and John had a
big bowl of pho (beef noodle soup). We are very pleased to finally find a
restaurant a short drive from our house with such excellent Vietnamese cooking.
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