James Randall (Los Gatos)

http://www.restaurantjamesrandall.com/Home.html

Today is Alicia's birthday, and for that she got to pick a restaurant that she has been wanting to go to: James Randall in Los Gatos. It's a cozy place with 14 tables, half of them with seating for just two. They do a small plates menu, not exactly tapas but they recommend 5-6 plates per two people. So what did we get?
We started with a cheese plate and a meat plate. The cheese plate came with a nice bleu cheese, a type of Parmesan, and something that was like a brie. They were accompanied with dried fruit and spiced pecans (very good) and warm bread on the side. The sliced meat had only two selections (was supposed to have three). They were dry Italian style Sopressata type meats. They came with dried fruit and warm bread as well. They were both good with one clearly above the other in taste. A good way to start the meal; meat, cheese, and bread.
Alicia had a white wine and I just had water. They wanted 7$ for bottled beers and the wines were pricey. I like to try different beers and wines but don't appreciate exorbitant mark up and decided to pass. After the meat and cheese we got our next two dishes. Delicatta Squash pancakes and fried chicken and waffles. The pancakes were nicely cooked, crisp on the outside and tender inside. They came with apple sauce and a sour type creme. They were nice with the creme but the apple sauce didn't seem to complement the pancakes. I ate the rest without the apple sauce. What can I say about the chicken and waffles. It was the first time I've had that combination so I guess saying it was the best chicken and waffles I've had doesn't mean much. I don't see how this dish could have been improved at all. The chicken was fried perfectly. It had a beautiful rich brown battered crust surrounding the tender dark meat. It was nice a crisp and not greasy, exactly what fried chicken is supposed to be. Not only that, this came on top of a crisp waffle with a slab of herb butter to spread over it. In between the waffle and chicken was perfectly coked Swiss Chard with bits of bacon that were cooked together and finished with something sweet (maple syrup maybe?). I really wish I ordered two of these. It was the highlight of the meal. Okay, the final two dishes of dinner were a spicy tuna tempura roll and gnocchi with mushroom. I made a mistake here. These two dishes came out together and do not go well with each other. Eating a couple bites of gnocchi and then having a piece of sushi was really disjointed. I should have got the halibut with vegetables instead of tempura. The tempura roll was okay, it was quite spicy (too spicy for Alicia) but I've had better and regretted ordering it. The gnocchi was made well and cooked well. It came with nice chunks of cooked mushrooms and was in a very rich and creamy sauce. It was a little too rich for me although I don't know if it was the food or just that I was getting full by this time. So if you're getting full that means no desert right?
For desert we got a brownie with salted peanuts, caramel, and marshmallow fluff. The brownie was rich, I loved the caramel and salted peanuts and Alicia loved the marshmallow fluff. The fluff was a mix between liquid and solid, interesting. I only wish the brownie was served warm. Oh yeah, we got a chocolate torte with white chocolate bourbon ganache. No that's not overkill, that's just celebrating a birthday you know?. So we taste the torte and it tastes exactly how I thought it would. Alicia says the same and we keep taking bites of it. Then I remark that it's like eating a truffle. Alicia says this is the smoothest torte she has had. The more we eat it the more we like it. By the end I think that was one of the best chocolate tortes I've had.
So the prices look reasonable when you see the menu but you have to remember they are all small plates. The bill was 96$ without tax (4$ for a bag of tea? What?) So it came to 60$ a person with tax and tip. This is pricey. At the same time though we got to try eight different things. If you are the kind of person that likes to try some of this and that well have I got the place for you. It's called James Randall in Los Gatos. The only drink you should have there is tap water. This is a cozy place with friendly staff and some good food to boot.

Rangoli (San Jose)

http://www.rangolica.com/


I just got back from Rangoli, an Indian restaurant in San Jose. We made a 6:30pm reservation and when we got there it was maybe only 1/4 full on a Friday night. By the time we left at 7:30 they had filled up a bit. Lately Indian food is becoming my favorite style of cuisine. I think the fact that most the spices used for food grow native to the subcontinent of India means the dishes of the region have a depth of flavor that can't be matched by western cuisines. They have been cooking with the spices long before Marco Polo introduced spices to Europe. Anyway, for the starters:

Potli Samosa: This was a really good vegetable fritter, stuffed with mainly potatoes and some peas. The mixture was seasoned and spiced very well. The potatoes were cooked as good as they can get, just having some slight resistance when you bite down and then it is smooth sailing from there. This came with a trio of sauces for the fritter. A spicy plum (good), mint (good), and grape (too sweet).
Yellow Lentil Soup: This was disappointing. I prefer a lentil soup to have some more texture and density than this one displayed. It was thin and seemed to be too much broth and not enough lentil. It had some heat to it but not good depth of spice or flavor. Really pedestrian. We did order plain naan to dip in the soup and the naan is very good.

Dinner:
Muttar Paneer (farmers cheese and green pea curry): This was great, soft pieces of cheese and cooked peas in a remarkable curry. This curry had depth, warmth, and spice. I wouldn't change a thing about this dish and would recommend anyone to try it.
Chicken Ka Korma: Another excellent dish. Tender chicken that you can break apart with your fork in another rich, flavorful sauce. Alicia said the dish was good but one of her chicken pieces needed to be cut with a knife. I find it hard to complain about this dish. I thought I should mention that though. I would love to eat these two dishes again at sometime in the future. (Actually I probably will tomorrow, with the leftovers).
The dishes came with a side of well cooked rice. They actually gave us more rice to go with the leftover curry we were taking home. We had garlic naan with dinner and I much preferred the plain. The problem with the garlic naan was the garlic not being cooked through. The naan cooks too quickly to put raw garlic on it. They need to cook the garlic first and then put in on the naan. I do like raw garlic for some dishes but not for this. Plain naan would have been perfect for dipping in the curries, however I still enjoyed dipping the garlic naan.

Desert:
I had to get those milk ball type things. I believe here they call them Galum Jalab. I am probably wrong on the spelling. Two of them came out and they were very reminiscent of deserts I had in Cyprus. They were warm, soaked in a sweet syrup, and had chopped pistachios on top. There was a rose water infusion as well. I liked them but fair warning, if you don't like sweet stuff this will be a turn off for you.

Service:
My favorite thing about service was the constant filling of my water without me asking. It's a pet peeve when staff is nowhere to be seen and we have empty glasses at the table. We had two bussers and one waiter serving us and they were courteous and the food was on time. They were very professional for the price range of the restaurant. A nice trick was bringing out very warm empty plates so the curries stayed hot on our plates the whole time we ate.

I would recommend this place for anyone and would like to go back myself sometime. This would be the perfect place to eat on a cold rainy day. The food and atmosphere will warm you up for sure!