chewing @ chef chu's

We dined at Chef Chu's with an old friend and her ex-pastry chef buddy the other night. The ex-chef had some hilarious stories to share about working for the upper ranks of the US government.

We started with a vegetarian hot and sour soup. The soup had good flavor, but it relied too heavily on pepper for heat. Our dining companions, one being from the mid-West, the other from the East Coast, were not use to that much pepper in their food, enjoying the soup, and mopping their brows.



After the soup we had vegetarian goose and spicy pickled cucumber. The veg goose reminded me of mock duck that I'd had elsewhere, only more dense and more 'meat like' flavoring. The cucumbers are always good, but sweeter than spicy.

Next came the special lobster in sauce with noodles, all pieces and parts of the lobster proudly displayed. Everyone else said the dish was delish!


At this point everyone was ready for a bucket to make room! Out came a whole fish, deep fried, topped with a spicy sauce, my veg Singapore "style" noodles, seasonal asparagus sauteed with garlic and the kid's candied pecans with prawns. I can only attest for the asparagus and noodles, they were quite good.

Everyone shared an order of fried banana with ice cream for dessert.

Dinner was pretty good. Chef Chu's is not the ultimate destination for Chinese food in the Bay Area, but it is good and always consistent.

Chef Chu's
1067 N. San Antonio Road
Los Altos, CA 94022
(650)-948-2696

Garden "Flesh"

Garden Fresh is a small Chinese vegan restaurant in a strip Mall anchored by a Baskin Robbins. They specialize in faux meat dishes (chicken, ham, steak) in sauces, large portions, and a friendly staff. I've eaten here dozens, if not hundreds of times over the last 10-12+ years. The staff has remained almost the same over time and remembers your likes and dislikes.

I have a love/hate relationship with the place. I like supporting vegetarian establishments. I love most of the "meat" taste and texture in their dishes, but can find the sauces a bit too sweet. When they say "spicy," they mean mild. Then again, I like my food very spicy.

Four of us went for lunch on Monday. They now have 2 menus - one printed, one on a whiteboard of (never changing) specials. We wanted to try new dishes. We'd ordered almost everything off the printed menu in the past. We debated about ordering the "Basil with Vegetarian Kidney" off the printed menu. but realized we weren't manly enough to try faux kidney. We ordered 2 dishes from the printed menu - Orange Vegetarian Steak and Green Boat. We'd had both dishes dozens of times before. Both are very good, but a bit sweet.

All entrees come with 2 scoops of brown rice and a cup of corn and tofu chowder. The chowder is bland for my taste, so I dump a lot of chilis in it.

Pix of the Orange Veg Steak:



We also ordered two dishes of whiteboard menu - Braised Green Beans and Pork Chops. Green Beans pix:



The Green Beans were good, the Pork Chops were, well, tough and had a gristly consistency (just like 'real' pork!). We ate everything.

I'd order all the dishes again, minus the Pork Chops. We noticed a sign that they were under new ownership as of October, 2006. I hope the staff got together and bought the restaurant. I'll ask them next time I am there.

Garden Fresh
1245 W. El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040

(650) 254-1688