Evvia in Palo Alto was basically good.

After finding out that Evvia restaurant in Palo Alto was the sister restaurant of Kokkari in San Francisco, I decided to finally give it a try with my best friend Jovis. As you walk into the restaurant, the hot stone oven on the left side of the restaurant breathes warm air that immediately made me feel all warm and fuzzy. The rustic decor is very charming. Classic Mediterranean cuisine, the menu was neither unique nor different. I ordered the roasted chicken and Jovis ordered the lamb chops. My roasted chicken was one of the most tasty chicken I've had in a restaurant...not quite as good as range, but still noteworthy. The citrus juice and the fried potatoes enhanced the classic roast chicken dish. It wasn't anything special, but it was comfort food and that suited me just fine on a cold January night. The waiter suggested a white wine from Santorini and I wished I had remembered the name and/or the varietal, because it had the perfect blend of floral and mineral. It was beautiful and easy to drink on its own or with the roasted chicken. Evvia is a pleasant place for comfort and classic Mediterranean food.

420 Emerson St

Palo Alto, CA 94301

(650) 326-0983

The Village Pub in Woodside

The Village Pub is hidden behind an office building along a small row of charming buildings in the mountains of Woodside west of 280 Highway. A small sign hangs outside of Coldwell Banker and if you drive too fast, you might just miss it. As you walk through this narrow alleyway, it opens up to a parking lot where to the right is the restaurant. If you thought it was a "pub", you'd be disappointed. It's a really nice, classically elegant French inspired restaurant. What I love the most are these oval tables that sit parties of 4 or 6. There were six of us, our newlywed couple, Emily and Danny and our mutual and ultra talented floral designer, Nancy and her husband Kevin. I've read great things about this restaurant and was looking forward to trying it. They have a classic dinner menu and a bar menu. Our adventurous friends, Nancy and Kevin both ordered off the bar menu: crispy duck confit and steak and frites. The duck confit smelled and tasted so good as Nancy was kind enough to share a piece with me. We ordered extra pomme frites and it was so yummy, comparable to Bistro Elan which I'll blog about next time we go back again. I ordered Moroccan quail and while the quail was tasty, especially with the Moroccan spread, I'm not a big fan of the cous cous. Alvin ordered potato encrusted seabass. He thought it was good, but uneventful. Emily ordered duck breast dish and Danny ordered bacon-wrapped trout. The best was saved for last as I ordered a chocolate souffle. It was divine! That dessert alone is worth going back again. The only downside to what would otherwise have been perfect was that our waiter made me feel like he was rushing us through dessert. When I ordered the chocolate souffle about 5 minutes after our friends did, he blatantly pointed out that it would take another 20 minutes, which I ordered anyways because we weren't in a hurry. And as I was still holding onto the dessert menu in my hands while talking to Nancy, he yanked the menu out of my hands. I didn't appreciate that. The service was, for the most part cordial, but nothing special. Considering the little choices of fine dining in that area, I supposed The Village Pub is worth going again for special occasions.

The Village Pub

2967 Woodside Road

Woodside, CA 94062

(650) 851-9888