1115 Willow St, San Jose, CA 95125 (Neighborhood: Willow Glen)
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Breakfast, Brunch
http://www.billscafe.com/

I think it's difficult to avoid "brunch" when you're off for a weekend trip with your significant other in a place that happens to have a few good places that do brunch. Granted, we didn't go during a normal brunch hour (we actually went pretty early in the morning) BUT the restaurant supposedly has a good brunch and dang good breakfast too. With their food being made from scratch, Bill's Cafe is a small "chain" in the sense that there are four of them in the SJ area but local since they stay in the community. They open early and close early. We had wanted to go to this one because it's the original. It was also nice that Monday through Friday you can get half a benny (benedict) and other items discounted in the early morning hours. We met some fun, smiling people outside of the restaurant, and upon entering, we saw old-school decor with some drab pink and other muted colors. Nevertheless, the staff were very nice and food great which let us know that the old-timey feel also hearkened back to respectable dining experiences.
 


Duc opted for the Bread Pudding French Toast (baked with walnuts & raisins, dipped in batter & grilled, topped with fried banana & special bread pudding sauce; served with eggs & bacon/sausage) because I guess he was craving bread pudding again. Wow. It was SO GOOD. The bread pudding itself was of a balanced sweet consistency and texture but covered in cinnamon and other French toast adornments, it was out of this world. The slightly bruleed banana slices on top of the bread added just enough fruity kick to the dish. Alongside it came eggs that were okay and fairly good bacon too.


Popular reviews and demands had me hankering for their Crab Cakes Benedict (two crab cakes, two poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce on English muffin), a dish that many had boasted of as being the best anywhere. I found that my crab cakes were not as flaky as preferred with possibly too much other flavors BUT it didn't take away the taste. I thoroughly enjoyed my dish with its eggs poached well and the sauce making it all delectable. The egg just oozing down onto the crabcakes with well-toasted English muffin tops and bottoms was just perfect. What a great experience!

Photography by Duc Duong. 

When Duc and I went up to San Jose to snag a little time of relaxation, we had a very vague plan of everything that we would be doing. We just knew that there were some restaurants we really wanted to check out. While hanging out with some friends of mine, I got the suggestion from one of them to check out the Moveable Feast. I looked up their website and saw that a meet-up was happening very soon and that this ongoing event/group features 100+ trucks on their roll call. How could we miss that?


When we visited the Garden City stop on a Sunday (they have multiple "feasts" set up per week with a rotating food truck roster), there were five trucks available - House of Siam on Wheels, Bigg Shrimp'n, KoJa Kitchen, Treatbot, Gold Rush Eatery. We tried three of them. Yeah, craziness. There was music playing and lines just about at every truck.


If you're curious yourself about Moveable Feast and plan on being in that area (or already do live in that area), here's their schedule as of the last time I check in April 2013:

• Monday Dinner // 5PM - 8PM SOUTHSIDE
• Tuesday Lunch // 11:30AM - 2PM PALO ALTO SQUARE
• Friday Dinner // 5PM - 9PM WILLOW GLEN
• Sunday Lunch // 11AM - 2PM GARDEN CITY

Without a doubt, Duc and I tried as many of the trucks as we figured our stomachs could. My favorite of them all was Treatbot for its unique and tasty ice creams. At $3 for a single scoop and $5 for a double, it is arguably a tad on the pricey side but you get what you pay for. We tried out three flavors in two trips because I came back for a second scoop of the lavender. Yes, yes, yes. The Lavender with Salted Caramel was fan-fricking-tastic. It had a light lavender tint to it, and the floral flavor was not subtle at all. For lavender lovers, this one's for you. The innate sweetness to the flower was enhanced by the salty caramel swirls all around inside of it. Tasty! We also had a scoop of the Red Bean whose red bean flavor was not as prominent as we had wanted. We wondered if its base was vanilla since the red bean was faint. To make it up, a scoop of the Horchata with its very cinnamon and ricey (in a good way) profile was had. The texture of the ice cream scoops themselves were nicely creamy and smooth.


For the KoJa truck, the line was the longest. Curious and because people in general are drawn to long lines (it must be good right?), we wanted some from this truck. I ended up ordering the Korean BBQ Short Rib (Kalbi) ($6.25 - with sesame vinaigrette lettuce, drizzled with signature red sauce and between two toasted garlic rice buns) and Kamikaze Fries ($5.75 - crisscut fries with Korean BBQ beef, sauteed onions, kimchi, and green onions drizzled in signature red sauce and Japanese mayo). The buns on all of the sliders were like glorified rice with the meat fillings because they were toasted rice "buns." I'd say they were quite innovative in style and added a good toasted rice taste. The meat was tasty and juicy which led to the dish being hard to eat neatly. Their fries, unfortunately, were too salty! They were perfectly crispy but became hard to enjoy under too much saltiness and overall, too much of everything. I guess there's a reason why they're called kamikaze though...


Lastly but not least, our Gold Rush truck excavation produced Tater Tots ($3) and Onion Rings ($3). I got sucked in when I saw that they had tater tots on the menu; I was glad to have been because they were very good, having the perfect crunch and amount of potato. For the onion rings, there was great bite-through where the onion never slipped out of its batter ring. Oddly the sauce that came with both wasn't really ketchup but something that tasted just like a thickened tomato cocktail sauce. It wasn't bad but it was a bit surprising. We also managed to gulp down their Root Beer on tap.

Moveable Feast saw quite a crowd and with their trucks parked in a circle street-side, it was easy for people to pull into the big parking lot with ample space and get some grub. All the seating was on overturned large paint buckets, an awesome way for the event organizers to pack up quickly when the day was done. With live music and a lively group of people, I'd say that it was probably really fun too to stick around in the communal eating area. As for us, well, we just slinked away to take pictures of the food without looking too food addicted (har har) and enjoyed ourselves under the shade of a tree. I'm curious about all of the other trucks on their roster now!

Photography by Duc Duong.

1635 Alum Rock Ave, San Jose, CA 95116
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Italian, American (New)
http://www.elpatiosanjose.com/

I'll very truthfully admit that when I travel, I mainly travel to eat. I always look up what restaurants and dishes are the most famous in an area where I go. Where do they have the best this and where can I get the best that? Of course, I can never indulge myself too much with just that type of food. There have to be good standalone classics too. I found El Patio online and notes about how they have fantastic pastas ans burgers. Intrigued, we decided we'd go for our trip to the area. From the outside, it looks like a converted garage with probably no more than 10 seats inside. Quaint! I liked the homey-ness and the feel of their outdoor patio for about another 6-8 people; it was both laidback and friendly. The place itself is a little easy to miss but don't or you will be sorry!


We had just had some food a few hours prior to going here, so we ended up splitting one order of the Patio's Burger ($10.50 - bacon, mushrooms, Cheddar with crisscut fries). I always order the namesakes of restaurants AND this was the burger that got rave reviews online. In fact, some even claimed it was the best burger in the area. We wanted to put it to the test, and it sure did put up a fight. Additionally, there must have been crack in the fries because we couldn't quite pinpoint what is in the seasoning but we both knew that they were so, so tasty. The burger could be had any way we wanted so we got medium rare. I'll admit that it got a little messy but other than that, was fantastic. The meat was cooked just right and all of the vegetables were fresh and crisp. The burger was good with the pepper next to it on the plate and just overall, very savory and hit the right spots. I'll have to come back for the pasta for sure.



Photography by Duc Duong.

80 N Market St, San Jose, CA 95113
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Caribbean
http://www.backayard.net/

It has been quite a few years since my visit to Jamaica but I occasionally do crave the late night alleyway jerk chicken you find from a street vendor. It's not something that has quite exactly been replicated in places I've been, so when I saw that Back A Yard had some good ratings while I was researching San Jose eats, I figured I needed to go. Also, because the trip was somewhat of a birthday ordeal for Duc, I wanted to expose him to foods he hadn't had before. Jamaican jerk chicken - we gon' find you.


We walked inside, and I loved the decor with its bright colors and mural focus. I wish we could have stayed inside to eat but we had to be somewhere else and weren't immediately hungry (just wanted to stop in to grab it to eat later). It definitely made me think back to times in Jamaica but with a little bump up in cleanliness and style. From the looks on people's faces, it was both great food and environment. I took a look at their menu and was sorely tempted to order a whole lot but we were there on a mission! The fridge next to the cashier had all of the Jamaican drinks stocked, making me once again miss my years-passed trip. What tempted us back to the counter was the sight of fresh juices rotating (daily) in their jugos containers like the ones you typically see in a Mexican restaurant.


Why were the juices amazing? Because they had fresh Ginger Beer. Seriously. They also had two others, of which the one we got was their fresh Guava Pineapple juice. Wow to both. I dare say this was one of the best ginger beers I've ever had, and Duc said it was definitely the best for him. There was just the perfect amount of sweet nectar goodness and spicy ginger strength to it. The fresh juice was heavy on the guava but that's not a bad thing. For the meal, we ordered the Jerk Chicken ($9.50 - served with rice & beans, fried plantains, and tossed salad with Ranch dressing), a fantastically large order for "one." I remember the cashier acting like it was odd we only asked for one entree but really guy, there's plenty of food to be had. The jerk chicken really brought me back to street vendor in Jamaica days. It had the perfect amount of char and seasoning in addition to being juicy and tender. There was something crack-like in the rice as well. 'Twas all very good, and later, whenever we talked to locals about having come to Back A Yard, they always said that we made the perfect choice in eating there. Hoorah for five stars you delicious business you!

Photography by Duc Duong.

69 N. San Pedro St., San Jose, CA 95110 (Neighborhood: Downtown)
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American, Gastropub
www.firehouse1.com

On our trip to San Jose, I looked around for restaurants that were getting good ratings and reviews on multiple sites. I came across Firehouse and checked out their website; the menu read like an exciting story. "A gastropub?" I thought. Well I've been to a few in my home area and have liked them every time. Why not given a norCal place a try? I ended up making my meet-up spot here too for all of my friends I was to see during my trip (gaming friends and fellow Duke alumi). Also, the restaurant touted itself thus: "Firehouse is simply the greatest place EVER to come for food and drinks on any occasion. The comfortable atmosphere, insanely delicious food, handcrafted cocktails and fine brews brings everything together ever so nicely." Has to be good right?


It pretty much ended up being a four-couple hangout as everyone brought their significant other. One couple had already put in an order for the Spicy-Smokey Wings ($10.50 - tossed in FH1 buffalo sauce alongside celery and Bleu cheese) when we got there. When the dish came to the table, it was not steaming hot. I didn't realize this until it got to my turn to have some, and they weren't too warm at that point. Unfortunately, though I looked for a spicy smokiness, the sauce was forgettable. $10.50 for these wings seemed too ambitious. Duc went ahead and ordered The Duke Burger ($12.50 - beef patty with bacon, BBQ sauce, onion rings, and Cheddar cheese), of course. He always does every time we go somewhere that has a "Duke burger." Unlucky for him, it was hard to justify the price for this burger as the meat's quality was practically negligible, having been drowned in BBQ sauce. The bacon and onion rings tried to make up for it but that sauce was overpowering. Good fries though.


My friend put in an order for their Mustard Rubbed Flat Iron Steak ($19 - served in a red wine shallot sauce alongside French fries and lemony spinach), medium well. He asked how big it was prior to ordering, and our waitress only showed him an approximate size with her hands, not an ounce measure. We could hardly taste the seasoning which would have been fine had the steak been of great quality or cooked perfectly but it wasn't; dinnermates even asked for A1 steak sauce. That's never a good sign. The French fries were good though and I didn't taste the spinach so can't give a recount of it. I opted for their Baked Polenta ($6 - combined with heirloom grape tomatoes, Feta, roasted garlic, and fresh herbs) which we all flat out disliked as the tomatoes were too sour for how creamy and savory the other ingredients were. No one else enjoyed it, and it was a bad first polenta experience for some. I hate wasting food but this was hardly touched and with good reason.


Duc also grabbed an order of the Bacon Mac N Cheese ($11 - made with smoked Gouda, Cheddar, Pecorino Romano, and fresh breadcrumbs) for the table. It turned out to be very expensive considering that I've had pricey bacon mac n cheese at other gastropubs which probably come in 25%+ lower in price but still better in quality. I hate sounding like snobby when it comes to things like that but with the some-too-hard and some-too-soft pieces of pasta (how does that happen?) and off taste of cheeses without much bacon-y flavoring, I had to be that way. It was also a little too gritty for my taste. Lastly, a friend ordered the Grilled Bone-In Pork Chop ($16.50 - served with a green apple vinaigrette on top of creamy polenta and asparagus). The dish was bland and a bit dry. It's a common mistake that occurs with pork chop I've noticed so I wasn't all too surprised. This one's polenta was great however so I did have a few bites of that. I didn't get to try the asparagus.

Friends I used to game with a few years back - first time we've met!

I guess the main reason why I had wanted to go there was also to check out local brews on tap and guess what? They didn't have it! Firehouse was set up like a gastropub in the back but the emphasis seemed to be the bar in the front (hence a tad slow service). I came away disappointed because everything online seemed good, and I commended the use of seasonal ingredients. Why the rating that wasn't a complete zero? Well none of the food was inedible, and in general, the environment was good. There were some pluses here and there, so I can't more harshly drop my rating. I normally would have let our waitress know about any issues we had with the food but when I realized it was everything that the majority of us disliked, I figured it just meant the place wasn't for us. Ah well.

Photography by Duc Duong.

2301 Stevens Creek Blvd, San Jose, CA 95128
Pricing - $ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Mediterranean
http://www.falafelsdrivein.com

It was through the help of you awesome readers and Yelpers that I made my way to Falafel's Drive-In during my random trip to San Jose. Okay well it wasn't too random but that's only because we made an "excuse" for it. To be honest, a cheap plane ticket convinced us to book a flight up north but to veil ourselves from the lie that we needed to go, we called it Duc's birthday trip. Anyhow, without any foreknowledge of what kind of food the city held, we turned to you all. Thanks for the recommendation! 


What I didn't know before we stepped foot here was that Duc has never had falafel before. "WHAT?!" you scream. I know, I know. Let's be honest here though - before he met me and we started seeing each other, he lived off of bacon, eggs, Spam, and rice. While that may sound appealing to some of you, ultimately it's not good. So instead, I'll introduce him to fried green balls in San Jose. They do mean drive-in here in terms of set-up but it looks like it has been a long while since the place catered to vehicles. The long line moved quickly as people put in their cash-only orders to get some tastiness in their mouths. To keep occupied, there was an immense seating area that was covered in an impressive painted mural highlighting the best of San Jose. We even saw a neat homage to Yelp painted!


So take a look at the juicy goodness that is our order. Based on everyone's rave reviews and the namesake, we had to opt for falafel. So, we got the Large Falafel ($8.00 in combo with banana milkshake - a delicious pita sandwich consisting of falafel balls, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, tahini sauce, and their famous hot sauce). They included quite a bit of the falafel. The custom hot sauce and tahini sauce added the necessary lubrication for crunchy balls BUT the falafel was good on its own. I felt like I would not have gotten through the large myself though because there was a slight saltiness that pervaded after too much consumption. For the both of us, we didn't like banana milkshake at all - it looked like they used plantains (took a peek into the kitchen) which aren't as sweet as the everyday banana until completely ripe. Just a preference remark of course.

To fill out the meal, we also got the Gyro in a Pita ($5.25 small - a spiced beef steak, slowly cooked and stuffed in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and tahini sauce). The pieces weren't thinly sliced as I am used to with other gyros in pita but that does not detract from the deliciousness. It's one of the few examples where I see using iceberg lettuce is okay, and I loved the tahini sauce that thinly coated each well-seasoned, soft morsel of meat. Alongside it was an order of their Pineapple Malt ($3.25), a tad disappointing order of a drink with a canned pineapple taste. Overall, still very tasty and we were able to look around the walls to get an idea of where to explore in San Jose next!


Photography by Duc Duong.