Arya Restaurant, Cupertino

Watching a movie at the AMC Cupertino Square 16 multiplex in Cupertino has become a Friday ritual for my friends and me and is compelling us to discover new restaurants in Cupertino. Bored with going to Mandarin Gourmet, BJ's and Blue Mango each Friday, we decided to try some new place and a quick search on google brought us to Arya. They call themselves a "Global Cuisine" restaurant that servers Persian, Italian, American food but its essentially a Persian place with a few dishes of the other cuisines thrown in the menu. And I have to admit they do a good job at their Persian food. The exterior of this restaurant does not prepare you for the plush upscale decor inside. We started our meal with a glass of white wine and the Middle Eastern appetizer sampler which consisted of an extremely generous amount of Maust O'Mooseer, Maust O'Khiar, Hummus and salad served with pita bread. For the main course, we ordered the Chicken Koobideh and Pollo Firenze. The Koobideh was one of the most flavorful and juciest I've had and the saffron rice with butter was a great accompaniment. The Pollo Firenze was spinach stuffed chicken served with mashed potatoes and a creamy white sauce and although it was good, it was no match for the Koobideh !! Finished up the dinner with a mango pudding served with fresh strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Definitely a place worth visiting again in Cupertino ...

Limon, San francisco

My latest favourite in the Mission !! I'd heard a lot of good things about Limon and had been wanting to try it out for atleast 2 years now. I had no clue what I was missing or I'd have been a little more proactive... Limon is by far the best restaurant I've been to in the Mission. The cuisine here is Peruvian and I went there with a couple of friends one Saturday evening and ended up spending a good 2 hours enjoying the food. Started off with a pitcher of Sangria. I've mentioned earlier that the Sangria at Charanga was my favourite, well here's the new favourite !! For appetizers we had the Chiccaron de Pollo which is chicken marinaded in spices and deep fried. It was nice and juicy with a wonderful unique flavor to it. For the main course, we had the grilled chicken served with mashed potatoes and a spicy coconut based gravy and fried red snapper fillets served with rice and another spicy gravy. The flavor in each of the dishes was unique and we were left licking the plates craving for some more. We wrapped up the wonderful evening with a generous serving of Creme de Papaya. I must also mention that the service here was excellent with the waiter giving us some very useful suggestions and checking on us every few minutes and refilling our glasses with Sangria :). I can't wait to get back to Limon once again ...

Dish Dash, Sunnyvale

Downtown Sunnyvale isn't exactly a foodie's delight, except for this small Mediterranean Cafe. I have been to Dish Dash countless number of times and each time, the food and service have been great. My favourite dish here is the Beriani which is beef cooked in a yogurt based sauce and served with saffron rice garnished with dry fruits. On occasion I've had their Sabanech which is a lamb shank served with black-eye beans, rice, spinach and garlic. I've had Sabanech at a few other places, but the one at Dish Dash beats everyone else. The lamb is so tender that it just falls off the bone and the spices are just perfect. Their Meze appetizer plate which is a combo of Hummus, Babaghanoush, Tabouli, and Falafel served with Falafel is probably the best appetizer plate you can have at a Mediterranean restaurant. The beer and wine collection here is adequate and their appetizers are nothing to boast about. If you're around Sunnyvale, do yourself a favor and go to Dish Dash instead of one of the several lousy Indian restaurants in the area...

E' Tutto Qua, San Francisco

My friend Christian calls the Pizza at E' Tutto Qua the second best in the world, the first being a restaurant in Milan, and I have to agree with him!! The pizza I had here is probably the best I've had to date. The restaurant is supposed to have excellent pasta as well but we left that for another time. Conveniently located at the intersection of Broadway and Columbus, this restaurant sports a nice bar, an awesome wine collection and a great dessert menu in addition to the wonderful pizzas!! Ended up having the Bruschetta for appetizers and the Pizza Tutta Qua, Pizza Diavolo and another pizza with anchovies accompanied by a bottle of Chianti Classico which was the first time I had wine with pizza and actually loved it... They had a great dessert menu and although I was tempted to try more than just one dessert, I exercised some control and just went for the Grand Marnier Tiramisu which was the softest and the best Tiramisu I've ever had. Came out of E' Tutto Qua thoroughly pleased, but then had to walk down 4 blocks to my car in the cold and wind, but it was so totally worth it !!!