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 ...