Los Gatos Brewing Company

A while back ago when I was back home in the Bay Area for my brother’s high school graduation, I met up with a few good friends from back in the day. Edna still lived in the area, Crystal came all the way down from Alaska also for her sister’s graduation and Nhu-Chi came with her boyfriend Greg from the OC on their way up to Napa. It was really good seeing the girls all together as we all do have crazy conflicting schedules so its not exactly easy to meet up in one place. Of course the choice of venue for meeting was up to me so I cruised around Jatbar since they wanted to go to a place not too casual. Well when I’m home I eat either mom’s good ol’ home cooking or at very casual places like Long Phung(post below). I don’t come home often enough and neither do I eat out often enough when I come up in order to give a recommendation I’d be totally confident in. So I’m looking around Jatbar and I come across a few places that sound good. They were all over the South Bay and Peninsula and I didn’t feel like traveling too far up North so I suggested the Los Gatos Brewing Company… remembering how pretty Downtown Los Gatos is at night.

We started off with some Fried Calamari($9.95). The flavor was a little bland as I remember it and it seemed like our order didn’t get its fair share of batter as you can see from the photo. However the calamari was tender which is a plus as chewy calamari is such a disappointment.

I ordered 4 Cheese Ravioli($15.95). It was quite tasty… the noodles were cooked perefectly and the filling was creamy rich. The toasted bread was a nice treat to dip into the sauce. However after a few bites it was a little too much for me and I ended up taking it home.

Edna ordered a Fresh Basil Pesto Pizza($12.95). I didn’t try any of the pizza but Edna said it wasn’t too bad. The prosciutto wasn’t overwhelmingly salty and it was very cheesy. The pine nuts added a nice crunchy texture to the pizza.

Nhu-Chi and Greg decided to share the house burger($8.50). They said they liked it…. it was a good basic burger. Again, I didn’t eat it so there’s not much I can say about this dish.

Crystal decided to go with the Pecan Crusted Catfish($23.00). I have no idea why she picked fish considering she can have all the fish she wants for fresh since she fishes back at home. She said that the fish was nice and tender and the pecans added a nice crunch to the fish.

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Average meal price: ~$15-$20

Food: casual American brewery type food

Ambiance: casual… but its nice to dress up a little considering its Los Gatos

Service: polite and quick

Kid-friendliness: didn’t really see any kids around

Cleanliness: spiffy clean

Overall: Not spectacular but nice place to just meet and chat with friends from out of town.

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Los Gatos Brewing Company~ 130 N. Santa Cruz Ave. Los Gatos Ca 95030~ tel: (408)395-9929~ Lunch 11:30am-3pm daily, Dinner 5pm-9pm, Sunday Brunch 9am-2pm

http://www.lgbrewingco.com/index.html

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Long Phung Sandwich & Food to go

So I’m back in the Bay Area and I thought it’d be fitting to write about a place I almost always go to when I’m back in San Jose. Long Phung is a real hole in the wall but if you are lucky enough to find this place you are in for one real treat. They make several of the classic Vietnamese take out items right in their own kitchen. At times there is quite a demand for the hot and noodle dishes that you may have to wait a while for the item to come out. This place really embodies a Vietnamese family run business. All the members of the family work together to make this business a success and it is by word of mouth of more than satisfied customers that this shop still continues to draw in so many happy customers after so many years.

Below is a plate of unwrapped Bahn Beo($2.25) This is seriously the best I’ve had ever and I’ve tried many a dishes at several restaurants in the Bay Area, the OC, LA and San Diego. You are lucky to get a glimpse of this unwrapped since usually I can’t wait to devour this dish when I get it. The perfectly sized round noodle disks are topped with mung bean paste, crushed dried shrimp, chopped scallions. Inside the cup is their house fish sauce which has just the right balance of sweet, sour and spicy to compliment the noodles. This dish may be a little intimidating to eat on the first try but I promise with a little practice the noodles shouldn’t be too slippery.

Ahh… a Bahn Mi with steamed pork loaf and pate($2.50). I used to as a kid be disgusted by the pate and gravitate more to the BBQ pork sandwich but I eventually grew a taste for pate and get it with my Vietnamese sandwich whenever possible. The bread was nicely toasted on the outside, soft and warm on the inside but not chewy. There was just enough pickled veggies and the pate didn’t overpower the other flavors of the sandwich.

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Average meal price: >$10

Food: no frills authentic Vietnamese take out

Ambiance: like above… no frills

Service: honest and quick

Kid-friendliness: kids are welcomed

Cleanliness: could use a good spring cleaning

Overall: I must visit if you are in San Jose and craving Vietnamese take out

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2145 Tully Road, San Jose Ca~ 408-254-9941

Mon-Fri: 8:30am-8pm, Sat-Sun: 8am-8pm

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