627187 Thu Jun 11 20:34:38 -0700 2009 5 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 4765405 The first ever Dine About Town Downtown SJ, haven't gone yet. Good until 6/13. 3 course for $20/$30/$40. I'm interested in Habana Cuba Restaurant or La Pastaia. * 19Market * 71 St. Peter * Agenda Restaurant * A.P. Stumps * Arcadia Modern American Steakhouse * Bella Mia Restaurant and Bar * Billy Berk's * The Brit * E&O Trading Company * Emile's Restaurant * Eulipia Restaurant & Bar * Fahrenheit Ultra Lounge & Restaurant * The Grill on the Alley * Gumbo Jumbo Cajun Fusion * Habana Cuba Restaurant * Hawgs Seafood Bar * Il Fornaio * La Pastaia Ristorante & Enoteca * Loft Bar & Bistro * Mezcal Bistro & Bar * Morocco's Restaurant * Morton's The Steakhouse * Mosaic Restaurant & Lounge * Paolo's Restaurant * P.F. Changs China Bistro * San Pedro Square Bistro & Wine Bar * Silicon Valley Capital Club Menus online: http://www.sjdowntown.com/dinedowntown_menus.html Thu Jun 11 20:34:38 -0700 2009 10677 hhc 1 4767136 We checked out E&O during a Yelp event, so when the first Dine About San Jose event came up recently and E&O was on the list we high-tailed it there. They had both $20 and $30 prix fixe menus. I was determined to stick to the $20 one, but when my husband discovered that the $30 one had Shaking Beef and his favorite app from the Yelp event - Ginger Portobello Satay - I knew that plan was a lost cause. I still stuck to my $20 meal though and we shared. I like that they offered lots of choices on the prix fixe menus. For each course there were three choices, and a few were "any flat bread" and "any satay" which meant even more. Plus for dessert we were able to order any off the list. My $20 Meal: Panir Cheese Naan ($6) Firecracker Chicken ($17) Pineapple Spice Cake ($7 or $8?) Free rice ($2) =$32-$33 meal for $20 My Husbands $30 Meal: Ginger Portobello Satay ($8) Vietnamese Shaking Beef ($25) Hot Bangkok Sundae ($7 or $8?) =$40-$41 meal for $30 Round One We had the Panir Cheese Flatbread and Ginger Portobello Satay and they were my favorite dishes. They weren't quite as good as we remembered (possibly because we had a bigger portion instead of a morsel at the Yelp event which left us wanting more), but were still exceptional. My Panir Cheese Naan was overflowing with tasty panir cheese and served with two dipping sauces (both good) - a mango chutney and a tomato sambal. The Satay had a soy glaze and was very flavorful. Round Two My Firecracker Chicken tasted like something you'd pay $12 for at PF Chang's. That's not as much a put down as it sounds. It just didn't taste like $17. Although I liked it enough when I ordered it, when I ate the leftovers the next night I trudged through it and hated it with every bite. The chicken was more successful than the Shaking Beef. The beef lacked the requisite lemon/pepper dipping sauce, but just generally was only OK. Round Three My husband got the sex-position sounding, Hot Bangkok Sundae. It consisted of banana gelato topped with hot fudge sauce and coconut, with a glass trimmed in sliced bananas, and thankfully didn't involve a vagina that shot out ping pong balls. The gelato didn't have the texture of gelato at all and in fact, tasted more like ice cream that had melted with whipped cream. My Pineapple Spice Cake was crowned best dish of the night. It consisted of a bundt-shaped spice cake topped with coconut gelato (again, texture of ice cream), and a caramel sauce that brought the whole dish together. Both desserts were huge. My friends preferred their Banana Spring Roll to their ill-advised tapioca ball rice dessert. Conclusions: The small plates are definitely much better. That's something that seems to be true at every restaurant but is even more true at E&O which has a large small plates menu. The amount of food in one prix fixe dinner can feed two people. If we return before the promotion ends we plan to get one prix fixe and one small plate. In case you're interested in the prix fixe (only available until June 13th) $20 Prix Fixe Menu First Course Any Flat Bread Indonesian Corn Fritters Butter Lettuce Salad Asian Caesar Salad Second Course Shrimp & BBQ Pork Fried Rice Shrimp Pad Thai Firecracker Chicken Third Course Choose any dessert from the list $30 Prix Fixe Menu First Course Any spice grilled satay Pork & Shitake Mushroom Lettuce Cups Crispy Shrimp Second Course Shaking Beef Hardwood Grilled Ahi Shiso Pepper Grilled Salmon Third Course Choose any dessert from the list From the Yelp Elite Event: In order of best to worst: -Ginger Portobello Satay Skewers -Panir Cheese Filled Flatbread -Peanut Chicken Satay Skewers -Fried Rice (in takeout containers) -Whole Wheat Buttermilk Naan with Raita and Tomato Sambal -Indonesian Corn Fritters -Burmese Ginger Salad (Green Papaya Salad in takeout containers) Fri Jun 12 11:27:30 -0700 2009 4765405 10992 katya 2 4775279 >>> They weren't quite as good as we remembered (possibly because we had a bigger portion instead of a morsel at the Yelp event which left us wanting more), Or possibly they put extra care in for the yelp event to get positive posts. Did you make it back? Mon Jun 15 15:01:46 -0700 2009 4767136 10264 rworange 3 4778095 No, we didn't make it back. Considered it, but I proclaimed I couldn't take another serving of the Firecracker Chicken in the same week. It didn't seem like that great a deal just to get an entree I didn't want. (Yes, there were other entrees but husband didn't want them.) In the future: small plates and dessert. Tue Jun 16 10:43:51 -0700 2009 4775279 10992 katya 1 4779234 We went to Habana Cuba. With a party of four, we tried all of the offerings: Prix Fixe Menu Price: $20 per person First Course Yuca Frita & Tostones Combo Plantain Chips & Salsa Papas Rellenas with Yuca Frita Second Course Lechon a la Cubana Ropa Vieja Pechuga de Pollo a la Plancha Third Course Flan Arroz con Leche Tres Leches They also offered a tamal as fourth alternative for the second course. It was the least interesting of the four. Not much more than masa. Overall, the food was OK, but nothing special. Not very tasty. My granddaughter had recently returned from a month-long trip to Ecuador, so she was excited about the plantains and the yucca. Again, they were just OK. The restaurant was half to two-thirds full, and the service was friendly, but again, nothing special. We won't be back for a long while (until we can forget this unimpressive meal). Tue Jun 16 15:54:36 -0700 2009 4765405 168111 boopa 2 4779821 link Tue Jun 16 19:41:09 -0700 2009 4779234 10264 rworange