Wife’s birthday lunch at Ettan. Enjoyable meal as always.
Green apple & avocado chaat in a semolina puff. We liked this dish quite a bit. Quite a bit fancier than the usual chaat, with the sweetness of the apple and Straus yogurt and the creaminess of the avocado. The quality of the Straus yogurt made everything a bit better.
Chicken biryani. The biryani was good. Though on that day the rice was overcooked compared to their usual texture so its a bit softer. The salan added so much depth of flavor to the dish that its a must here, unlike many other salan from biryani joints in Sunnyvale/ Milpitas.
Lamb kebab wrap in a roomali roti. We liked the roomali itself quite a bit. The rest of the wrap was quite nice also. There seemed to be a trend by now- their chili aioli was good just like their other sauce. The wrap was messy with all that juice.
They do not have a star. They are listed. Which places them in the same category as zola, evvia, tamarine, etc.
The owners opened Eylan on El Camino just over the line in Menlo park. Reservations a must. The room is entirely different, a welcoming cave. I haven’t eaten there yet, they didn’t seem to have much space for walk in. It might be relieving pressure on ettan.
Ettan has a lot of outdoor seating and is very pleasant because it’s on a walking space inside a block, no cars. However, they do seem to reserve the bar and high tops for walk in, so i sometimes stop by and check, and eat there if there’s a spot. ( Current fav might be dumpling hours although there are a lot of choices, san augus might be my favorite underrated spot).
Speaking of which, drinks are quite good at ettan, although one rather has to stick to the menu, they dont seem to handle requests well except for common stuff.
I find the tastes at ettan a bit less bold than rooh down the street. Fresher. You can say less heavy handed. But i like bold tastes.
We used to go to the Thai restaurant that was there (I think it was Thai) and always liked the space and setback from the street. We’ve had the current menu delivered once or twice and liked it, but hardly go into Palo Alto these days when we are visiting and staying at our Menlo Park apartment. I am excited about Taverna opening up in our old stomping grounds in Ladera. Have you eaten at the PA location?
The prior place, three seasons, I’d call more asian fusion (in a good way) than thai qua thai, but it was pretty tasty. I noticed this week that on Univ Ave there’s still a signpost to it. Before that it was a french bistro, so I hear.
