Straits Cafe

If you live in the South Bay, I would highly recommend visiting a little area off of 880/Stevens Creek called Santana Row. Its like a slice of Europe in the Silicon valley. They’ve got art galleries, cafes, fine dining, dance clubs, outdoor tables, outdoor stages for live performances, even chess tables — an overall great atmosphere.

In particular I would HIGHLY recommend one of the best restaurants I’ve ever eaten at called Straits Cafe. The restaurant specializes in Asian fusion cuisine. They are somehow able to capture flavors from Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Korean, and French/Vietnamese food into every savory bite of whatever you order.

The menu offers a family style list of entrees, where you can (should) order a bunch of little “small plates.” Last night we orderded:

Straits Spare Ribs – $9
Honey glazed Bali style barbecue pork ribs.

Grilled Beef in Grape Leaf – $9
Marinated beef wrapped in grape leaves and
grilled with mint, basil and toasted nuts.

Potong Kari Ayam – $10
Traditional Singapore curried chicken
with potatoes.

Garlic Noodle – $9
Wok tossed egg noodles with basil, black pepper,
tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms.

Side of white rice – $1

My wife had a Riesling while I had a Chardonnay, both went very well with our meal.

My personal favorite from last night was the Grilled Beef in Grape Leaf. Its served in little beef sauges wrapped in grape leaves, which you dip into a sauce, lemon-grass i believe. The straits ribs are a signature dish which was again very flavorful and has that sweet oyster/sauce bbq taste. The curry chicken looks plain when you receive it, but when you bite into that first morsel you’ll be quite surpirsed. The garlic noodle was good since we didn’t want to get another dish that had a meat in it. Having a plain garlic nooded with shitake mushrooms was a good base to have with all the other flavorful dishes.

Reservations are highly recommended for this place, ESPECIALLY on a Friday night.

Definitely, one of the best dates with my beautiful wife.