James’ World

I had lunch at Athena Grill today. It’s a cafeteria-style Greek restaurant in Santa Clara.

The mixed grill with chicken and lamb was excellent: fresh, hot and tasty. The greek salad was ok.

My friend had the vegetarian bean soup and a large greek salad. Great also.

Athena only offers street parking, so expect to hunt for parking and a lineup.

Athena Grill
1505 Space Park Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054
48 567 9144

I had lunch with a friend at Michi Japanese Restaurant in Campbell.

The chef/owner is Sheen Michi Shin.

We sat at the sushi bar, and I ordered the beef bento box (which comes with several tempura vegetables) with an order of California Rolls, he the sushi assortment.

The food was fresh and delicious. The portions were rather large for lunch, but we managed. Price was about $20 each plus tip.

Michi Japanese Restaurant
2220 S. Winchester Blvd, Campbell, CA 95008
Phone 408-378-8000

I had lunch at Cafe Artemis in the Pruneyard Shopping Mall.

They have a Mediterranean menu with a wide variety of dishes.

I had the salmon kebabs and flavored rice. The salmon was delicious, prepared medium-rare with spices.

The restaurant was fairly busy, so lunch reservations are recommended.

Cafe Artemis
Pruneyard Shopping Center
1875 South Bascom Avenue.
Suite 300
Campbell, CA 95008
408 626 8100

I was in the Coffee Society cafe in the Pruneyard Shopping Center today in Campbell (South San Jose), and noticed a sandwich board promoting their “Chuck Norris Quad Shot Latte”. I just had to have that!

As a bonus, the barista did a round-house kick after serving it. All for $4.00.

I had dinner tonite with some Japanese friends, at Juban Yakiniku House in Japan Town Center tonite.

The restaurant has a wonderful Japanese ambience, though seemed very quiet for 6:30 pm. I guess it’s a quiet Monday nite.

We each had filet mignon (marinated in miso sauce) yakiniku and various pickled salads. One person also ordered scallops. Although we bbq’ed the meat ourselves, the server made sure everything else was taken care of.

Japanese people like to bbq meat medium (still squishy), and note that Americans often like to overcook it to well-done or burn it.

We had a nice dinner. Prices are about $30/person plus tip.

Juban Yakiniku House
1581 Webster Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 776 5822

I had dinner at Sumiya Japanese Yakitori Restaurant tonite with some friends. Yakitori is a Japanese meal of skewered meat and vegetables over a charcoal grill.

The restaurant was packed with Japanese customers and Japanese staff. That is a good sign indeed.

We shared various skewers of chicken, beef, sausage, egg, and potatoes with different sauces. It was more like snacking than dining.

You can store your own sake bottle. There is fairly good WiFi signal access.

Food was good. Bill was $30/each, including beer and tip.

Sumiya
5160 Moorpark Ave.
San Jose, CA 95129
408 973 0604

Other reviews on yelp.com

Went with some friends to Santana Row tonite for dinner. It is the entertainment heart of San Jose, owing to clever planning and a void in San Jose nightlife. It combines residential apartments with retail and restaurants in a European-style plaza environment. There are numerous places to relax in lounge chairs along with WiFi and free music concerts in a park.

We had dinner at the Left Bank French restaurant. Mussels, French onion soup, escargots, coq au vin, steak - it was all gourmet. Service was better than average.

This was a Friday nite and it was busy, but we were not rushed.

Bill for 3 was under $200 including one bottle of wine and desserts, taxes and tip. Reservations recommended.

Afterwards we walked around Santana Row. There was a Carnaval-type atmosphere, with throngs of young people. Private parties were being hosted on the balconies of the residents overlooking the square. People-watching is the main reason most come here.

Maggiano’s Little Italy was recommended, and I will have to try Blowfish Sushi/Fusion dance bar and the Hotel Valencia ($$$) V-bar later.

The 6 screen Century Theatre is a movie theater with SOTA sound that plays popular and indie films.

Left Bank French Restaurant
377 Santana Row
San Jose, CA 95128
408 984 3500

Whenever I’m in Japan, I make an effort to eat traditional Japanese food like sushi or nabe. I had dinner in the Sushi-Hokake Hotel Nikko Narita restaurant near Tokyo.

The decor was beautiful Japanese traditional - lots of pine and lacquer. I ordered the Chirashi Zushi dinner. My chopsticks were placed on a blue origami swan - a nice touch. The sushi was fresh, delicious and plentiful. The price including tea was 4,030 Yen.