Portola Valley Restaurants

This is our second time here and we definitely think it’s a special occasion sort of experience. With a seasonal menu you may not always receive what you see online or in reviews/photos but you’ll usually find something you want to order without too many upgrades but depending on your taste you may want to do a $5-$125 upgrade. The cocktails and wines we had were good but if you’re doing a really special event like an engagement or anniversary and prefer to bring a special bottle the corkage fee is $75 and well worth it if you have a really unique or important bottle. Service was mostly good but keep in mind this is a sit down experience that is not to be rushed. You can book the private dining room which we have done before and if you book outside even for night time the patio is quite enjoyable and still warm enough. They may want to consider changing their doorway mat more during rainy season to decrease the musky wet smell you get when you first walk in but the candles and other decor help. They did charge us for a wine bottle we didn’t have ($240) and we had to ask them to remove it so be careful but a true honest mistake, just wish they admitted it better and gave us a reason to not question it going forward like a credit to the restaurant or something. We specifically enjoyed the tuna or beets app, entrees of lobster, duck, or seabass, and beignets as dessert

Four of us had a wonderful pre holiday lunch and we are all extremely satisfied customers for close to 20 years. The food was amazing, we began with fried calamari and the cauliflower soup. We shared the branzino (deboned ) sole fish, lamb chops and the chicken souvlaki. For dessert two of us enjoyed Judy's ice cream sundae and an order of galaktourrko and the chocolate cake. Delicious.. Our server Pryush was beyond outstanding, very helpful and extremely pleasant.

Been to this restaurant many times bc of convenience, but it hasn’t been my favorite bc service is typically slow and the quality of the food inconsistent for the price, but last night everything was great, the service, the timeliness of the food arrival and the overall quality of the dishes were great. Everything was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly, whatever the VB team did last night keep it going, and I’ll visit more often.

Great food, excellent and served hot. Imaginative tapas, very nice combo of fried and fresh. All nicely flavored. The squid ink risotto was excellent, good combo. The waiter was very accommodating with our group size. Interesting sangrias, would recommend. Too noisy for conversation!

Great service, ambiance, and overall experience! We split some starters (the bread and veggies for the burrata was overcharred but the dish itself was perfect), and had the steak sandwich, Chinese chicken salad, Roasted Chicken, and Zambrini. Every dish was flavorful. Surprisingly the parking wasn’t as difficult as I had feared. I would definitely return. Just make sure to book well in advance!