a n h - m i n h . c o m

1. The Village Pub - This is my absolute favorite place to dine in the Peninsula. They serve an excellent chocolate souffle; although the last time we were here, we immensely enjoyed the Village Pub's version of the lemon bar and s'mores. (BTW, we recently tried Mayfield Bakery — which is owned by the same people — and it was really disappointing.)
2. Hotaru - We've been going here for 5-6 years now, so we've learned that you should get here early. It's not very big, and fills up during lunch and dinner.
3. Old Port Lobster Shack - I admit, every time we go here, I walk away from the register thinking, "Did we just spend $75 for dinner in a strip mall?!" But then the clam chowder and lobster roll arrive on the table and I forget about all that. It's so good.
4. Alana's Cafe - For brunch, I like the Redwood City location — which is housed in an old Victorian. Get the scones fresh out of the oven.
5. Town - I'd go here just for the mac'n'cheese. If San Carlos has a hot spot, I do believe this is it. (Not that I have that much experience with SC restaurants.)
6. El Grullense - What do I miss most about living in Redwood City? The tacos from EG. But I don't like my tacos with a lot of extras — just the meat, onions and hot salsa, please.
7. Back A Yard - This hole-in-the-wall in Menlo Park has no ambiance whatsoever. It only has a couple of tables, so clearly you're meant to take your food and go eat it in the comfort of your own home. So cheap and so tasty. Give me an order of their meat patty and fried plantains and I'm happy.
8. La Bodeguita del Medio - Speaking of fried plantains! I usually fill up on a side of plaintains here and end up taking most of my Ropa Vieja home. Not that I'm complaining. (FYI, this is the only restaurant that I can remember getting carded at in the last, say, decade. And they seriously didn't bring me a mojito because I didn't have my ID.)
9. Pho Vi Hoa - The problem with lots of inexpensive pho joints is that the quality of the meat is so-so. Well, not at this place in Los Altos. It gets packed for good reason.
10. Flea St. Cafe - This is a standby for us. When we don't want to cook, but aren't craving anything in particular, we know we'll get a delicious meal here. Owner Jesse Cool is all about "using food and wine raised, harvested, and produced sustainably and regionally."

A couple of other Peninsula places that I wanted to mention, that don't necessarily fall in the restaurant category but are food/drink-related: Coupa Cafe and Fraiche Yogurt, both in downtown Palo Alto.

P.S. I don't have as much experience with South Bay restaurants to have a lot of favorites there. Although I do love Gochi Fusion Tapas. Also in Cupertino, there are a bunch of really good dim sum places.