Mystery Critic

This is an on-going blog of eateries in the Silicon Valley that Mr. Mystery Critic and his family like to get a nice lunch (and ONLY for lunch).  They might not culinary treasures, but they provide a simple meal that satifies the mid-day gourmet craving. 

Special Note about RAMEN: 1) For coverage of the best ramen shops in the SF Bay Area, check out my article on hottest bowl  around the world - US.

Silicon Valley

• LA Baguette French Bakery [Palo Alto] - Almost always (not all the time though) fresh and great baguette sandwiches with several of my other French favorite lunch items like quiche, croissant and brioche.  Desserts and coffee are good too, but not extraordinary and they are way too pricey.
• New Ca Mau [Santa Clara] - Incredible noodles and some are not your every day beef pho.  Try the house special noodle that has blood chunks and organs in it - spicy and yummy!  The roasted young chicken is not bad either - if you don't mind eating super sweet meat.  I can't find it on the web - so it's located 3775 Lafayette St., Santa Clara, CA 95054, 408-988-1883.  They have a strange weekend schedule, so call ahead.
• Panera Bread [Many Locations] - Yes, this is NOT one of my favorite eateries, but it's a nice place for lunch - sandwich, soup, danish, and a latte in a reasonably nice setting.  And it's now aggressively spreading in northern Cal.
• Prolific Oven [Palo Alto and Santa Clara] - Wide selection of sandwiches and pasta dishes plus good desserts (not great though unless you really need a sugar fix every day), this is a nice place to relax and have a hot lunch.  Just don't drink the coffee - it's like someone intentionally make them watery.  
• St. John's Bar and Grill [Santa Clara] - Excellent and hearty burgers with reasonably good (but not great) fries, onion rings and other lunch food.  Even better if you want to catch some mid-day sports.  If you don't mind the extremely nerdy crowd, you can even go for dinner and get a good deal on special of the day.
• Taqueria La Bamba [Mountain View] - Mexican but not really - you can have the same old burritos or tacos, but you also must try some REAL Central American food like  pupusas and tamales. 
• Uncle Frank's BBQ [Mountain View] - Amazing BBQ - it'll make you forget Armadillo Willy's forever!  The only bad thing is that you won't be able to stay awake at work because the portion is so "Southern" and it's not the healthiest stuff on earth.

San Francisco and Peninsula

• Cafe de la Presse [San Francisco] - Plenty of people come here for dinner after its renovation, but I still like this place for lunch - the croques and tartines remind me of Paris - but the prices are twice of what you'd pay there even given the strong Euro.  No surprise, it shares an owner with Aqua!
• Fat Wong's Kitchen [San Bruno] - Wow, you would NEVER imagine finding such great Hong Kong street food here in the Bay Area!  Of course it has to be 30 miles from me....  Too many must tries - Cha Leung (too hard to describe), congees, noodles with fish skin dumpling, fish balls in curry.... all too good, even desserts and drinks are marvelous!!
• 

• Pancho Villa [San Mateo] - Plenty of people come here for dinner after its renovation, but I still like this place for lunch - the croques and tartines remind me of Paris - but the prices are twice of what you'd pay there even given the strong Euro.  No surprise, it shares an owner with Aqua!
• The Noodle Shop 又一店 [San Mateo] - Maybe not the authentic chinese noodle shop, but for some reason it's got the great steamed mini pork buns (小籠包).  The noodles themselves are good too but the soup base is a problem - it's a blend of noodle soups from different provinces so none of them taste really authentic.  They are not bad though.