Chef Chu's is a Chinese place. The fist visit was still vivid in my mind.
Totof and I saw this restaurant on El Camino and Totof suggested to try it. We walked in. The lighting is bright. It has a bar. It has an open kitchen. Wow, so unusual for a Chinese restaurant. Interesting.
We waited for 20 min since so many people before us. We then were led to a table. The table settings were in Chinese style. The decoration was Neo Classic Chinese. But, something struck my eyes. I looked around. I was in minority part. Not many Asians in this place. I became hesitated. I wondered if Chef Chu's food was for non Asians. My interests was replaced by worries.
That's why
We saw the menu. I understood why so many non-Asians were here. The menu design was genius. You saw authentic dishes were mingled with American favorite Chinese dishes. The menu listing was segmented by Appetizer, Soup, Salad, Entree, Chef Special, and Dessert. How many times have you seen a Chinese restaurant with this type menu? Rare. Either you never or you have just seen it in five star hotels' Chinese theme restaurants. It appeared that non-Asians liked this menu settings. That's why so many non Asians in Chef Chu's.
Interesting.We ordered three dishes. It was me to drive the ordering. I listened to Totof's suggestions and decided what would fit tonight's appetite. We tried some simple dishes. I knew if these simple dishes were tasty., Then this restaurant would be worth being visited twice.
We ordered Sizzling Rice Soup with shrimp, Fresh Basil-garlic Chicken in a Clay Pot, and Taiwan-Style Chow Fun.
Sizzling rice soup was served tactically. Chef Chu's made the serving of this dish like a performance. The waiter poured the soup body at your table over sizzling rice crusts. Its sizzling sound attracted people's attention. It ingredients included snow peas, bamboo shoots, shrimp, and rice crusts. The soup was fresh. Not American at all. We liked it.
The serving way was western. They serve you dishes subsequently. They did not brought you the second dish until you almost finished the first one. Our next dish was fresh basil-garlic chicken in a clay pot. I read on the menu that Chef Chu spent some ages in Taiwan. This fresh basil-garlic chicken was authentic Taiwanese dish. So, I wanted to try it and wanted to know if Chef Chu's knew how to cook Taiwanese dishes. The main body of this dish was wok-seared marinated boneless chicken wings. The main body was braised with roasted whole garlic cloves and jalapeno chilies in a slightly-sweet rice wine and soy reduction sauce. Served topped with fragrant basil leaves in a clay pot. The waiter brought this dish and warned us this was hot. The basil looked healthy and smelled just like basil I had in Taiwan. The presentation was Taiwanese style. I took a piece of chicken. Delicious. Nice, Chef Chu's has good Taiwanese food.
Taiwan-style chow fun was served in the middle of our second dish. I craved for good Taiwanese food these days. So I ordered two Taiwanese dishes at one dinner. The first one did not fail me. So I was highly expected for the second one. The chow fun has vermicelli rice noodles, julienned pork, cabbage, mushrooms, carrots & shallots. The noodles were cooked with pan-fried style. The dish was filled with aroma of shallots. The vegetables and pork slices were all over the plate. The color of Chef Chu's chow fun was right. You know, if you did not know how to make chow fun, you would either put too little sauce or too much sauce. So far Chef Chu's knew how to handle Taiwanese food.
Good. We were glad we found a good Taiwanese place not far away from our places.
1067 N San Antonio RdLos Altos, CA 94022
