Gochi Fusion Tapas, Cupertino

Yes, yes, I have raved about Gochi in the past ... But that was when my experiences were limited to the midday. With mainly rice and noodle dishes on their lunch menu, I couldn't figure out why the words "fusion tapas" appear in the restaurant's name. Well, now that I've been to Gochi for dinner, I get it.

The dinner menu is COMPLETELY different from the lunch one. Much more extensive, with really creative offerings. But just like lunch, this place gets packed in the evening. When five of us showed up without reservations last night at 6:10pm -- 10 minutes after they opened their doors -- we were told that there was ONE table available for us, but we would have to finish eating by 8pm. No problem, especially given how efficient the service was.

We shared all of the dishes, including: crab coquettes; sashimi (no one seemed to want the chewy octopus!); hamachi carpaccio; braised beef tongue (for real); pizza with crab meat, cheese, bacon and mushrooms (sounds strange, right? not bad though, and apparently one of their most popular items); BBQ eel claypot; and ground chicken claypot.

My favorites were the hamachi (the ponzu sauce added a nice, light flavor), the beef tongue (so tender) and the eel claypot. When I come here for lunch, I usually order the unadon (eel over rice). But the claypot took the dish up a notch -- with more flavors and CRISPY rice. SO GOOD. If they had that on the lunch menu, I'd order it every other day. And never get sick of it.

The desserts were fairly standard, with the Earl Grey Creme Brulee being the most distinctive of the bunch. The green tea ice cream was another good way to end the meal -- not too chalky, not too sweet.

Oh! I must also recommend the Shochu cocktails here. (Shochu is often referred to as the "Japanese vodka.") I had the lychee drink last night and it was refreshing and yummy. Another reason why coming here for dinner is better: cocktails!

Gochi Fusion Tapas
19980 Homestead Road
Cupertino, CA
(408) 725-0542

Alexander's Steakhouse, Cupertino

I must admit, I was a little skeptical about this place. Even though I had read numerous positive reviews, I just couldn't bring myself to believe that -- in the middle of Vallco Shopping Center -- was some kind of culinary gem. Driving by the place didn't offer any reassurances, as the exterior of the restaurant is dull and uninteresting.

But once you enter the building, you're instantly transported into another world -- one where you can drop $100 for an ounce of caviar or 2-3 times that much for a cut of Kobe beef. In case you had any doubts that they're serious about their meat at Alexander's, the first thing you notice here are the shelves of beef dry-aging on the other side of a window.

While waiting for other members of our dinner party to arrive, I must've said at least half a dozen times, "THIS used to be an EL TORITO!?!" Sure, the outside wasn't pretty. The inside, however, was sleek and contemporary. The waiting area included a couple of comfy couches and a stone fireplace, as well as a decent-sized bar.

Once our party of six was complete, we were seated at a corner table in the first dining room. Alexander's is indeed a steakhouse, but there are lots of Asian influences. (The menu actually reminded me of a place we ate at in Tokyo.) We snacked on edamame, seasoned with togarashi, while deciding what to order. So many things sounded so good, that we ended up over-ordering. I can't possibly go into detail about everything that made its way to the table. Instead, here is a quick rundown of what we liked and what we didn't like:

The Good

• Mushroom Soup (the soup changes regularly)
• Maine Lobster Tempura
• Sea of Cortez Scallops (the scallops are gigantic)
• Crab, Crab and Crab Again
• Hamachi Shots (before shooting these into your mouth, you may want to loosen the hamachi et. al. from the glass a bit; otherwise, the sweet ponzu sauce is all you get at first and it's overwhelming)
• Filet Mignon
• Cow & Crustacean (the steak part was good, the lobster presentation was so-so)
• 28-Day Dry Aged New York
• All 4 Love (I liked 3 out of 4 of the beef presentations -- the kobe sashimi was eh; the marinated jicama that the kobe was wrapped around was overly sweet)
• Mac 'N Cheese (with truffle oil!)
• Sauteed Chanterelle Mushrooms
• Crimini Mushrooms
• Haricots Verts (with bacon!)
• Mashed Potatoes (mmmm... so buttery, and with chives!)
• Steak Fries (these are HUGE -- you only get three to an order -- but deliciously crispy and well-seasoned with cumin)

The Bad

• Sashimi Quartet (I like my raw fish to be relatively uncluttered -- so the fish itself really shines -- and this dish just had too many other flavors going on for my taste)
• Crab Hand Roll
• Portobello (described as "Gruyere Fondue" but was basically a portobello mushroom with some melted cheese on it -- disappointing because I was expecting some fondue presentation!)
• Sweet Corn Medley

The good definitely outweighed the bad. My absolute favorite savory dish of the evening was the Maine Lobster Tempura. It was ridiculously good. The tempura coating was nice and light, so that it didn't overwhelm the sweet lobster meat. Next time, I would seriously consider just ordering two orders of this small plate for my entree. The only downside to this awesome dish was that it was really hard for anything else I consumed to follow in its footsteps...

That is, until the Eden dessert came along! The platter consisted of an apple souffle (with caramel sauce), peach souffle glace, and strawberry/chocolate fondue. I loved everything about this dish. The consensus among the table was that this was hands-down the best dessert. The Chocolate (Valhrona chocolate crunch cake) also received a big thumbs-up. But the trio of Creme Brulee (blueberry, Meyer lemon and mint) didn't fare so well. The Devilish (milk chocolate cheesecake, truffles, chocolate ice cream) fell somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

Given how much food we indulged in, we were pretty full by the time the bill arrived. Yet the restaurant had one more treat in store for us: cotton candy! You know we couldn't pass that up. The flavor of the night was Leapin' Lime, so three bright green spun sugar creations were brought to our table. Delicious!

P.S. I wish I had brought my camera because the presentation for a lot of the dishes was really something. Beautiful plating.

Alexander's Steakhouse
10330 N. Wolfe Road
Cupertino, CA
(408) 446-2222

Gochi Fusion Tapas, Cupertino

Located in a strip mall in Cupertino, Gochi is billed as a Japanese fusion tapas restaurant. What that means... I have no idea, but my interest was piqued. We showed up around noon today and the place was PACKED. My lunch companions and I managed to get three of the few remaining counter seats.

(Note: The counter seats basically face a wall lined with pretty sake and shochu bottles. For most of the seating, which is on an elevated platform, you're required to take off your shoes. )

The one-page lunch menu offered a good selection, but I didn't notice any tapas-like dishes. Maybe that's more of a dinner thing? No matter -- since it was yet another cold and rainy spring day, I opted for a donburi and udon combination: una don and tanuki udon (about $11).

The presentation for my order was simple, yet lovely. Two bowls -- the donburi portion was larger than the udon -- were served on a small platter, along with a tiny bowl of garnishes. I started with the udon, which was delicious. While the broth had a nice flavor to it, I added some togarashi to spice things up a bit. The texture of the seaweed, crunchy tempura flakes, and slivers of green onion were a good contrast to the chewy wheat noodles. (I was reminded of one of the best, and cheapest, meals that I enjoyed when I was in Tokyo.)

The una don -- a good-sized bowl of rice topped with a generous serving of grilled eel -- was so very good! The barbecue sauce on the eel was just right, not too sweet or too thick.

My co-workers approved of their dishes as well. One ordered a chicken teriyaki and tonkatsu combination (the chicken portion was a bit skimpy); the other went with a salmon sashimi and tempura combination. But if you're more of an adventurous eater, go for the beef tongue cutlet.

The service was friendly and efficient, with hot tea poured throughout our meal. The only downside to our meal was that the food took a while to arrive. Since we were seated just after a couple of large groups, our server had warned us about the wait. Luckily, this problem can be solved by simply arriving earlier on future visits (i.e., 11:30am -- when the doors open).

"Gochi" is Japanese slang for "good food," and this restaurant definitely lives up to its name.

(Note: Credit cards are not accepted, so be sure to hit the ATM before dining here.)

Gochi Fusion Tapas
19980 Homestead Road
Cupertino, CA
(408) 725-0542