Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tanglewood, San Jose, CA

Corn Chowder...sans chowder

The dish pictured above might look a bit puzzling, but that's also because it was incomplete. It was Tanglewood's corn chowder, but it was missing the chowder itself, which got poured in by the staff from a kettle afterwards. It turned out to be unexpectedly sweet, although I realized later that was because they used local Brentwood corn.

Anyway, this place (334 Santana Row Suite 1000, 244-0464) was a dressed-up restaurant that leveraged local ingredients. I wasn't a huge fan of the mild sweetness in that corn chowder, but I did enjoy the rich earthiness of the mushroom pasta - perhaps even more than Michael Mina's truffled mac & cheese from the other day.

While my mixed feelings tonight meant that I wouldn't come running back in an instant, there were a number of other items on the menu that I am curious about. Besides, I rushed off tonight and forgot to give that absinthe contraption sitting at the bar a go, so if anything, a return visit just for that is in order.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow you're now based in Singapore, awesome! My feeder gave me your blog as a recommended read and boy am I glad I chanced upon your blog.

I love your style of writing, short and sweet with photos - makes following it easy and enjoyable. Keep up the good work!

Amsie.