Review: Village California Bistro

Every year for my mom's birthday and Mother's Day, I try to find somewhere different to take her. Something other than our usual Chevy's, Elephant Bar, Stacks, etc that we go to through the year. For the past couple of years that I've been living in San Francisco, I've brought her up to SF since there are about four hundred more quality restaurants in the city vs the south bay.

This year, I decided to give San Jose another shot. Why make mom drive two hours on Mother's Day, right? Now, if you are used to San Francisco restaurants, bars, shops, etc and must eat and shop in San Jose, where is the one place you would go? Yup, Santana Row.

My first choice was to have brunch at Citrus, the restaurant on the 3rd floor of the Hotel Valencia (...which is actually the 1st floor? Weird) but they told me they weren't having any kind of brunch. They said we could order room service and sit outside with it if we wanted. What?? No.

So I called the Village California Bistro. They were fairly booked (I of course waited until the Monday before Mother's Day...in my defense I was on vacation) but were able to grant us a reservation for three (my mom, Tommy, and myself) at 2pm. A little later than I'd have liked, but ok.

We got there at about 1:45p and it was bustling. The entrance is a little awkward because you walk into the back of the host station. So, you are greeted by the backs of the host staff...strange. Anyway, they are no doubt used to this as they quickly turned around, greeted us, and asked if we had a reservation. We were concerned that there would be a delay since they had cleared some of the patio seating due to the weather (thanks "mother" nature) but we were seated right away.

Within one minute, our waiter appeared, greeted us, and wished my mother a happy Mother's Day. Points right off the bat. We wasted no time hitting the buffet. Anything and everything you could imagine. Pasta, breakfast items, seafood, dessert, everything! We filled our plates with such great items as chicken piccata, salmon, bacon, ham and cheese croissant sandwiches, oysters, prime rib...I could go on...but it's making me hungry. The food was delicious.

It has been my experience that we subconsciously lower our expectations when it comes to buffet food. For instance, Tommy and I just got back from a cruise. The food was good, not great, but good. We seem to cut the cooks some slack when they are cooking the same items for that many people. I have to say, each item that I tasted could have been presented as a menu item and I would have been thoroughly impressed. The quality was excellent.

We made quite a few trips back up to the buffet, and each time our dirty plates were cleared promptly. I had to ask for refills a couple of times but the staff was quick to return with one. The desserts were also delicious. A little more on the "mass produced" side than the main course items but that didn't stop me from shoving them in my face.

The buffet ended at 3pm and they started to casually, slowly, break things down a little early. They never made us feel rushed, but when I got up to get yet another desert, I heard them turning people away at 2:30pm.

The buffet was just under $40 per person. Not a bad price for a Mother's Day buffet and, when you consider the quality of food, it's a pretty good deal. What bugged me is that they charged us for coffee and soda. Soda, I understand a little more, but coffee?!?! You are going to charge nearly $40 and include oysters in your buffet but charge me $2 for coffee? That was a little petty in my opinion. It didn't tarnish the experience though. A good time had by all. Most importantly, my Ma.

A well deserved 4 Rebas for Village California Bistro. We just may add it to the Chevy's, Elephant Bar, Stacks rotation.