Lavanda Restaurant & Wine Bar

11/08/09

Not a good place to dine

by Cloris at Citysearch

My order from al a carte menu was entree, one side dish and glass of wine. The skirt steak was tough (hard to imagine); the side order of green beans with prosciutto contained no prosciutto that I could detect. The side of green beans was topped with red pasta sauce, the wait-staff assuring that the sauce was flavored--NOT. They offered to and did replace side with sauteed spinach, not much better. In a location that has access to organic ingredients, this restaurant does not, in my opinion, use. The dining dollars are better spent elsewhere.

• Pros: Ambience, linens, wait-staff
• Cons: Poor food, even mis-represented

09/05/08

Finaly Lavande has a great chef!

by annienonomus at Citysearch

I eat out in Palo Alto almost every night. I gave this place a couple tries late last year, because the wine list was so good. The food was not so good then, but this time, WOW. I ate there earlier this week. The bar was maybe half full, the restaurant maybe a little more so. We got fast, friendly service from Patrick the bartender. There are plenty of wines by the glass and half bottle options, and a full bar. I like a place with good champagne by the glass, and these guys have some good options (Nicholas Feullete rose, delish, not too expensive). The wine list is still great- lots of variety from quality producers, Ca, French, and elsewhere in all price ranges. If you bring your own, corkage is only $20! Used to be $30, which was a rip-off.

We shared several small plates, including figs wrapped around dates (cooked perfectly!), lamb rib-lets (also perfectly done-falling off the bone and well seasoned).Fresh tomato salad was full of flavor, dusted with finely shaved parmesan, which added nice salty taste. Soup of the day was fresh tomato with bread and basil. Good but not great. The rabbit ragut with thin homemade pasta sheets was fantastic. Rich, flavorful, complex (fresh white truffle in there- not nasty truffle oil-fantastic!

I was too full for dessert, but since i enjoyed it so much I'll be back soon...

• Pros: FOOD, finaly! Good bartender, not too crowded on a Wed.
• Cons: none recently

06/22/08

Smug, indignent wait staff -- second time in a row..

by chipoverstreet at Citysearch

The food is pretty good, despite the somewhat small portions. Just be prepared for a smug, indignent wait staff. Truly unbelievable. We eat out every Saturday night, and this is the second time we've encountered such poor service at Lavanda (and we've only eaten there twice). I've never berated a restaurant before in a review, but this one is deserving. If you're going out in Palo Alto, pick one of the dozens of restaurants where they value your business...it isn't this one.