Flea Street Cafe
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Phone: (650) 854-1226
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- Avy Avenue
- Hours:
- Tue-Sat 5:30pm-9pm, Sun 10am-2pm, 5:30pm-9pm
Message from Flea Street Cafe
Provencal flair that intertwines casual setting, flavor driven menu
- 25 years and going
- California cuisine
- Casual setting
Paid advertisement by Flea Street Cafe.
Editorial Review for Flea Street Cafe – by Citysearch Staff
The Scene
The decor is romantic, almost evoking a New England feel with its lace curtains and tablecloths, old photographs and snug nooks for dining. This spot boasts a regular following of high-powered Silicon Valley types as well as local foodies, who come in search of chef-owner Jesse Cool's robust regional California cuisine and warm, welcoming service.
The Food
Cool has been promoting seasonal, organic ingredients for more than 20 years, most of them at this South Bay standby. The menu changes according to what's in the markets, but typically features soup, salads and several small plates such as green onion noodle cake and mini tostados with grilled seafood. Entrees might include locally caught king salmon with smoked baby shrimp, lamb and herb sausage served with minted goat cheese, and Israeli couscous and spiked with tomato-pear chutney. Desserts tend to be homey and comforting.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
The ExtrasStone Free Farm provides the lettuce and greens, but it's not just the greens and spuds that are organic: so are the cheese, milk, oils and meats.
User Reviews for Flea Street Cafe
09/23/2007 Posted by tigerfood
After all the hype and wanting to go for years I finally made it last night and all I can say is--what's the big deal? Our dinner was rather mediocre given our expectations and the cost. The ingredients were good and each dish had an interesting point but not enough to make up for faults elsewhere. The vegetable fritto misto was tasty and the cornmeal batter was nice but several of the vegetables were far too fibrous and others were overcooked. The 'stacked' beet and goat cheese was also tasty and the citrus zest was a nice touch--not a lot to find fault with here except that it wasn't really a stack so much as three thin presentations of beet-cheese-beet. I had the halibut cheeks. Very interesting texture and good flavor but I could barely taste many of the ingredients for the overpowering and very salty kalamata olives. My friend had the portobello wellington with a beet reduction. Also good, but hardly original (probably stolen from Michel Richard--that's not very 'cool'). Wines were totally unremarkable. The ginger creme brulee was an absolute disaster--it was barely bruleed and full of air bubbles, giving it a texture more like porridge. Yuck. I won't be returning.
Pros: Quality ingredients
Cons: Mediocre use of quality ingredients
03/20/2006 Posted by t_girl_dining
Had a wonderful tasting brunch, the complimentary biscuits are warm and delicious and the o.j. refreshing. I have to agree that service is a bit slow and there was a delay in our order due to a mix-up in the kitchen, but they comp'ed us more o.j. I had the Niman Ranch scramble with ham and it was excellent. They have a good menu with interesting pairings of flavors - food for thought. My friend said his cuppa reg coffee was excellent. I would go again. It has a wonderful setting for a more special brunch occassion (e.g., Mother's Day).
Pros: Food quality
Cons: Service a bit slow, Dark decor
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