Xanh (Mountain View, CA) – Sometimes you just want to go hang out with your coworkers after work and not spend a million dollars. That’s where happy hour comes in! And Xanh is a pretty cool spot to come chillax after a long week of work.
It was pretty empty when we got there, likely because we got there when it opened lol. I really love the interior design of the restaurant! It has a really cool vibe in that it’s a cool restaurant for groups as well as a bar. Almost all of the appetizers are $7 and there are deals on drinks as well.
To start with, we ordered the Papaya salad, which has poached shrimp, green papaya, carrots, sliced mango, cilantro, mint, caramelized shallots served with roasted peanuts and nuoc cham vinaigrette. This was such a good salad! There were so many complex flavors in this dish – sweet, savory, umami, sour, and everything in between. I couldn’t get enough of this and it reminded me a lot of a Thai laab salad.
We also ordered the Xanh satays, with chicken. These were pretty good as well. Not as stand out as some of the other dishes, but still pretty good! I would recommend try some of the other interesting combinations on their menu though.
We also ordered the Garlic Noodles, that came with parmesan cheese and crispy shallots. The noodles were good and it was nice to have something a little filling. I love shallots so I enjoyed that aspect but I don’t know I feel about the parmesan cheese part. It felt very jarring in my opinion.
I’m a big fan of popcorn chicken so I made us order Xanh’s Popcorn Chicken. It’s deep fried battered chicken bites, served on bed of onion and sliced jalapeño. I thought that these were the perfect bite sized chicken pieces and the jalapeño gave a little kick to it.
I really wish I had a better picture of the Kobe Rolls, they were so good! They were spring rolls with marinated beef, rice noodles, fresh lettuce, cilantro, and cucumber in soft rice paper served with roasted peanuts, crispy shallots and nuoc cham vinaigrette. I could eat a bunch of these as well! They’re so light but packed with so much in each bite.
And lastly, Vietnamese Tacos. These had Asian spiced grilled chicken served with onion, tomatoes, jalapeño, bean sprouts, red and green bell pepper,, and spicy hoisin sauce. I was too full at this point to eat them tbh, but I love these cute little bites.
I can’t wait to come back again one of these days, especially for a proper dinner! I would love to bring a group of friends here again.
bay-food.com 