Ambrosia - Aptos

Ok, here's a quick one. Met up with some buddies last week for lunch at Ambrosia in Aptos. This place has the best lunch buffet of Indian food around. Well worth the trip down Highway 1.

Ambrosia

The buffet is $9.99 and starts at 11:30am. We got there when the doors opened and there were a few other customers too. They keep things looking good inside - there's a full bar and a large back room. Even have cloth napkins, so you know you can take your mom. We got seated and then realized we were free to get over to the food asap. The plates are on the buffet table.

All the classics are here: Basmati rice, Butter Chicken, Fish Curry, Chana Masala (chickpeas with ginger and cilantro), Vegan Pakora (veggie fritters), Aloo Gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) and more!

Here's my plate after the initial visit. They had a new item: Jackfruit in a tomato curry sauce. It didn't have much flavor on its own. The texture was firm, but I could cut it with a fork. It reminded me a bit of very firm tofu. The yellow sauce on the rice was spiced lentils.

For my second trip (hey, who's counting?), they brought out some grilled veggies. Zucchini, red and green peppers, onions and broccoli all in aromatic Indian spices. Does it get any better?

They also had a fresh salad section on the buffet, My buddy Russell, a honest-to-Betsy vegetarian, was happy with all the options. I passed this time since I was getting my veggies from the other awesome dishes. The watermelon is a good contrast to some of the spicier food.

I will always make time for Ambrosia. Great flavors, clean decor, efficient staff. They were spot-on with water and Nan bread refills. I always wonder about tipping at buffet places. I guess if you got your money's worth (and I certainly did), then you give generously.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 8
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Value for price: 8 (buffet!)
Overall: 7.75

Otoro Sushi SV

Howdy folks! It's been a while since my last food blog, but the "Best of" issue from Good Times came out and I was inspired. They claim the best sushi in Scotts Valley/SLV is Otoro Sushi. I was hungry and needed to do some research.

Otoro Sushi (Yelp page)

It's in a strip mall behind Taco Bell on Mt. Hermon road. Maybe not the greatest location for a sushi place, but let's not be picky. Good food goes where good food goes. I met my daughter there for dinner, since she never misses a sushi run.

Determining our appetites, she decided she wanted a full dinner, but I'd be good with a house salad ($4) and some sushi rolls. Maybe an appetizer too. First up, was the soup and salads. Kelly liked the Miso, but took one bite of the salad and pushed it away. I tried mine and it tasted a bit like dirt. It wasn't gritty, it just tasted bad. The dressing was sparse and only coated the top.

Next up with the Mixed Tempura ($6) with veggies and shrimp. Kelly really goes for the yams and I like the shrimp, so it's a good split. Crispy and not greasy, just the way we like it.

We got served two sushi rolls, Crunchy ($10) and California ($7). We had checked off another on the given paper list, but the waitress missed it. As it turns out, the food we ate was plenty. I'm not sold on the "mark the list to order" routine however. The Crunchy roll had shrimp tempura, avocado and crab with Panko crumbs on the outside. We both liked it very much. The California roll was good too, but I missed the cucumber crunch they usually have.

Bam! Look at the amount of food that comes with the Chicken Katsu dinner ($14)! My kid was stoked and quickly gobbled up the lightly-breaded, fried chicken and sauce. The Katsu sauce is like a tangy ketchup, but not very sweet. More salad was not that exciting. There were steamed carrots, mushrooms and broccoli on the plate too and they seemed out of place. Maybe because we were used to tempura veggies? The rice bowl was heaping and the fruit was a nice touch.

Service was good and the staff were friendly. I should have sent back the salad. I did like the decor - modern and spacious. Why was this place rated so high? I'm not convinced it's better than Rumblefish or Yamamori. Especially with the mega-whiff on the salad. They get docked a point on the food score for that.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 6
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 7
Overall: 6.75

(Compare with my review of Yamamori)

Little Tampico - Soquel

Aren't birthdays great? Another year older and a celebration for sticking around. In the case of my brother, it also included a lunchtime meal at one of his favorites, Little Tampico in Soquel.

Little Tampico

This place sits right next to the Soquel river and actually has a nice deck in back where you can watch the waters roll by. We were a group of 9 (a gaggle? a pride?) and as soon as the chips and salsa hit the table, they knew they had better keep the food coming! As it turns out, our waitress was wonderful and brought drinks and more chips/salsa the whole time.

Two kinds of salsa - a chunky Fresca and a thinner, spicy red. Both were awesome and we needed "mas" refills. Next came the Nachos Tampico ($11.50).

This was one of the best nachos I have had. The chips were crispy and not too thick. The beans had a good consistency - not runny. The toppings were generous - lots of black olives, jalepenos, cheese, guac and sour cream. And the steak was succulent and juicy!

Kelly got the Chicken Quesadilla ($7.95) and it was huge! Big chunks of chicken inside a well-cooked tortilla with lots of melted cheese. A side of lettuce and tomato finished the dish.

I got the three item plate of Taco, Enchilada and Chile Relleno ($10.95) with rice and beans. Wow, that's a lot of food! After the nachos, I should have ordered smaller, but at least I got a to-go box. The taco was very fresh with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. I would have preferred cabbage to the iceberg lettuce, but that's a minor knock. The enchilada sauce was flavorful with its spices. And the relleno was also buried in it. Yum!

Bro got the Otila's Plate ($11.95), which had mini-versions of all the classics: taco, enchilada, flauta, tostada and relleno. He likes to pretend he's Gulliver, I guess. All the fun that fits on one plate!

Diane got the Killer Quesadilla ($11.95), which adds steak, mushrooms and grilled green onions and a Sombrero salad. She loved the green creamy herb dressing. I think this wins as the most healthiest meal ordered today.

Dad got the Especial ($9.95), which is tortillas, meat (chicken), onions and peppers covered in sauce and cheese. Quite a plateful! He said he liked it, but there was too much chicken, which unbalanced the flavors. Also, another to-go box was needed.

Mom got a Flauta ($7.95) with rice and beans and correctly picked the right size for a good lunch. The flauta is a rolled up, grilled tortilla with chicken and she liked it very much. I would've wanted to wave it around like one of Groucho's cigars, but she's more classier than me.

Abundant portions, great flavors and spicy salsas - no wonder this place is one of my brother's favorites. Next time, I think I will stick with the steak, since it was heads and tails above the chicken. They also have a full bar with TVs, so you can get your margaritas on. I would put Tampico third after Casa Rosita's and Palomar (see my other reviews of them on here).

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7.5 (generous)
Service: 8 (great for a big party)
Atmosphere: 7 (cozy)
Value for price: 7.5
Overall: 7.5