Xanh Restaurant

I've seen Xanh many times while dining across the street and while driving by, but Asian Fusion restaurants are always a little off-putting to me because they tend to be overly expensive and generally not actually very Asian. However, I'm game for new cuisines and decided to give it a try as the location for a lunch meeting.

They have a large lunch buffet featuring about 20-25 dishes from noodles to curry, rolls and stir-fries. I tried a bit of everything on my first pass to see what I liked and there were a few that were pretty good and not overly fried or sweet. The spare ribs stuck out as a favorite, while the popular garlic noodles fell short for me for being too soggy and oily. The curries were ok but the cha gio were tasty. Overall, it was pretty middle of the road.

At $12, it was a fair deal for a buffet lunch in downtown Mountain View, and the place was packed with people. There's a ton of tables outside where your dog can join you at, but it's right next to the street and just feet from the CalTrain station so it gets pretty damn noisy every few minutes. I'd recommend the inside tables but it's really loud and dark inside, and probably not a good place for a meeting. I might give it another try, but otherwise I'll stick with HK Bistro.

Food: 6/10

Service: 7/10

Price: $$

Atmosphere: 7/10