Yankee Pier at Santana Row in San Jose, CA

After (again) missing lunch my wife was lusting for a small bite. First we spent an hour at the bookstore before we ended up at the Santana Row in San Jose with all its fancy restaurants. Starting from the Stevens Creek Road side we studied the menus, but most of it seemed too much and too pricey. After a while she was not even readying the menus anymore, she had made up her mind and wanted Fish and Chips.

The place we picked was the Yankee Pier, probably the first restaurant that opened at Santana Row a few years ago. We  got a nice little table and ordered fish and chips and steamed mussels ("Cozze") for me. Since I wanted a glass of white wine with it our superb server Stevie then informed us about their wine deal - half price for a bottle, this was a real deal.

Our afternoon bite: Mussels and wine for me, fish and chips for Birgit

To start it off we had a Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Salad. The mozarella was outstanding - soft and tender, moist and tasty, as well as were the tomatoes. We missed some basil and the arugula, bitter, did not fit and we left it on the side.

The fish and chips were good (I did not get to taste them), and my mussels were excellent too. It was just the right amount on fish (cod - nothing special here) and french fries - not overloading the plate. The same thing for my mussels which came in a light roasted pepper aioli broth (maybe I should order more often just starters) The best though was yet to come: Dessert!

Dessert: Lemon Meringue Pie - Outstanding

We shared a piece of the Lemon Meringue Pie for dessert. The lemon pie was soft and tart - not too sweet, just wonderful. The soft meringue on top completed it, a fabulous composition. My wife, an experienced cakemaker herself asked for the recipe and got it.

Overall, this was an outstanding afternoon bite and still half a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to take home. Then we picked up the kids and went to see the new Harry Potter - The Half Blood Prince.