Elisa H.
Yelp
Love this restaurant! My mom and sisters threw my 40th birthday party in the San Mateo location, which closed soon after the party. My sisters and I have sister spa day annually and do dinner at the Santana Row location, but I visited the Menlo Park location for the first time yesterday in the late afternoon. Although the interior of this restaurant is pretty gorgeous, my son and I couldn't resist a shaded outdoor table, as the weather was perfect. This may have affected the pace of the meal, which, though we enjoyed our leisurely meal, sometimes had us seeking out our waiter, for water and our check. Speaking of the bill, I want to shout out the InKind app, which sent a welcome gift of $50 off of our meal. I like that you didn't need to present a gift card, or coupon, but applied discount directly as we entered the check #. The discount made our evening a bargain. We started with margaritas , pineapple for me and prickly pear for Kyle. We went indulgent with the apps, his steak tartare was very rich and unctuous and I could only have a little of the cheese fondue, because the combination of creamy, strong warm cheese was a little too heavy on the blue cheese for my taste, but the fresh bread took me back to the boulangeries in Paris. I can never resist moules frites and Left Bank's version with Pernod, shallot and spinach is excellent, as are their crispy frites. June is not a month with an r, which I think applies to all seafood but especially oysters, something about red tides and toxins, but I live on the edge ( although the three unopened mussels remained untouched, because I am not THAT crazy. My son loved his Petrale sole special, although he was also pretty full from the steak tartare and fondue. We took home a tart citron in honor of my mother's birthday. I got a little weepy and nostalgic, but she was smiling down upon all of us, pleased at being fondly feted in grand style. my son got a little impatient as we waited for the bull, but he's unaccustomed to 2 hour dinners. Luckily we got an early start and he agreed to meandering through downtown Menlo Park to walk off some of our considerable calorie consumption. Love you mom and thank you for everything, wish we could meet you in Paris this summer, though dinner at Left Bank is kind of a dupe.