San Jose Weekends

The high points of my trip were The House of Siam restaurant and the Museum of Art. The former is one of the best Thai restaurants that this particular lover of Thai food has ever visited. The latter is surprisingly good for a small museum in a small city. The new Indian restaurant, Shalimar, also shows a lot of promise.

Quick Tips:

This will mean nothing to you males, but for the other half of humanity, try not to visit San Jose when it is hosting a convention of 20,000 beauty shop owners. It is depressingly intimidating to find your hotel packed with hundreds of women who all have perfect bodies, perfect skin, immaculate make-up and perfect hair. If you are wondering why my review of the Fairmont hotel does not include mention of the gym and swimming pool, now you know.

Best Way To Get Around:

I've said this before and I'll say it again, the light rail system is very good. San Jose is very spaced out, and to get to many of the attractions you will find listed in the local guides you will need transport. A car is the only way to get to all of them, but the light rail system is a life saver if you don't have your own transport.

By the way, there is a lot of free weekend parking in San Jose, but don't expect to find spaces when there is a 20,000 person convention in town.

The Fairmont is the best quality hotel in downtown San Jose. It has recently added a whole new tower with over 250 rooms. We were lucky enough to get a room in the new extension, and very splendid it was. The room was extremely spacious, nicely furnished, and possessed of the plushest bathroom of any hotel I have stayed in (except possibly the ANA in Sydney). This was a hotel room that looked like it was really expensive, instead of just being really expensive.

The facilities in the room were generally very good. There were an iron and ironing board, a hairdryer, a good selection of TV channels, an in-room safe, even scales in the bathroom for the benefit of health-conscious visitors who have just dined in one of the hotel's four (count them, four) restaurants. My only real complaint was that because the hotel is so up-market, the usual free coffee service had been replaced by a mini-bar. Quite why anyone would want to pay $4 for a small bottle of coke is beyond me. And how the hotel has the cheek to charge guests if they so much as move anything in the mini-bar is also incomprehensible. People on unlimited expense accounts have a lot to answer for.

One excellent feature of the new tower is that it is wired for high speed Internet. Housekeeping provided me with an Ethernet cable. I fired up the computer, loaded my web browser, and got the hotel's internal web site. On attempting to access to outside world I was asked to confirm my willingness to pay the access fees, and there I was, fully connected once more. The speed is excellent, and it is 24 hour unlimited access. It does cost $10 a day, but for the business traveller (which often means me these days) it is a fabulous boon. Just to make sure I called up the email server in the office - something that is always a real pain over a modem while on the road, and it worked fine. Every hotel should have this service.

Another innovation is that the radio-alarm in the room also included a CD player. Had I but known I might have brought some music with me.

I have a few small niggles about paperwork. There were no pages in our room directory folder, so we didn't know what services were available, when check out time was and so on. Central reservations had Kevin's frequent stay club membership on file, but the information didn't get through to the hotel. And there was no express check out facility, something you get in even the most basic motels these days.

The Fairmont is a beautiful hotel, but I can't escape the feeling that there is a point in the hotel market where, once you have passed it, the more you pay, the less value you get. The Fairmont exists just beyond that point.

The Crowne Plaza is one of the older hotels in downtown San Jose and it shows. Once you are onto the housing floors the hotel looks distinctly shabby, with the room doors in particular looking in need of repair. And not just looking either. The lock on the door to our room was distinctly temperamental and if you didn't move the handle in just the right way, with the door in just the right position, you could not get in. I'm used to key cards not working, but a lock not working it unusual

Our room was quite small compared to the Fairmont. Although we had ordered a non-smoking room, and indeed there was a highly visible "no smoking" sign by the door, the room reeked of cigarette smoke. As usual with American hotels, you could not open the windows, so it was almost impossible to get rid of the stench.

Housekeeping had clearly fallen down in other areas as well. There was only one bath towel for a room that contained two double beds. And the clock on our radio alarm was set wrongly - something we didn't notice until we put the TV on the next morning and discovered that we were running an hour late. This sort of thing is sloppy. It should not happen in a supposed high class hotel.

The one good thing I have to say about the hotel is the Internet access, which was excellent. The Crowne Plaza has signed up with a service called Wayport. Not only do these guys provide high speed Internet access to hotels, but they are also putting access stations into airports, and you can become a Wayport member (either on a personal or a corporate basis), which saves you a lot of money when staying in Wayport-equipped hotels. Good luck to these guys. This is the sort of service that travelling business people need.

Oh dear, this was truly disgusting. We had breakfast at the Crowne Plaza's restaurant on Sunday morning (in something of a rush due to the room alarm being set wrong). Everything tasted like it was left over from Saturday, if not earlier. The sausages tasted like clay, the potatoes bounced, and the pastries were very stale. It was horrible.

Which is a shame, because Milo's is a nicely set out restaurant. The staff were very friendly and helpful later in the day when I wanted a coffee. We have eaten there once before (I think on a Saturday) and it wasn't that bad. But somewhere there is a serious management problem. Someone is more concerned about saving the odd cent here and there than in having happy guests. That is perhaps expected in airport hotels where people only ever stay for one night, but in a downtown hotel it is unforgivable.

This restaurant is one of those "America tries to do French" places. It is all dark wood and brilliant white tablecloths and smarmy waiters, but somehow it just doesn't cut it on the atmosphere front. Thankfully this one has got a very good chef, which makes up for the atmosphere.

You can tell that someone hasn't quite got it from the decor. The restaurant is sited in an old building with lots of wooden beams. Some bright spark has decided to cover these with plastic flowers. Can you say "tacky"? Oh dear!

But when the food arrives it is a different matter. Right from the start I was impressed, particularly by the fabulous herb foccacia that was served as part of the bread selection. I was sorely tempted to ask for a loaf of it to take home.

For appetizers, Kevin had a crab cake while I had seared sesame scallops & caviar with Yukon potato cake. Both dishes were very good. For main course Kevin had sea bass and I had halibut. Again both were very well cooked. Kevin, I think, had the better piece of fish, but I had the better jus. And there is something that is worth commenting on. Jus is one of those things that lots of restaurants do these days because it looks pretty on the plate. But most of them don't do it very well; it is just coloured sauce. To make good jus requires a lot of effort to concentrate the flavours. Every single one of the juses that we had at 71 St. Peter was just bursting with taste.

When the waiter offered drinks I asked him what beers he had. He went through he usual list of mass market American beer, and then muttered about something Belgian. After a little questioning I discovered that what he was talking about was Duvel, a rather good high fermentation Belgian beer. The guy clearly had no idea of what he had on offer, and even less idea of how to treat it. He simply upended the bottle over my glass, as a result of which I ended up with about 25% beer and 75% froth. The beer is supposed to froth, but not like that. And if that wasn't enough, every time the froth died down the guy came to top my glass up, giving me a fresh layer of froth. I guess he doesn't have that sort of problem with Bud.

Dessert was also disappointing. We tried the white chocolate cheesecake, which was too much froth and too little cheesecake. I was tempted by their selection of ports, which was excellent, but there was no cheese on offer. It is sad really. This restaurant has many fine qualities, but there are also several areas where they just don't get it.

There are two branches of this restaurant in San Jose. The first is on South Market Street not far from the Cathedral, and the newer establishment, which we visited, is on Second Street just a short walk from the Fairmont. I'm not sure whether the original location will remain open, but there is every chance it will as the food is good enough to keep two restaurants busy.

As I have come to expect from high-class Thai restaurants, the inside is beautifully decorated. There is even an area set aside for Thai style seating with benches and cushions. I'm used to this in Australia, but it is the first time I have seen it in the USA. Even the placemats on the tables were thought about - they had pressed flowers between the transparent plastic covers. Check out the photos. I'm sure you will agree that the place looks special.

Kevin and I had lunch here, having been attracted by the wonderful smells wafting out of the door. This, of course, was a mistake, because having eaten there once I now feel that, as a responsible guide, I should try eating elsewhere in San Jose before coming back. I have therefore locked myself out of an excellent restaurant after only one small meal.

It being lunchtime, we just had a main course each. Kevin opted for the "spicy boat", a combination of various types of seafood on a sizzling platter. I had deep fried catfish in a red curry sauce. Note first of all that these are not things you will find on the menu in a generic Thai restaurant. Note also that both meals came with Thai sweet basil served as a vegetable - something I've not seen done before. And it should go without saying that both meals were delicious, and that they looked and smelled as good as they tasted. Well, Thai food is my favourite cuisine, so what can I say.

But wait, just when you thought that the attention to detail could not get any better, there are the restrooms to consider. Like the main restaurant, they are beautifully decorated. Mine featured a painting of a scene in country Thailand, and instead of musak there was a background tape of birdsong and cicadas.

The local newspaper has voted the House of Siam the best Thai restaurant in Silicon Valley. I'd go further than that. On my admittedly limited experience, it is the best Thai restaurant I have visited outside Australia.

Hawgs is situated next to the San Jose theatre and is a convenient short walk down the Paseo de San Antonio from the Fairmont. It is decorated in faux-industrial chic with exposed pipes and false half-plastered brickwork, but thankfully the décor has little bearing on the food. It also has some genuine bar-style seating, part of which overlooks the kitchen so if you are keen to see your food being prepared you can.

As the name suggests, the menu is almost entirely fish. You can have steak if you want, but why would you when there is so much good seafood on offer? For appetizers Kevin had crab cakes (the day's special) and I had baked oysters asiago. I think I got the better deal. The crab cakes were full of tasty crab, and came with a nice salad, but there were only two crab cakes and rather more salad than crab. As Kevin doesn't east anything green he wasn't best pleased. The oysters, however, were excellent. So was the spinach and cheese crust that came with them.

For main course Kevin had king prawns with pasta in a garlic sauce and I had Hawg's signature dish, the paella Valencia. Both meals came to us hot off the grill and needed to cool down a little before we could eat them. Both were also well made, if not spectacular, and were provided in large quantities. Neither of us could finish our meals, and consequently we had no room to even think about dessert. I have had better paella in Spanish restaurants, but then I would expect to. Hawgs did a thoroughly competent job with a lot of shellfish, which is hard stuff to cook well.

Another plus point for the restaurant is that they are open late. American restaurants have a habit of closing around 10:00pm, even on a Saturday night. Hawgs was still admitting new diners at 10:00pm, and there was no closing time posted on the door.

It is not at all easy to find anywhere decent to eat in San Jose on a Sunday lunchtime, especially if you are limited by wanting to find new places to add to your journal. However, I was fairly certain that I would find somewhere open in San Pedro Square, and I was pleased to note that one of those places was Tied House.

Tied House is a local Bay Area microbrewery. They operate two pubs, one just off Castro Street in Mountain View (and very walkable from somewhere Kevin and I used to live) and one in San Jose. They also do very good food in extremely large quantities. I remember one weekend when Kevin was away and I couldn't be bothered to cook for just me, going down the pub to watch the 49ers game and have lunch. Both the 49ers and I were defeated, the former by the Atlanta Falcons (hiss, boo) and the latter by the largest plate of nachos I have ever seen. And that was an appetiser.

Since then we have eaten at both Tied House locations on several occasions and have never been disappointed. The food is traditional American (which of course means Mexican, Cajun, Italian and so on) and always done and plentiful. It isn't gourmet food, but it isn't expensive either.

The beer is good too (well, I think so anyway, but British readers should be warned that I don't like the warm, bitter stuff). There are normally around 8 beers on offer, through the exact selection is subject to change. It is locally brewed too. At both pubs there are windows onto the brewery. I happen to like the wheat beer best.

On this particular visit I was very tempted by the sandwich of portabello mushroom marinated in balsamic vinegar. However, the starter of pesto calamari also sounded good, and again I got foolishly tempted. The dish is deep fried calamari in a parmesan and pesto crust. It is an interesting idea and I liked the combination of flavour. However, the result was a little on the dry side. Maybe a little work needed on the recipe, but no complaints at all about the quantity.

I should add that Tied House also gets you by offering very good bread. You get a little loaf that is half dark and half white, and very tasty. I'm not too sure about the spread they provide, which looks distinctly like whipped cream, but the bread is great and I always eat too much. So, after a mountain of calamari and a loaf of bread, I was well stuffed. So much for my portabello sandwich. But then I was well fed, so I can't complain.

Shalimar is a new restaurant, having opened in spring 2002. As an ex-pat Brit I'm always happy to see new Indian restaurants opening in the US. It makes the place feel more like home. Besides, how can I resist a restaurant named after one of my favourite perfumes? What is more, I love Indian food, and Shalimar did not disappoint.

To start with the place is beautifully decorated, as the photos will hopefully show. More to the point, it is exceptionally good value. I had the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. It was only $9 and it was one of the best value buffets I have had in a long time. Normally when you get an all-you-can-eat buffet at an Indian restaurant you have a hard time finding the lumps of meat hiding at the bottom of vast vats of curry sauce. At Shalimar the meat was plentiful, and they even had a few innovative dishes such as their excellent fish tikka.

The main menu looks very attractive as well. There is a wide range of dishes on offer, including many vegetarian options. Interestingly they have a wide range of Indian desserts on offer. The buffet featured gulab jamun or "rose balls". These are apparently brown cheese balls dipped in honey and sugar syrup. Very different.

I certainly intend to eat here again. Indeed, I would rather like to try their Sunday night buffet. It is $11 rather than $9, but presumably has a wider choice of dishes. I'm going to make sure I am very hungry before I go.

Yes, San Jose has a quilting museum. Indeed, I believe that it is the oldest quilting museum in the USA (and apparently isn't the only one). Now I should confess that I'm a cross-stitch sort of girl myself. I've never been able to do any freehand embroidery, and am not much interested in the results. However, I do admire the skill that goes into it, and some of the exhibits in the museum were awesome.

It isn't a big museum, and the $4 entrance fee is hardly value for money compared to the other museums in San Jose. But then the money is probably necessary just to ensure that there continues to be things like a quilt museum, so I was happy to pay it.

It being so small, the museum has little in the way of permanent exhibits. Instead there is a new visiting exhibition every 2 to 3 months. When I visited the museum was featuring the traditional work of the Hmong and Mien people, two ethnic groups who have suffered persecution in South-East Asia (mainly in Laos) and some of whom have found a new home in the USA.

About half of the exhibit was made up of embroidered scenes from fairy tales, for example the story of how a brave and resourceful young girl outwits the tiger who has eaten her family, or the poor farmer who outwits the monkeys who are terrorising him. These are very well done but inevitably look hand-made. Much of the rest was embroidered clothing, and the detail on the patterns was so fine and so even that you would have sworn that it was done by a machine. Even if someone had the skill to do the work, the time taken must have been enormous. Which I guess goes to show that you can produce the most amazing works of art with very little, even if you are threatened by man-eating tigers.

Obviously a quilt museum won't be to everyone's taste, and the exhibits when you visit won't be anything like what I saw. But I think it is a wonderful thing that such a museum exists, and anyone with an interest in embroidery is bound to be fascinated by it.

OK, so this should have been a museum entry, but there was so much I wanted to say about this place that I could not get the entry under 500 words. Sorry.

There is a tendency to think that art museums in small cities can't be up to much. So San Jose has a museum focussing on contemporary art. What can it have to offer to compare with the Museum of Modern Art in nearby San Francisco? But it is free, so why not go and have a look?

Much of the ground floor is given over to work by local Bay Area artist, Nathan Olivera. This neatly encapsulates my view of modern art. Some of the paintings clearly show Olivera to be an artist of considerable talent who is able to produce beautiful and disturbing images. Others look like the sort of thing that I used to produce before getting expelled from the art class at school for incompetence.

Modern art delights in strangeness, and it is hard to find something more strange than the Oxygen Flute. This is a greenhouse full of bamboo that is wired up to measure levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and make sounds dependent on the results. Bamboo, being a plant, takes in carbon dioxide and emits oxygen. Humans do the opposite. So when humans go inside and breath the balance, and the sounds, change. It certainly works, though I find it hard to make anything you might class as music, in part because of the time lag between breath and noise. Still, it is a fascinating idea.

Upstairs is an exhibition entitled "Is the Medium the Message?" This is a bold attempt to help the public understand modern art by encouraging them think about what message the artist is trying to convey and comment upon it. In many cases, of course, that message is very clear. It is, "I'm getting paid huge sums of money for this rubbish and I'm laughing all the way to the bank." Alternatively, as one perceptive visitor pointed out (in not quite these words), "I'm trying to enrage all those boring, conservative people who come to this museum expecting to see pretty pictures." In other cases, however, the artists have real talent at things other than annoying visitors.

I particularly liked the dessert landscape photographs of Richard Misrach. Sure, it shows that nature can do art better than we can, but then Misrach also has to find the images and take the photographs, and he does it brilliantly. Also awesomely beautiful were the blown glass chandeliers by Dale Chihuly. Here's someone whose work I would go out and buy if only I could afford it.

The star of the show is a piece by Michael McMillen. It consists primarily of a small red door, padlocked shut. Above it is a sign with a drawing of the eye of Horus proclaiming that the door is an entrance to a shop called The Third Eye. A small peephole exists in the door (and a footstool is kindly provided to help kids reach it). Looking through you see (what is presumably a video) the inside of a mysterious shop full of alchemical wonders. With your ear that close to the door, hippy music can be heard coming from inside. All that is missing is the smell of jos sticks.

It is a wonderful exhibit. I loved it, and so did the audience. A Japanese girl there the same time as me could not get over her excitement. Previous visitors had often been reminded of The Twilight Zone. One even wrote, "I want to be pulled inside and trapped forever." There were no negative comments.

So there you have it, a small museum in a small city and some wonderful pieces of art. I liked this place better than Tate Modern in Liverpool. And it is free too. If you are in San Jose, give it a visit. For more details see www.sjmusart.org

There isn't any.

Well, maybe that it a bit unfair. There are a couple of bookshops, and an upmarket grocery store. FedEx, UPS and US Post all have offices. There is plenty more space for retail activity, but most of it is either empty or filled with public offices for various government departments and charities. But as far as decent shopping goes, downtown San Jose is a desert.

This, of course, is a serious problem for the city. Without shopping there is little reason for the locals to come downtown on a regular basis. Their weekends are spent in suburban shopping malls instead. And without locals there is no need for restaurants to open at the weekend. That in turn means that tourists and visitors to the exhibition center find the city lifeless, and it means that those few brave souls who do try to open shops fail miserably.

This is a real shame, because San Jose has a pretty good public transit system. The light rail comes right into the centre of town and could dump you right by the shops if there were any. There is so much potential here, and so little happening. I gather that the city council keeps trying to improve matters, but the vicious cycle of no people = no business = no one will move there, is hard to break.