Hey, Zenster, I checked out Cicero’s on Metroactive.com:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sunnyvale.sun/10.27.99/taste-9943.html
Sounds like a real pizza joint! If the Straight Dope Pizza Party is a weekday thing, I’m there.
Here’s my next review:
Amber India, on Camino Real, in Mountain View. Here’s another of those terrific Silicon Valley restaurants which are paradoxically housed in a scrubby little strip mall. At first, you will think you are pulling up to the wrong place, but as you exit your car, the heady aroma of spicy Indian cuisine will hit you and you will know you are there.
Contrasting with the dull exterior, the interior of the restaurant is elegant, even opulent. The restaurant’s managers must have known that they would be catering to a well-to-do dotcom crowd of emigrant Indians, and their decor and especially their cuisine show their sensitivity to this.
The menu is broad and descriptive. You won’t find the typical Indian “combination plate” here, but you will find many luscious-sounding dishes which are unfamiliar to you. We ordered one of their biryani (layered pilaf), a lamb dish in spicy cream gravy, a potato and cauliflower dish, raita (yogurt salad), and chutneys. The lamb was tender, rich, and delectable; the biryani was wonderful but superfluous as they serve plain steamed basmati rice gratis with every meal; the vegetable dish was fiery, classic Indian vegetarian cuisine; and the raita was piquant and cooling. The chutneys (mint and mango) were vibrantly hot, intensely flavored and fabulous.
Service was a bit formal, but a pleasure to watch because the food arrives in bright copper serving vessels.
In short, four stars out of four for this restaurant. Without question, it is the best Indian food I have ever had. The price is a tad steep, but not over the top, considering everything is handmade and carefully crafted. With the weather so cold and dank, it’s time to give this place a try and warm up your insides with some spicy comfort food of the gods.
Oh, yes, and there’s a lunch buffet, too – $10.