Good, but bland Thai food. I like Zao for lunch, but I agree it's not the greatest Thai food around. I don't really like spicy food, so Zao is good for people who perfer milder Thai. I love the pad thai and the thai iced tea is great. The best part used to be the magic fish at the end that would tell your fortune, but the past couple of times I've gone they didn't give them to us.
Something's wrong with this Zao. I always get the Veggie Pho at the Zao up in the city, but when I ordered in Palo Alto, it came out blech -- like hot tap water and soy sauce. I can't recommend this Zao, but the one off Fillmore is still tasty.
Bleh. I ordered the Vegetarian Pho and it was entirly lacking in flavor. In addition the Service was slow and impolite. I was very disappointed.
The best place to noodle around in downtown Palo Alto..
The Food
Noodle neophytes will find Zao a friendly place to explore a variety of cuisines. The menu offers a fine selection of noodle and rice dishes from Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and China. Try the green curry and coconut prawns, which features tiger prawns in a rich sauce with broccoli, carrots, green beans and thin "Hong Kong mein" egg noodles. On a hot day, try a cool dish of Vietnamese rice noodles served with sauteed broccoli, cabbage, squash, red peppers and tofu. It's seasoned with a fine soy-lime dressing. The pork and noodles soup delivers thinly sliced, hosin-marinated loin with spinach, carrots and super-thick "Shanghai" noodles. The savory-sweet broth is seasoned with five spices.
The Scene
Like the noodle, this restaurant is long and narrow and very hip. Palo Alto's trend-conscious crowd likes to take lunch here. The service is good. The place is attractive. And the fine food is fairly cheap and quite bountiful.
Eeew.. I went to Zao's for lunch with a friend. Both dishes that we had were lacking taste, though they were denoted to be spicy on the menu.
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