| Homey, yet modern Italian restaurant with modest menu of flavorful dishes |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 9/6/2005
Rating: 9
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When it comes to italian food, I normally save my visits for San Francisco. I dont know why but thats just how it is. For the last 2-3 months, my coworkers Adam and Mike have been saying that Il Postale in Sunnyvale was the Italian place to try. Coming off the Labor day holiday, we needed to start off strong for the week.
There's plenty of parking across the street in the shopping mall. I dont think they mind as that shopping center is practially dying. We head across the street and stroll right in. Lunch traffic was light but that changed about 40 minutes into the meal. Service was on the ball and we were immediately greeted and seated. Water followed afterwards and another 3-5 minutes we were ordering and had bread on the table. So far so good...just waiting around, your eyes start wondering and notice, hey this place is nice. Il Postale makes a excellent choice for a business lunch/dinner or casual date. I didnt get a chance to see the outdoor patio but Im sure thats just as nice.
While sipping my Peroni, I must have gotten to the halfway mark and my seafood pasta was ready. It was cappelini with rock shrimp, scallops, creamy tomato sauce and other goodies. They had 2 large shrimps and 2 big scallops mixed in with cut up shrimps. Seafood was cooked just over the point of raw intensifying the ocean flavor. Im not sure why I put parmesan over my pasta without even trying it, still enjoyable but I think its cheese overkill. Sauce slighlty spicy and rich, watch your arteries...haha, good stuff. Only complaint is the Capellini, it was a bit on the soft side...yeah I know its a small guage pasta but cmon, I like my pasta firm...with a bite to it. I wont knock them too much everything else was outstanding.
It looks like I'll have to make a detour from San Francisco to Sunnyvale to enjoy my Italian meals at Il Postale. My lunch plate was about $20 with beer but dont let the price scare you. I had seafood and alcohol, you can get lunch specials for under $10 and still enjoy the service, atmosphere, and more importantly....THE FOOD. Enjoy.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 9/12/2005
Rating: 9
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I am always a bit leery when reviewing places in this part of Sunnyvale. Murphy Street is a bit of an enigma. Usually places have to be fairly foo-foo to be here. Folks that go here have the button-down striped shirts and slacks. Or the button-down shirts tucked into shorts with a belt. You know. Anyway, its just not my scene so going here can sometimes be a little put-offish for me. A place has to be damn good for me to really rate it worthy enough for me to return.
For the longest time I never really had a favorite italian food. A couple years ago I went to Maggianos for the first time and I really liked that. I would probably have considered that to be my favorite. Alas its a chain so never made it into Jatbar.
Well on this day, that changed. I went to Sunnyvale and was blown away by an Italian restaurant. Il Postale was not at all what I was expecting.
The place looks completely foo-foo upon first entering. The walls are brick, and decorated with shelves lined with dishes, etc. Like an Italian family's kitchen I suppose. Very warm and welcoming. The waitstaff was very attentive and seated us immediately.
I scanned the rather short menu quickly and found what I was looking for - the Fettuccine. At $14.50 it was not cheap, so this had to be damn good for me to be satisfied.
In the meantime while I was waiting for my dish to arrive, I snacked on the bread. It was pretty decent, fresh, and medium-tough on the outside, soft on the inside. It didn't blow me away, but was tasty enough.
The food arrived quickly- decently fast for lunch. After the requisite pictures, we dug in. Wow, this is some amazing food. The seafood was all top-notch. I had no problems eating any of it, even the clams. The marinara was extremely good. Very strong tomato flavor, fresh and exciting. The pasta was prepared perfectly. The cheese, optionally sprinkled on top by the waiter, was standard fare, but still done well. Each bite was accompanied by some seafood. They really stocked the dish. The serving size was not Maggianos excessive, but but was large enough and definitely filled me.
Even though the dish was pricey, I felt it was 100% worth it. I don't think I have had Italian this good in the Bay Area for under $20. I left Il Postale full and satisfied. I will be returning. Maybe next time I will try the dish Jason got, or the Pizza Margherita.
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Reviewer: Phuc
Total Reviews: 13
Reviewed: 9/21/2005
Rating: 8
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I haven't had Italian food in a while, and I was craving for some one day after work. So, since I seen some good reviews on here, might as well give it a try.
We got to Il Postale at about 7:30 on a Friday night. Right when we got there I realized I made a mistake. Forgot to make reservations, and the line was out the door. We asked how long the wait was and they told us it was 15 for an inside table and 10 for an outside table. So we were like cool, because that wasn't too bad, even though we were hella hungry. Well, 10 minutes past by, then 15, then 30. People were starting to get pissed off and we weren't really happy either. But after 45 minutes, they called us in.
I know it is not easy to guess how long people will take to eat, but if you own a restaurant, you should be able to guess better than that. Also, if not sure, always overestimate.
Now on to the food.
Appetizers: Seared blacken ahi tuna - not bad at all, one of the better places I had this dish at. flavorful, and great with the capers.
Sauteed Spinach with mussels, scallops and prawns in a sauce - we all liked this dish, seafood was juicy and the sauce was delicious.
Dinner: Prawns and veal - so so dish, good but not great.
Seafood risotto - probably the best dinner out of all that we ordered. lots of seafood, and the risotto was rich and creamy.
Dessert: Tiramisu - good, not that great.
the pastry on vanilla bean ice cream. I liked this dessert, too bad there wasn't enough of the pastry for the ice cream. but it was gooood.
food came out fast, coffee was good after dinner. Service was so so, not as great as I would like for a restaurant like this, even though they were friendly. I would come back again if I was in the area. But I would not wait more than 10 minutes for a table next time. |
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 2/8/2007
Rating: 9
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Ive gone on a new diet for health reasons. Im now on a semi modified diet where I try to eat foods that are low to medium on the Glycemic Index chart. Ive completely cut out white rice and white bread from my diet and have not touched this stuff for the past 2 weeks. If you know me, this is extremely hard to do, but there is a lot of other foods that are low on the GI scale that can replace those two items (but still very hard).
I feel that I can continue to write reviews on Jatbar and still follow this diet. I decided to give it a go tonight as I suggested Il Postale to my friend. Juts within the last few days I found out that pasta actually has a low GI score, but only if its not covered in some cream sauce and eaten in moderation. Im so relived in having found out about this tid bid info.
This place is really easy to find and there is a huge parking lot directly across the street in the Macys plaza to park. If it wasnt for that parking space there would only be street parking at best. My friend and I arrive around 6pm and there are already several tables taken. When you walk into the restaurant it seems youre right smack in the restaurant, there is no waiting area if you decide to order to go. I also do not like the tight conformity of the restaurant. The tables are so close to each other, you can reach out and touch the person at the next table, even listen to their conversations. You definitely dont want to talk business while eating here. If you come in a large group of six or more you may want to arrive very early, since once their couple tables are taken, I dont see how they can join tables together to accommodate a large party.
With my new diet, I need to plan out what to eat before each meal. I like the fact their website list whats in each dish and the price of each dish. My friend decided to go with the Grilled Fresh Salmon (topped with a creamy dill white wine sauce, and diced scallops, served with risotto and vegetables) for $18.95. Since I cannot eat risotto (high GI), I opted for a pasta dish. I originally decided on the Fettuccine tossed with prawns, mussels, clams, rock shrimp, and parmesan in a basil marinara sauce ($15.25). At the restaurant I changed my mind and went with the Penne baked with wild boar sausage and homemade Italian sausage, topped with Asiago and mozzarella cheese with a light marinara sauce ($13.95). We also ordered the crab cakes (on a roasted red pepper sauce and topped with a dollop of tartar aioli for $11.25) as a starter.
Bread was quickly brought out to our table along with two glasses of ice water. As we waited for our food I observed what others were ordering. It seems like there are several pasta dishes you can order that are not on the menu. I saw this one couple order the Sesame Chicken salad, which looked yummy. The salad contained strips of grilled chicken, with shredded chicken, crispy rice noodles, lettuce, and almonds in some light dressing. Also, it seems like sodas come in a can, and they pour your first serving in a very small glass. All this waiting did not help as my friend munched on the bread commenting how great it was with the olive oil. I resisted temptation and refused to eat a single slice even after it was suggested I have one slice. Sitting so close to other tables didnt help matters as our neighbor ordered the garlic bread with cheese. The smell or the garlic cheese bread was so tempting.
Our waiter brings us our crab cakes. There are two crab cakes about the size of a tennis ball but just a tad bigger. The crab cakes are crispy (fried?) on the outside, and contained shredded crab meat with other ingredients on the inside (the filling was mashed up). This was not the lumped crab meat I was expecting. The crab cake was excellent and would be a repeat order if its not so expensive. Its big enough for four people to share two crab cakes.
More waiting as bread is eaten all around me. Finally our dishes are served. My pasta dish looks delish and definitely enough servings for two. I tried my best not to eat it all but just couldnt resist. The pasta dish was good but I could not tell the difference between the wild boar sausage and the homemade Italian sausage. This would have gone great with bread but I managed.
As for dessert my friend was not interested, which was a relief to me as I didnt need any more temptations. There are so many choices for anyone who comes to eat here. Service is excellent and attentive, prices are reasonable for a place like this, but still a bit on the high end for me, and there are plenty of parking spaces. Service here is fast even when its busy, checks are immediately taken care of and dishes served at a quick pace. I would definitely come here more often if I could eat everything.
Plus: Plenty of parking across the street, efficient and attentive service, good range of selections, good tasting food.
Minuses: Some items are pricey, dont like the close seating.
Best Pasta/Sauces To Eat on a Healthy GI Diet Program:
Spaghetti, macaroni, penne, fettuccine, linguine, rigatoni, tagliatelle, vermicelli
Types of Pasta/Sauces To Avoid on a GI Diet Program:
Lasagna, gnocchi, cannelloni, ravioli. Any cream or cheese pasta sauce.
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Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 148
Reviewed: 9/23/2006
Rating: 10
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This place is nearly flawless, and I did not thing it could improve much more. Joe and his staff have literally swept us off our feet tonight.
I called and asked if they had 'Boca Negra' on the menu tonight, it is an incredibly rich dark chocolate flourless cake that takes about 2 days to prepare and make before it is ready to eat. Normally I get the 'I need to ask the pastry chef' however I was fortunate they had Boca Negra on the menu the day prior but not today. They had 3 pieces sitting in the back, I told them to save a slice for me. It's almost routine before we come to il postale to call ahead and ask if they have Boca Negra...it is that good.
Anyways...after an insane day, we did not arrive until 8:30pm. They promptly made a table for us and seated us within a minute, water came a moment later and we were ready to order. The portions are huge here and both of us were not really hungry we ended up skipping the appitizer in anticipation of dessert and split an order of the rock shrimp capillini.
It tasted just as I remembered it. delicious. the shrimp perfectly grilled, just a thin crunch then tender juicy plump flesh. Same with the scallops, perfectly seared.
Here's where il postale goes from 9.5 to 10 - when it came time for dessert the kitchen looked all over the back for that 1 (of 3) pieces of Boca Negra. They were unable to locate it, even though they knew they had saved it all day. Stranger things have happened so our waitress told us that she would buy us dessert, whatever we wanted. We told her it was quite alright, we'll choose something else and pay for it. She insisted and if there's something that I've learned it is to never argue with a woman, so on the house it was. This proved to be a wise investment. We went with the Tiramisu as I've never had it here and the girl absolutely loves tiramisu. (I'm stuck on steps of rome's tiramisu) The cake arrives and is a 2 lady fingers thick and long, served with whip and berries. wow...this tiramisu is GOOD, it's hard to find good tiramisu in the south bay so i rarely ever order it, i'm so glad we went with it tonight. The layers were clearly seperate yet worked well with each other. nothing was over powering and the cake itself was spongy and easy to eat. fabulous.
wait...that's not all.
down to the last two bites of our tiramisu our waitress comes back with a box, bag and a huge smile. I wasn't sure what she was up to but something told me it was a good sign. She comes over and surprises us with the slice of Boca Negra. After they delivered our tiramisu they were not satisfied. I guess they kept digging and found 3 pieces. She even boxed it up, however we opened it immediatly and proceeded to gobble up half of it. Instantly turned a much anticipated evening from good to incredible. it's no wonder il postale has occupied the same street corner for years, and i'm sure they will for years to come.
Truely a neighborhood jewel. If you have yet to experience dinner here, you should make a reservation. quickly.
*one last thing: while we were walking (doggie boxes and all) and talking about what a wonderful dinner it has been I guess the couple in front of us was thinking the same thing when out of nowhere a wait staff rushed out with their leftovers that they forgot. now that's something...we were well over a block away. a real class act.
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