Venus Cafe

Cupertino, CA

One of the best things I learned about dining in Hong Kong last summer was about the lull period between 2-5 where a lot of cafes have a happy hour. There's an official Chinese phrase for this, but it escapes me.  You can usually get a combo meal with an entrée and warm milk tea for just a couple bucks. On our way to Carmel, we stopped off in Cupertino to run some errands and grab a quick bite to eat. I was really craving baked pork chop rice and a milk tea. So we found Venus Cafe on Yelp and decided to give it a try. Upon arrival at 1:00, every table was nearly filled and the dishes on every table were huge. Every table left with a to go box. The regular menu seemed large, but we only took a look at the lunch specials menu, everything for $7.25. An hour later, during happy hour, everything becomes $4.95, a great steal.

Garlic Bread and Tomato soup

Before we even ordered, we were given a cup of tea, slice of garlic bread and bowl of soup, all part of the lunch specials. The soup was surprisingly tasty and sweet, so probably had MSG and the garlic bread, at least soft, fresh and toasted, but nothing we wasted calories on. 

Baked Pork Chop Fried Rice

I went with the baked pork chop fried rice, which was gigantic. It came with two pork chops covered in a Chinese red tomato sauce and cheese. It wasn't the best I ever had, but curbed my craving. The quality isn't anything special but for seven bucks, its a solid, filling meal. 

Portuguese Chicken 

Chu-Toro went with the Portuguese chicken, which also came in a large, filled bowl. It was solid, good flavor, but you have to search for the chicken bits, since most of the item is potatoes and onions. It did come with two large scoops of rice and we ended up packing half of this for home. All in all, it hit the spot and barely dented the wallet. We'll probably try one of the other dozen HK cafes like this in the surrounding areas next time, but we're glad we gave it a try.

Rating 5.5/10

January 21, 2011