Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Vida Bistro - Menlo Park, CA


Vida Bistro in Menlo Park has been a favorite hang out of mine for years. I was looking forward to reviewing the Vida Burger, a staple at owner Ali El Safy's comfortable restaurant. Ali once told me he got the recipe from his Mom.

The Vida burger is made of fresh ground beef mixed with garlic, parsley and onion and seasoned with salt and pepper. The patty is probably a little less than half a pound. It is topped with gorgonzola cheese, a roasted red pepper, and mayo. It all sits on a sesame bun. The Vida Burger goes for $11 with fries. It also comes with a nice side salad of mixed greens in vinegrette, and slices of tomato and onion.

My burger buddy John ordered one as well. John neatly cut his in half to reveal a perfectly cooked burger at medium. Biting into the burger the spices, cheese, pepper and mayo make a unique and satisfying taste. My only quibble is that the bun seemed a little stale so it did not hold togther as well as I like.

As usual the fries were great as well. The are thinner than your usual. Hot and salty and yummy.

We had a nice chat with Ali about slowing down and enjoying life. He had just returned from Rio and said that no one loves life more than the Brazilians. Ali's Bistro tries it's best to give the diner a little slice of that attitude.

Burger 4.5 spatulas out of 5
Fries 5 out of 5

Bistro Vida
641 Menlo Ave.
Menlo Aprk, CA 94025
650-462-1686
www.bistrovidamp.com

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I must say that does sound like a san fran burger, it aint a Hamburger!

Why do people feel the need to obscure and adulterate fine ground beef? All of that is lost on me.

Yes, yes, I have tried about a hundred "meatloaf burgers" and I still like a Hamburger better every time.

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