Chez TJ
| Address: | 938 Villa St, Mountain View, CA 94041, USA |
| Phone: | +1 650-964-7466 |
| Site: | cheztj.com |
| Rating: | 4.1 |
| Working: | Closed 5:30–9PM 5:30–9PM 5:30–9PM 5:30–9:30PM 5:30–9:30PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 8
JE
Jennifer Lu Gilbert
Due to the mixed reviews, my husband and I were deathly afraid that we would not enjoy our meal at Chez TJ. Nonetheless, he wanted to give it a chance so we took advantage of the travelzoo coupon ($99 for the 8 course tasting (valued at $150) and came here on a Friday night for a 6:30 reservation. Walking up to the restaurant, Justin, the front of the house manager, opened the door for us and every single person greeted us politely. Service was consistently good throughout the night. We felt the flow and speed was on point and the transition from plate to plate was perfect. The only time we had to wait awhile was before the dessert courses began, and again for our bill. Rudy, our server, presented most of our dishes to us. James, the sommelier, poured every pairing for us. They were both very knowledgeable about the items that they presented to us. We did add the supplementation for the A-5 Wagyu and it was worth every single penny. The steak was cooked to perfection. We also got the supplementation of the wild boar with shaved truffles and again, it was great. In fact, we enjoyed every single course and its accompaniments -- again, shocking to the both of us because we just didnt know what the meal was going to be like given the mixed reviews. Lastly, we enjoyed the wine selections paired with each dish. At the end of the night, James also promptly emailed us the list of wines we paired with each dishes, including those that we purchased by the glass for the cheese course.
DA
David Adams
Imagine just getting out of a mediocre culinary school, visiting a three star restaurant in Paris with amazingly creative and well crafted dishes, and opening a restaurant with the goal of emulating that food. What you would get would be highly creative, but poorly executed dishes. Thats what I got at Chez TJ last year. My meal started off with a foie gras and peanut butter madeline cookie as the amuse bouche. Which, in simple terms, is a dog treat, a really gross dog treat. Sadly the meal wasnt significantly uphill from there. The majority of the dishes my wife and I got were far more creative than they were tasty. In fact, only two of the dozen or so things we ate we would ever want to eat again. Oh, and the service matched the food. It seemed that each of the four or five waiters who delivered the courses was well trained in mumbling the descriptions of the dishes. So half the time, we didnt even know what exactly we were getting. Also, we got the shorter tasting menu and our meal still took almost three hours. There was a period of almost 40 minutes between courses. Terrible. How on earth this place got a Michelin star is beyond me. The meal I had there wasnt just bad for a Michelin starred restaurant, it was objectively terrible. Does my review seem harsh? Maybe. I know that other people have gone to Chez TJ and not been fed dog treats, but with plenty of high-end restaurants in the bay area, I (and you) have no reason to give them a second chance.
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A Private User
The food comes with nice artistic presentations and is very innovative. It is kind of fun and nice but gets very loud by about 830pm. You get a new set of silverware for every course. They have a lot of staff for just a few tables in a total of about three small rooms. The bread is very tasty. It was not clear what part of the experience was French. If anything, it projects a very bad and very wrong impression of French cuisine. For less than this price (US$80+ per person + beverages = US$300 for two easily), much better food, much better wine and far more of it can be had in France. IMO, Chez TJ is overhyped. This place does not deserve a single Michelin star. Alexanders Steakhouse in Cupertino is a much better local deal for this kind of money.
SC
Scott Crandall
Overpriced, under portioned and some of the snottiest service I have ever experienced. The prices in Paris itself were lower, the portions larger, and the wait staff were pleasant at the very least. A hint to the staff; stop acting like you came from Central Casting on a call for "snotty rude French people". For the chef, making cute little swirls in sauce over the food, to disguise both taste and size isnt a skill, its a marketing ploy. Never going back, sure as hell not recommending it to others. Go to Emiles in San Jose on Second Street. Or Dennys. The first has superb food at reasonable prices, polite staff, and you can go next door to City Lights and see a play after dinner. Dennys has better ambiance than Chez TJ, and the food is no worse.
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Marc MERLIN
First note that chez TJ goes from being great to not great at all while they rotate chefs. Its frustrating because Ive had 2 great meals there as well as 2 very disappointing ones. Review for my last one: Likely food poisoning, very very slow service (4.5H for full tasting meal, 30mn per dish because the kitchen staff was totally inadequate to cope with a not even full dining room), and more importantly no answer from the staff or owner when I Emailed them with my concerns and offered info as to the possible food problem. This is very disappointing, it used to be much better in the past :( The staff and servers were nice when we were there, but thats unfortunately not enough.
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Sasha Narayan
Excellent dining experience with interesting choices of selections on the tasting menu. The courses were really either hit or miss for us, mostly hitting the flavors well however. At times the courses were rather bland, or even felt like a certain flavor or mouth-feel was missing from a broth or dish. The desserts were easily the best part of the meal: thoughtful, whimsical, inventive, and very satisfying. Left feeling stuffed at over 12 courses, but the serving and wait staff were all exceedingly polite and truly deserve the Michelin star for the experience. The wine pairing was good as well, but ended up being far too much alcohol in the longer tasting menu.
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Ben Lindahl
Been there twice, once for the full tasting and once for the other menu. Both times I was impressed. The meats were succulent and juicy and the small morsels they provided had plenty of taste (any more meat would have been overkill). Various foams and dehydrated olive oil were used very well to accentuate the delicateness, but there was nothing that felt like you were not eating everything. Everything was delicate, but everything had substance. Nothing was overwhelming, but we left feeling very, very full. Fantastic sommelier, if youre into that sorta thing. Servers were very personable and not at all pretentious; very willing to joke around.
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A Private User
French cuisines are typically pretty pricey and this one is no exception. For what Chez TJ lacks in pricing, it more than makes up in quality, service, and the whole fine french dining experience. Dont let the exterior of the restaurant fool you. At a glance, it looks like a tiny little house, which it really is, but it is quite intimate and cozy inside. Go for the Chefs Menu as I found it to be quite the adventure! I have been told that the executive chef changed midyear in 2009. I ate at Chez TJ just before this change so your experience might vary a bit.
