Chez TJ — Restaurant in Mountain View

Came here for my birthday with my husband. It started off well but it went downhill from there. The two of us have many Michelin stars under our belt; Chez TJ missed the mark.

We enjoyed the staff’s lively and friendly attitude. But there were several bumps along the way which soured our experience here.

(1) I communicated that my husband has a seafood aversion, to which the restaurant responded it would be no problem. They confirmed the seafood aversion upon our arrival, and mentioned that the bass for one course would be replaced with pork. The bass course came and went, the pork substitute was missing entirely from the plate. The server didn’t mention pork at all when describing the plates (perhaps in an attempt to pull a fast one/hoping we had forgotten??) My husband’s plate ended up being just a tiny slice of heart of palm with dollops of puree. At this point, we thought maybe -we- had gotten it wrong. But our menus at the end of the meal came, confirming that pork was on the menu but missing from his plate. We brought this up with the server, who then made a couple of trips back and forth from the kitchen, each time adding extra lines to the story. Apparently the cook on the pork was overdone, and Chef decided not to serve it last minute in an attempt to keep the meal moving. Sure that’s fine, but why hide it from the start? We got nothing more than a verbal “sorry,” which frankly is unacceptable for a meal that cost $668 out the door between food, wine, and mandatory 20% service. Base price is $225 per person; short changing someone a protein course in a situation like this is certainly material. When we had brought up feedback with Selby’s, another Silicon Valley dining cornerstone, they immediately gave us a $150 gift card to come back. Also, there were a number of ways to keep the meal moving while still acknowledging the mistake, perhaps more heart of palm in that dish or a bigger protein portion for the next dish they were still cooking.

(2) Michelin or not, my yardstick is whether my water glass ever drops below half. We had to flag a server to have our water glasses refilled.

(3) The pacing between the courses was awfully slow.

(4) There was only one bathroom available for guests. For a packed Saturday night, it was often occupied. The bathroom wait was often 5-10 minutes. Once during the meal, the bathroom was full when my husband tried it. A server told my husband he would fetch him from the table when the bathroom opened up. Well, he never ended up coming back to fetch my husband. He had to just physically guess and check every so often.

(5) We sat in the portion of the dining room that was closest to the kitchen. We heard the kitchen manager yelling (not nicely) at the others to pick up the pace. My husband and I weren’t the only ones to notice this, another couple were shocked as well. And mind you, this wasn’t a one off outburst. It was a constant stream of barking.

(6) When I ordered a glass of SauvBlanc, the server poured the entire glass immediately instead of checking the taste with me first.

All to say while the steak and the black sesame dessert were highlights, I doubt we will be...

Oh Chez TJ, how you disappoint me so.

Let me just preface this review with a disclaimer that it will come off as snobby and entitled. But I stand by my perspective on our dining experience.

The main reason for my 2-star review is the service, which I'll talk about first. The food deserves 4 stars though the wine pairing was extremely over priced and didn't deliver on value, but for a Michelin starred restaurant, I expected a better overall experience.

My fiance made a reservation to celebrate our engagement (we literally got engaged earlier that day). He may have forgotten to let them know beforehand, I'm not sure. But we certainly told our server when he asked "are we celebrating a special occasion?" ("yes, we're celebrating our engagement", "oh, how wonderful, congratulations!")

So you can imagine my surprise when the meal ended with nothing special from the restaurant. Mind you, the other three tables in our room all got a special dessert and hand-written card from the chef for their birthdays/anniversaries. Umm what? It wouldn't have been as jarring if no one else got special treatment. Is an engagement not worthy of celebration? Okay okay, maybe it was because the chef didn't have enough notice to prepare something (which I find hard to believe... how hard is it to write "congratulations" in chocolate on a plate?), but they could've at least comped a glass of champagne or something as a gesture. But nope, there was nothing.

Aside from that major oversight, the other weird service error was that we didn't even get napkins until we asked for it during our first course. At first I thought it was because we might not need napkins for the amuse bouche. But when the bread came, I was like, umm we need napkins. Add that to our weird table placement, it really felt like they didn't have room for us for the night and hurriedly squeezed a table for us against a wall.

Okay the food. The amuse bouche were all great. Very good flavors and interesting combinations. The brioche with dungeness crab was possibly my favorite course. Who knew frying brioche with butter and cheese would taste so good! The bread was amazing, as well, I think I had like 4 slices. The pasta dish and the risotto were delicious too. Desserts were fine but nothing to write home about. Food deserves a solid 4 stars. Not the best tasting menu I've ever had, but I would go back again.

Now the wine pairing. Really the tl;dr is, it is not worth it! For $150, you don't get a lot of wine and they didn't actually pair well with the food. I think I only enjoyed 1 out of 4 or 5. The wine with the dessert pairing was awful. I was not impressed and felt painful when...

Dining at Chez TJ in Mountain View is an experience steeped in history, charm, and high expectations. The restaurant is located in a beautifully preserved Victorian house, and the setting is intimate and inviting - the kind of place that sets the tone for a special night out.

The meal itself, however, was a bit of a mixed bag. The tasting menu featured a variety of dishes, many of which were technically well-executed but didn’t particularly stand out. The main fish course, in particular, was surprisingly bland, lacking the depth or creativity you might expect from a restaurant of this caliber. While nothing was bad per se, much of the meal felt more like a checklist of fine-dining tropes than a unique or inspired culinary journey.

That said, there was one clear culinary high point: the steak course. It was, without exaggeration, one of the best steaks I’ve ever had - perfectly cooked with a rich, complex flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture. It was a reminder of the kitchen’s potential and left a strong impression that lingered long after the plate was cleared.

Service during dinner was adequate but slightly clumsy at times. There were a few awkward pauses between courses, and some interactions felt rehearsed or lacking in warmth. It wasn’t a dealbreaker, but it also didn’t match the polish you’d expect from a Michelin-starred restaurant. There was one point where we had nearly 30 minutes between courses, which was noticeably long.

What truly elevated the entire evening - and turned what might have been a forgettable experience into something genuinely memorable - was Ted, the sommelier and manager. From the moment he approached our table, he brought an energy and hospitality that felt deeply personal and sincere. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the wine pairings and offered thoughtful explanations without ever being overbearing.

The highlight of the night came after dinner, when Ted graciously offered us a tour of the property and gardens. Walking through the grounds under the evening sky, hearing about the history of the house, the kitchen’s philosophy, and the care that goes into the garden-grown ingredients - it added an emotional and narrative depth that the meal alone hadn’t quite provided.

In the end, I’m torn on Chez TJ. The food, while competent, didn’t quite live up to expectations aside from that incredible steak. The service during dinner could use more polish. But Ted alone is worth the visit. He brought soul, generosity, and a human touch that made the evening truly special.

If you go, go for the setting, go for the steak - but above...