Elements Restaurant — Restaurant in San Jose

Had our holiday company dinner this year at Elements after trying it one night just before they closed. It’s in a strip mall off of Almaden in South San Jose. But once you walk inside, it feels classy with a big glass wine cellar to the right, and an open kitchen towards the back. The restaurant is family-owned and operated. The chef and his father both work there, with possibly more family working other positions. It was packed with patrons on a Friday night.

Their fusion cuisine is quite unique in that it is more French and Western than Vietnamese. So there are dishes such as Salmon Wellington that you would never see at a Vietnamese restaurant. For appetizers we ordered fried softshell crab, spring rolls and green salad. All solid in terms of taste and freshness.

For entrees, each person at our table ordered a different dish. I ordered the Salmon Wellington, which was nicely breaded, in a plate of cream. There was a thick cheese inside the breading surrounding the perfectly cooked salmon. I tried the Australian rack of lamb, also well cooked and seasoned.

The desserts were not quite on the level of the entrees. My colleagues had to chip away at the peach sorbet because it was frozen solid. The chocolate cake was spongy and tasty, but the ice cream on top was ordinary.

The drink menu was somewhat of a surprise in that they didn’t have any cocktails. Unsurprisingly, they had a wide variety of wine and some beer, but I had expected some creative cocktails given the food menu but I guess I didn’t see a bar there.

If you happen to be on the south side and want to have a unique French-Vietnamese meal, I...

A friend and I had dinner there Saturday night. It was our first time there and the place was moderately full (open tables, no line to get a seat.)

Service was spotty. Our waitress (elderly Asian woman) was sweet but a little absent-minded. She sat us, took our drink order and appetizers. We had to flag her down before she took our dinner order 10-15 minutes after they had removed our appetizer plates. Then we heard another waitress seating a couple and telling them about today’s soup and specials. Our waitress made no mention. We had no idea there were specials.

We had the Spider Spring Roll (spring roll with soft shell crab @ $16). They were ok but not the best value. There were two spring rolls per order, each cut in half for a total of four pieces. Examining the inside, we realized there was just one leg (not the meaty claw but a spindly back leg) inside each full spring roll. For $16, I would more crab. A spider sushi roll easily has 3x the crab for $12. Very disappointing.

For dinner we had the scallops and the herb crusted salmon. Both were good but not amazing. Better can be had at other restaurants for the same price.

For dessert, we split the mango panacotta, which had a dollop of sorbet on top with some berries. That was fine; nothing to write home about.

Given the other positive reviews, I can only comment based on the dishes we ordered. I would give the place another try but this time, with some suggestions from the staff. Overall, we found the food decent but not quite worth the...

I believe there's an old saying, "Never judge a restaurant by its facade". This could not be more true for Elements Restaurant in Almaden. The facade of the restaurant is not much to look at, but the quality of the food is wonderful. Elements is a French-Vietnamese Restaurant. It has many of the fresh Vietnamese ingredients and influences mixed with the wonderful sauces that you find in French Cuisine. I had the won-ton soup to start which was delicious and was made with fresh crisp vegetables. Afterwards, I had the sea bass cooked in banana leaves which was served with a light bernaise sauce, steamed vegetables, and forbidden rice. The sea bass was moist and perfectly cooked and pair very well with the sauce. The vegetables, carrots, green beans, and broccolini were cooked just right, not too soggy with just enough crispness left in them. My friend had the fillet which was only $24 (a steal!) and was melt in your mouth delicious. For dessert, we shared the creme brulee. It was well made, nice and crispy on top and plenty of fresh vanilla bean in the custard. All in all dinner was a success. This place was recommended to me and I'm glad I gave it a go. I never would have tried this place had I just happened by this semi deserted strip mall but I went on a friend's recommendation and it was one of the best "new to me" restaurants that I've been...