GOGA — Restaurant in Saratoga

I had high hopes based on the glowing reviews.

The person who took the reservation asked if we had dietary restrictions. I said no, but I highly dislike cilantro. He said that wouldn't be a problem at all. When the 2nd course was brought up, guess what was on top... cilantro. I mentioned this to Helen, the server. I asked if any other dishes would include cilantro. She said she didn't think so, but would check. The chef came over, said he didn't get the note about cilantro, and apologized. Sure enough, the next course included cilantro, but at least my dish didn't have any. A restaurant need not ask about dietary restrictions, but why bother to check if that doesn't get communicated.

The service was mediocre at best. Previous reviews mentioned gracious hospitality. Our server merely placed the food on our table, explained what it was, and cleared our plates. No one once asked how the food was. And it wasn't because they were busy. There was plenty of time to chat with patrons who seemed like regulars or friends. When my husband asked what beers they had, she pointed to the beers across the room and brought over only 2 of them to show us. They probably carried at most 5 or 6 beers, not that hard to remember and rattle off the list. And to boot, my husband wasn't asked if he wanted another beer. The food was also mediocre. On the salty side.

We also would've had a hard time finding this place had I not read reviews about its location. Why not tell me when I'm making the reservation? And the open kitchen and closed door meant we walked out smelling like food. We love supporting local, small businesses and really wanted to like this place, but it was a disappointing...

We've been talking about trying Goga for a while now and am I glad we did! We were their first OpenTable reservation :) we showed up and did to a glitch they didn't have us on the books, but no worries at all.. they shifted some tables around and we were seated.

This was a prefix menu, which made ordering super easy.. and much to our surprise.. such an amazing choices of flavors and textures. We started with a duck appetizer salad, followed by cod (OMG sooooo good) topped with lamb. Honestly, it was all made to perfection.

There is a wine and beer menu available.. minimal choice. We were recommended pinot with dinner.. it was fine.. not amazing as the food.

Dessert was simple and delicious!! I could've had two 😁

The staff were attentive enough (i.e. not annoying) and very nice. Our water was consistently filled, utensils changed between meals, etc.

The ambiance of the restaurant is fine. Would be so much better with better, warmer lighting. Although the kitchen is semi open to the space, there wasn't too much noise nor smell to be distracting.

Overall, gem of a find.. must try!! We'll be...

Friday night my son and I wanted to do a dad & son dinner. We went to downtown Saratoga to eat in one of the restaurants that was unfortunately closed. We looked up on Google Maps and saw Goga with high rating. We walked Ip to the restaurant (which is behind the UPS store) and used to be the location of Indo Cafe. We were greeted by Helen, who is full of energy. She mentioned that Chef Brad has a set menu every night for dinner. We decided to try it out and boy, was that a good decision. That night’s dinner started with butternut squash, ginger, coconut milk soup, followed by tuna tataki with soy mustard glaze. The flavors were amazing and by then we were looking forward to the next round. The next round was Hokkaido scallops with yuzu and tomatillos. Thai was followed by Mahi mahi with lobster bisque sauce. I had asked for no red meat, so my son got the American wagyu and I tasted a small piece of that. We had a French patisserie dessert which was also amazing Every dish that was served was amazing. We were so glad that we gave it a shot and we will definitely be back...