Banana Leaf in Milpitas is great, but very crowded and too far away. Looking forward to trying their Menlo Park restaurant.

We tried Black Pepper earlier this week. At about 5:30 and there were only a handful of patrons... A little nervous until the wait staff quickly acknowledged us and spent lots of time explaining the dishes. You can tell they want to do a great job.

Ordered Roti Prada. Ordered it again. Sop it up with the red curry sauce and the smiles start. Yup. That good !

The Fresh Hand Rolls are made with transparent rice paper rolled around shrimp and crunchy bean sprouts. Beautiful to look at. They disappeared quickly.

The Satay was spiced and cooked just right. With the rich peanut sauce, they disappeared.

Then the Mango Shrimp dish came with 8 perfectly cooked shrimp in a bed of sliced mango peppers and a sweetish/sourish sauce. EXCELLENT !

We were asked about and declined desert - way too full for the 2 of us. But they insisted in our sampling the granite bananas - on the house. It wasn't too sweet and seemed to bring our meal and experience together.

The owner, Kay, introduced herself and explained the history of cooking in her family and how they intricately prepare each dish. Again, they want to AND DO a great job.

By the time we left, the place was fairly well populated for a Tuesday. We'll be back next week for try #2. For sure the Roti Prada and Fresh Hand Rolls will get us started.

Black Pepper is a welcome addition to the humdruminess of Menlo Park dining. We wish them success.

By the way, they have reserved parking in back.