One Night, Three Bites: A Culinary Adventure

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In this high season of Food Party! festivities, we’re hunting for fresh ways to celebrate with friends and family. Dining out is great—but why not elevate? Consider transforming an ordinary night at a single restaurant into One Night, Three Bites: Menlo Park’s Tastiest Holiday Stroll – a roaming feast of discovery.

Just minutes from the holiday madness of Stanford Shopping Center sits Springline—an oasis of flavor with far easier parking. Tucked beside the train tracks at Oak Grove and El Camino, it offers seven restaurants showcasing global cuisine, all within a short stroll.

There are countless ways to design your crawl. #1) Stop by this Saturday for their Holiday Celebration, December 6th (4:00PM – 8:00PM). Enjoy a festive, family-friendly wonderland where guests experience a real snow playground, complimentary photos with Santa, live music, a Silent Disco in a temperature-controlled tent, holiday crafts, face painting, and a seasonal vendor marketplace. Food and drinks available from favorites including CheFico, Mi Comedor, Barebottle Brewery, Andytown Coffee Roasters, Causwells, Burma Love, and Pampa BBQ. (Free – but please RSVP here).

#2) Alternately, take a break from mall mayhem any time this month, drive 5 minutes north, and curate your own crawl. You can park on the street near the train tracks or in the garage from 7:00 AM – 12:00 AM. We chose happy hour at Burma Love, omakase at Robin, and entrées / dessert at Che Fico.

Happy Hour – Burma Love

I felt some Burma love three decades ago, after relocating to San Francisco and exploring her famous restaurants (including the iconic Burma Superstar). Related but separate, Burma Love makes its own name—first in San Francisco and now in Menlo Park. Voted Best Burmese Restaurant in 2025 by SFGate, the cuisine is a full-out symphony of texture, flavor and depth, inspired by Indian, Thai and Chinese fare. Food from Burma is described as more earthy and mild when compared to its sweet—sour—salty—spicy—fresh herb neighbor to the south, Vietnam.

Social Hour at Burma Love runs Monday – Friday 3PM – 5 PM, offering good quality at a good price. We started with two specialty cocktails, Lychee Express ($13.02) and Bananas for Burma ($13.02) topped with a trendy cap of foamed aquafaba (chickpea liquid).

Platha + Dip came next—buttery house made flatbread with your choice of dip ($10). We chose Chicken Curry with its rich flavor and exceptionally moist chicken—delicious. Next came the famous Tea Leaf Salad (Laphet) ($23). Unlike any flavor found in the States, tea leaves are processed with aromatics and fermented without refrigeration for a few days. Add a dollop of dressing to tomato, baby greens and cucumbers, then tossed with garlic chips, nuts, seeds and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Do Not Miss!

The restaurant is bright with comfortable chairs at the bar and space to spread out for happy hour. Menu changes with the seasons. Open for lunch, happy hour, dinner and now weekend brunch.

Burma Love: 1302 El Camino Real, Menlo Park

Omakase at Robin

Robin offers guests a different way to dine. Rather than a set menu, patrons come for “omakase,” a Japanese phrase meaning “Yes chef, I’ll leave it to you.” A progression of dishes follow based on your taste and level of curiosity, Robin loosens the collar, shall we say, on omakase—making it playful and full of surprises. Pristine fish features in colorful bites with inventive sauces, varying textures, and a seasonal touch. You choose the price point— they’ll choose the fish. It’s kind-of like a sushi art jam— with no two meals the same.

Enter this dimly lit, art-filled room and be transported—the vibe is refined, yet comfortable. We started with sake, considered an essential component of the omakase journey. Pick from a menu of exceptional options chosen to complement your menu or enjoy one of their specialty drinks or prized Japanese whiskies.

Five chefs stood ready to perform on the busy Tuesday night we crawled on by. Sitting at the bar, we wanted to catch the action, but honestly it was a bit hard to hear, and we never knew quite what was on the plate. Robin had a tricky assignment with us—neither my guest nor I are big raw fish devotees, but accommodating they were—offering a light torch (and maybe a quizzical smile) to our Salmon Truffles and Blue Fin Tuna.

Plant-forward diners will find better options elsewhere at Springline—this spot is a standout destination for lovers of premium, impeccably fresh raw fish.

Robin: 1300 El Camino Real STE C, Menlo Park (Tues – Sat 5PM – 9PM)

Entrée and Dessert with Che Fico

Che Fico was our last stop—a blend of rustic Italian charm with a lively, urban edge. Handcrafted pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and seasonal California ingredients set the tone—while the stylish setting of bright, broad prints and green plants make eating here feel like a story out of Upscale Living Magazine. With plenty of indoor and heated outdoor seating— it’s good for large parties and certainly holiday festivities.

We opened with a warm, golden focaccia dome paired with silky whipped mascarpone—simple, generous, and utterly delicious ($16). From there, we dove straight into pasta. The Tortellini di Zucca, filled with sweet Honeynut squash ($32), was an easy win. If you’re not cooking with Honeynut yet, start—it’s richer, sweeter, and far more flavorful than butternut. You’ll sometimes find it at Trader Joe’s or Bianchini’s, but the best, freshest ones I’ve come across recently came from the Sunday farmers market on California Ave in Palo Alto. I used a few for Thanksgiving pies and didn’t even need extra sugar.

Next came the Radiatori, curled into a lush cream-and-vodka sauce sparked by Calabrian Chili Bomba, made from those briny Italian pickled peppers ($28). Give a jar of these beauties to the Italian food lover in your life and they’ll say “That’s amore!” (Bianchini’s carries Calabrian peppers whole and chopped).

Remember with any dinner crawl, pacing is everything—choose small plates, share bites, and don’t over eat. Saving some for takeout is the crawlers creed because no one should leave without dessert. We finished with a Gelato e Sorbetto Swirl: vanilla gelato ribboned with apple sorbet and melted caramel ($10). So refreshing—a perfectly sweet and light finale to a night of rich pleasure.