Mixing Far East with Middle East, the restaurant is a vibrant, whimsical treasure.

The Scene
Straits may be the nicest looking restaurant on the Peninsula. The dining room is outfitted with lots of teak, orchids, and Balinese furniture. An exotic patio is a marvel: One would never know that El Camino is just a wall away.

The Food
Chris Yeo brought Singaporean cuisine to San Francisco with much fanfare in 1987. Yeo opened a second Straits Cafe in Palo Alto in '98. Straits serves marvelous Singaporean dishes that will put your senses into overdrive. Drawing influences from China, Malaysia, India and Indonesia, the cuisine can be homey, spicy, sweet, bright, and sometimes even zany. Definitely go heavy on the appetizers. Grilled oysters, satays of all kinds, Chinese-inspired springrolls, and grilled Indian bread with curry sauce are tops. Start out with a Singapore Sling or another potent cocktails.