I was invited to "brunch" - I suspect that was a shifty ploy by KT and SP to get me to get somewhere before noon on a Saturday - but it was a great choice despite being decidedly just a lunch. Oryza is located on the edge of the Valley Fair Westfield mall in San Jose and seem to be going the semi-upscale Asian Fusion lounge route that's popular.
We started off with endless mimosas for some at our table, and a watermelon tea for me. The watermelon tea was more like a thin watermelon juice, and quite refreshing.
I thought the pad thai was mediocre and could do with a bit more flavor, and no different from a pad thai found in any random Thai joint.
The "kimchi bacon" is basically kimchi fried rice with bacon and your choice of another meat- I chose beef. Quite good!
The seared ahi salad had pieces of gorgeously seared salmon in a nice tangy vinaigrette. Using edamame base was a nice touch, though some green leaves could have added a little more texture.
"Sweet Chicken" was good and has nice spicy kick to balance the sweetness, but too salty.
The seafood noodles were slightly disappointing and unexcitinig in flavor. No comment on the seafood itself though as I didn't taste.
And lastly, the garlic noodles were amazing. Very flavorful!
Overall, Oryza seems like a hit and miss place with the food - a Fusion Roulette of extremely delicious or mediocre. The atmosphere is quite nice and the servers were great, serving our table with humor and jest even as some of our mimosa-ed up tablemates made some... distinctly mimosa-influenced messes. I actually really enjoyed myself and the food here, and think it's a great hangout. It should have a more lounge-like atmosphere at night or happy hour, so I might stop by sometime then to try it out then update this post.
San Jose, CA
