Title: Agora Bistro
Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: ENU

Agora Bistro  CLOSED
443 Main St., Pleasanton, CA
http://www.agorabistro.com/2294.html
Review date: February 2012

Pleasanton's modest downtown is lined with wall-to-wall restaurants, most of which we and our friends Mel and Christie, who live in Pleasanton, haven't tried yet. In a valiant attempt to correct this iniquity, we chose Agora, so Inez, Mel, Carlos and I went for a weekday dinner.

The restaurant is a long, narrow rectangle, with a nice backyard sunroom that must be very pleasant in summer. This being February, it was so cold we were grateful to be in the warmer front dining room. The greetings and service are even warmer. 

It was a pleasant surprise to have such attentive service, even though there were only a few tables taken. All too often, when a dining room isn't full the waitstaff mentally and physically 'checks out' in response. This wasn't a problem here, a definite plus. Water glasses were refilled without asking, silverware was changed out and replaced, dirty plates and empty serving dishes whisked away without making us feel rushed.

We started with two plates of the spanakopita, the ubiquitous spinach-feta filo triangles. There are three nicely sized triangles in an order, served around a small heap of chopped arugula salad. These little pasties are commonplace in the Bay Area, and almost always are heavy, leaden, and uninteresting. Agora's version redeems this tired warhorse forever. 

Served piping hot, we agreed these were possibly the best spanakopita we'd ever had. These were delicate, flaky, tender, buttery; full of luscious creamy melted feta and chopped fresh spinach. Even the salad was interesting. Dark green mature arugula was coarsely chopped, tossed with a delicate olive oil and a bit of regular salt, and matched with diced tomatoes that were astonishingly sweet and ripe. It was very tasty, and a wonderful match to the filo pastries.

Carlos, Mel and I all ordered the hearts of palm salad. The arugula wasn't really baby, being older and chopped in a similar style to what came with the spanakopita. It was missing the tomatoes and salt, though, so the greens were a little less interesting than they could have been. The accompaniments of avocado, slices of a not-quite-ripe domestic brie, and hearts of palm were attractively arranged on top of the greens. A small sprinkle of crushed walnuts and a balsamic vinaigrette finished the dish. The hearts of palm were a very good quality, with a good crunchy texture and only lightly pickled. 

Inez chose the fish special, which had two crab-stuffed sole filets with mixed vegetables. She loved this dish, although she had to take half of it home. Mel got the musakka which here is eggplant and potato layered in a gratin. The ground meat mixture at Agora is a combination of half beef, half lamb which moderates the gaminess that many object to in lamb (it's the fat that has the gamy taste, not the lamb itself). It's used here in a very tasty tomato sauce, with a bechamel sauce as the gratin's top layer. Again, this was a superior version to what is usually served as musakka, or as it is usually spelled, moussaka – lighter and much less greasy.

Carlos chose the grilled mixed meat platter: a single kofte (the lamb/beef mixture formed into small oval patties), two lamb chops, and half-orders of both chicken and lamb kebabs. He found the chicken rather dry, but the tender American lamb was very good. The order was a generous plateful of tasty grilled meats

I ordered the kofte plate, which comes with four of the small patties. Both came with the same sides: more of those tasty tomatoes by themselves in a side salad, a cup of mixed rice pilaf, and a generous dollop of their wonderful cacik (the Turkish name for tzatziki, the thick yoghurt with fresh dill, garlic and cucumber). The kofte were a bit salty, but with the creamy cacik were fine.

All of us were very pleased overall with both food and service. 

People are price-conscious in this area, with so many restaurants competing with one another. The food at Agora hits the right 'sweet spot' of using skillful execution and a touch of creativity to compensate for the good but not absolutely top-notch quality ingredients. 

They focus quality on where it counts, achieving a balance of flavors that are fresh and bright. Nothing was unusual or outré, but everything showed a thoughtfulness and caring about what came out of the kitchen. The plates are handsomely presented but not over-arranged.

Mel is a chocoholic and picked the three-layer chocolate mousse cake with raspberry syrup. This was a much better version than most places offer. Instead of the all-too-common layer of cheap-tasting chocolate cookie crumbs, there was a thin tender chocolate cake layer topped with two-inches of a good chocolate mousse garnished with chocolate curls. The raspberry syrup drizzled on the plate underneath had a touch of Chambord and was delicious, bringing the whole dessert up a level, as a good sauce should do – but sadly often doesn't.

Carlos ordered a Turkish coffee and I got a decaf cappuccino. The Turkish, alas, wasn't strong enough – as he said, it was brown, not black. I liked my decaf cappuccino, which was a good blend and a nice strong double shot, but it did come a bit more 'wet' than we prefer. However, it wasn't anywhere near as bad (e.g., milky like a latte) as Viva Voce/Oakland recently produced, so next time I'll just order it 'dry'. 

Summary: This is a place all of us would return to. There's several Italian dishes on the menu, including pastas, so it will be interesting to explore the menu further. It's more traditionally Mediterranean than Oasis, making for a good alternative.

Parking is limited on Main St. itself, but there are city parking lots right behind many of the shops on alternating blocks, and all of it's free.

Four people: One starter, three salads, four entrees, one dessert, three beverages, with tip was a reasonable $190.