Nichole’s

Nichole’s Fine International Cuisine is now closed but you can still try New Mongolian BBQ next door, also operated by Nichole. Affordable, self-​service, and very good for a tight budget.

I’ve been a Unilocal lurker for years, this place prompted me to give my first review. Yes, it’s that good. I ordered Nichole’s House Salad and Pasta di Mare — and then had a coffee with The French Croissant Pudding.
Everything was amazing — fresh and delicious. The staff was friendly and helpful. In short, this was almost too good to be true!

The salmon crêpe on the lunch menu was awesome. The bread tasted like a soft pancake with crisp edges. It sopped up the milky, honey mustard sauce. The salad was made of mixed greens and it was tossed in a nice vinaigrette. I skipped the potatoes. The portion was pretty big.
The beet salad was not the best I’ve had. The goat cheese was minimal and the beets tasted canned. A very small salad for a lunch portion too.
The caprese was not worth the $ 7. It was four halved slices of tomato with a thumb print’s worth of mozzarella cheese on top. Olive oil and shredded basil were on there too, of course. It tasted okay, but I had hoped there would have been more cheese.
The coffee was rich and delicious. Our server brewed it fresh from espresso and added water to make it an Americano. He brought us vanilla creamer too. Yum.
The ambiance was nice and casual. The service was great with super friendly staff. I would say the menu is Italian inspired with some seafood options. The food was nice and light and not too heavy.

This place is simply awesome. The service is A++ and the food is delicious. It has a cozy family run feel. We tried it the first time tonight and I am certain we will be a regular.
Their house salad is really nice and the pasta de mare was awesome too. A great collection of international beers and wines along with a tempting dessert menu. The french croissant pudding was yummy and they serve Lavazza :)
A special mention of the awesome servers and waiters. They are super fun and add to the dining experience.

Very, very sweet servers here. I thought it was going to be Italian but there are tapas, pastas, American entrees, lettuce wraps, a little of everything. I had a «surf n turf» that involved a filet, one huge prawn, and one scallop, mashed potatoes, some thinly sliced zucchini. Can choose a mushroom or pepper sauce. I got the pepper. Also had a house salad, which was a bit dry (most of the dressing was on the bottom). Only $ 20! And their bread is really good too, a good density and very soft. It was all good.
Tables are a little too close. Our nearest neighbors were on my last nerve, so loud, but that’s not the restaurant’s fault.

We really enjoyed eating here tonight. The complimentary bread is fresh and doughy, but flat instead of round. I’ve never seen anything like it. We had the bruschetta with prosciutto, parmesan, and fresh basil. It was delicious! My husband had the Pasta di Mare and I had the Gnocchi Genovese. Both were super fresh and delicious. For dessert he had the vanilla gelato with an espresso shot on top and I had the pumpkin cheesecake. He liked his, but I thought the cheesecake was pretty bland. Overall though, I’d give the food five stars.
They lose a star for service though. There were three waiters sharing service. The restaurant was at half capacity, but we had to wait a long time for everything. Drink orders, courses, the check. They never brought us refills, or checked on how we were doing. I had to flag them down three times. They weren’t being rude, I just don’t think they have a handle on wait service yet. Seems kind of like a Mom and Pop run place.
The food was delicious though, and pretty reasonably priced. We will definitely be back!

Could not ask for a better dinner and dessert! This little tucked away restaurant really wowed my friend and I! We had the special of the day, lobster ravioli, and a mushroom ravioli and honestly, the simplicity of the dinner was fantastic. It came with delicious, hot and light bread with olive oil and balsamic, and a delicious French onion soup.
Afterwards, we had a 3 flavored exotic ice cream covered in white chocolate with kiwi and orange syrups drizzled on the plate. I cannot tell you how fantastic it was, and all for under 40 dollars! A great way to spend a meal with a friend.

We had lunch here today and our entire family had a great experience! Weren’t expecting much since we were thrown off a bit with the sign saying it was fine international cuisine, whatever that meant. The menu was all Mediterranean with tapas and pastas, etc so I think it would have been better call it that. The décor was very nice, the place was clean, service was friendly and attentive. After ordering, we were given nice very tasty hot bread to dip in olive oil.
We ordered: calamari, fettucine con prosciutto and fungi, mushroom ravioli, salmon panini, and pepperoni pizza. Everything was just incredible! I really haven’t been able to find any good pizza places (Slice of New York on Steven’s Creek being the only exception) since moving to California years ago but their pizza just shocked us– great thin crust, fresh ingredients, savory sauce-​the best tasting pizza I’ve had in years. It was for our 9 year old son but we could have readily devoured it. Everything was excellent– all of the dishes were well prepared, made from obviously fresh ingredients, the cream sauces weren’t too heavy, the calamari was fresh and only lightly battered and not too greasy. My wife raved over the mushroom ravioli which our other son loved. My (wild!) salmon panini was very good as well.
Afterwards, my wife had coffee, which was very strong and full flavored– very Italian. Definitely recommend their coffee. Our host gave us a complimentary desert– ice cream covered with a chocolate crust. We’ll definitely be back whenever we get another chance to go to Castro Street.

I’ve been to Nichole’s several times in the last few months for lunch and I love it. My favorite thing on the menu is the bacon wrapped dates. Simple but delicious!
I’ve never had anything that I disliked here. I love the crepes, the sandwiches and the entrees. You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

We had a wonderful experience here.
Starting with drinks, they have wonderful beer and wine menus: bottled beers from around the world and surprising beers on tap, including a great Belgian beer.
We had calamari as an appetizer, which was tasty. I had bacon-​wrapped mahi mahi as my entrée, accompanied by sauteed zucchini and home friend potatoes. The mahi mahi was cooked in a delightful sauce. My sweetheart had scallops and lentil soup. She was delightfully surprised by the lentil soup and the scallops were mouthwatering.
For dessert, we shared Pandora’s Box, which was more than enough for both of us. A puff pastry filled with ice cream and blueberries, it was a wonderful bit of heaven.
We will returning to try some of the other appealing items on the menu.

You know a restaurant is bad when the best thing about your meal were the two violin players. Scratch that, you know a restaurant is bad when they describe themselves as «international cuisine», mixing Chinese and Italian food on the same menu…
Unfortunately I will not be returning to Nichole’s. The employees are nice, service is good. My eggplant parmesan? Not so great. It wasn’t fried, the marinara was eh, there was an oregano EXPLOSION on my plate (and mixed in with the mozzarella cheese?!), and it was served with the saddest, most soggy vegetables, and decent garlic mash potatoes. Yes, potatoes. No spaghetti. Dining companion had the shrimp scampi and described the flavor as chicken stock-​y instead of delicious, buttery, garlic, goodness. Pasta was cooked to al dente though, so that’s a plus.
I hope that they can narrow down their focus and improve the food. Jack of all trades… master of none.

Came back again and had the chicken pesto crêpe + small beet salad + crème brûlée + cappuccino. I have a big appetite, and it was very satisfying.

This is a crazy ass place. After the last joint which served similar food (but at a lower level) died, Nichole’s snuck in really quietly. Coming here on a Friday night it was strange to find two teenagers playing violins. Looks like the owners are a Chinese family and they enslaved some friend’s kids into playing I guess. Ordered a bacon medley of food. Bacon wrapped scallops, bacon wrapped dates, bacon wrapped sirloin and the duck. Good flavors from almost all the dishes with the exception of the sirloin which needed some salt. The duck was flavorful but a hair overcooked. Sitting outside in the very corner makes for a strange table layout for four but it was nice outside so no complaints. I think with some time the chef can refine his technique and put out some really good dishes. 4.35 stars

My first time here was a great experience. We saw outside on a lovely day, and our waiter helped us to move two small tables together so we could sit four. I like Blue Moon beer and any other beer that is similar and when I saw a whole list of foreign beers that I had never heard of, he helped to recommend me some, which I very much appreciated! I had a yummy chicken, Alfredo, sweat pea pasta, and I would definitely try that again! It was sweet and salty at the same time. Definitely come try this place if you live in the area or visiting like me!

This place us great… local and natural I really like to come here. We’ve been here twice which is something considering all of the options on Castro St. Lovely outside seating and a good selection of international cuisine.
My first visit was more colorful as I got to watch a drunken homeless man hit on everyone who walked by. Kinda annoying but entertaining none the less. :) Not that the restaurant can do much about that. The service is fast and the employees are friendly and attentive. I highly recommend!

My fiancé & I stumbled across this place today when we had planned to go to another restaurant and faced an hour+ plus wait. I wouldn’t really describe the cuisine as «international»; to me, it seemed pretty solidly Italian with a few other influences. We were very skeptical because the place was pretty empty around 7 pm on a Friday night, but we enjoyed our meals here, and overall I think this is a nice addition to the ever-​changing Castro restaurant scene.
We started out with two baskets of their delicious bread, which is sort of pita-​like in appearance but tastes more like a white bread than pita. Whatever it was, it was delicious. My fiancé had the gnocchi with pesto sauce ($ 13) and I had the salmon pasta (fettucine with salmon and peas in a light cream sauce) ($ 15). Both meals were good, but mine was definitely the better of the two, especially considering portion and value. My fiancé’s meal was kind of on the small side — it was on a really big plate but there weren’t actually that many gnocchi and he was still hungry after eating all of it. It was tasty, but nothing extraordinary. I was really impressed with my meal. The pasta and salmon were both cooked well, and the light cream sauce was perfect and didn’t drown out the other flavors. I was also seriously impressed with how much salmon I got, for only about $ 2 more than plain pasta. Typically a protein added to pasta is pretty meager, but this was a serious chunk of salmon that probably would have been a meal in and of itself. I think my pasta portion was bigger than my fiancé’s as well, and with the salmon it was more than I could finish (fortunately he was still hungry so he could happily finish it).
Service was great as well — water was refilled regularly and the food came out promptly. The couple that I think runs the place seemed to be doing everything from greeting people to taking orders to cooking, and they were incredibly friendly. The atmosphere was nice as well, with live violin music, although it was a bit loud and we were seated pretty far from the violins.
I debated whether to give 3 or 4 stars. My fiancé feels (and I agree with him) that you shouldn’t be hungry after paying $ 15 for a meal of pasta, especially because pasta tends to be pretty filling. He does eat more than the average person, since he regularly goes on 20-​mile bike rides, but his meal really was a pretty small portion that I don’t think would have filled me up. However, my meal was great & the bread and service put them over the edge to 4 stars. Decent Italian is really lacking in the bay area and I’m sure we will be back to this place at some point.

This new restaurant is a lovely addition to downtown Mountain View’s strip. With its perfect corner location, it is so easy to find and charming to walk up to on an early Friday evening.
We came here for dinner and I was surprised at how pretty this place is. Paired with violinists playing some gorgeous music, it was perfect for a date setting. You cannot go wrong with live music on the weekends! Inside is simple yet elegant with a modern European flair. The linens were crisp, the space clean and bright. I felt comfortable yet still in a nice environment.
The hostess was lovely and showed us our seats, she seemed really polite and friendly. Our waiter was nothing but great, attentive and nice. He was sure to explain any questions and was quick to make sure we had anything we needed. Great service!
My boyfriend had the steak which was oh so juicy, tender and melted in my mouth (when I stole a few bites), the sides were tasty as well and everything blended well. I had the mushroom and prosciutto pasta and wow. While the cream sauce was a tad thick (I felt a tad guilty. but the kind you quickly get over). overall there was plenty of meat, veggies and tender, thick noodles. Our dishes were great!
Overall we had a lovely dinner. With great ambiance, good food and perfect service — it was a fantastic way to spend Friday evening.

The restaurant was open and airy, sitting on a less clustered side of Castro St in downtown Mountain View. I recommend taking a nice evening walk after dinner, or perhaps walking up and down the street (part of which was very busy and crowded) deciding where to eat.
I agree with other reviewers in that the cuisine was not very international, though I’m looking forward to what else they can bring to the menu!
We had:
Bruschetta – I loved the combination of cheese, tomato, and fresh bread: toasted yet surprisingly soft.
Green salad – Nothing too special here.
Herb Chicken with seaonsal vegetables, mashed potatoes, and honey mustard sauce – I thought the chicken was too dry and the sauce too sour, but the grilled vegetables had such a scrumptious charred flavor.
Mahi-​Mahi, wrapped in bacon and rubbed with apricot, with seasonal vegetables and mashed potatoes
Tiger Shrimp with seasonal vegetables and mashed potatoes
French Croissant Pudding with pine nuts and dried fruits steeped in rum as well as Lavazza Espresso – Bread pudding with a croissant spin gives the dessert a more buttery flavor. I also enjoyed the little berries and pomegranate seeds. My only criticism would be that the pudding was a little too mushy.
Aside from my dry chicken, I found the dishes to be flavorful and inviting. We didn’t touch the pasta section at all, so that would be my goal next time!

A decent restaurant with potential, but I was left underwhelmed.
The interior on a Sunday evening seemed a bit dark and melancholy. We had a fabulous table, however, that was in the corner around large open windows. It was quiet in the mostly empty restaurant. Service was outstanding! That is a huge plus. The food seemed to be mostly American/​Italian. I ordered a salmon crêpe and thought it was ok. I would not go out of my way to come here for the food.
With some changes to the menu (to include more «international» cuisine) and possibly to the décor (to liven it up a bit), this place would seem more appealing to me. My experience was kind of «blah»…just in and out to get a bite to eat. with some fun conversation mixed in, of course :)

This place used to be Café Deja Vue. It now seems to be Nichole’s Fine International Cuisine. We had lunch here today. The menu (though I had never eaten at Café Deja Vue), seems little changed. Perhaps they are still in the process of converting to the «International Cuisine». But for the time being, the menu primarily is Italian, consisting of pasta, pizza, panini. There are some grill items as well as crepes.
I had the chicken, mushroom, almond, pesto crêpe and my wife had the salmon, spinach, caper crêpe. The crêpe filling (both) were not too rich which was good. And the crêpe skin was very good.
As was the case when this was Deja Vue, there restaurant was almost half full (at 2pm), but service was rather slow.
I would be curious to come back in a month or so to see if the menu has changed to a more international fare.