Adrestia Sunnyvale: I Didn’t Know Hotel Restaurants Could Be This Good

In late February, I stayed at the newly-opened Tetra Hotel in Sunnyvale, California. I promised a detailed review of the hotel restaurant, Adrestia, as the meal blew me away. I genuinely didn’t believe that hotel restaurants could be this good. So, here’s that promised review!

Adrestia Restaurant Sunnyvale Food

To begin with, here is Adrestia’s menu – I was really impressed with the wide variety of vegetarian options, as well as the detailed descriptions of each item.

To begin, we ordered the Skillet Cornbread, which came with two dips. Usually cornbread is on the heavier side, but Adrestia’s was light and airy. It had a perfect flavour – not too sweet, but not bland, and the salt added a great touch. Equally good were the two dips. I preferred the honey butter as it contrasted better with the sea salt, but the miso butter was also delicious.

Next up was the Trio of Spreads, consisting of carrot hummus, olive tapenade, and zucchini baba ghanoush. It was also served with some fresh salad and warm naan. I would name a favourite dip, but I couldn’t choose one, because they were all incredible.

The carrot hummus had a fresh, strong carrot taste, and far different from the standard hummus served in hotel restaurants. I’d never eaten a tapenade prior, but found it to have a great olive flavour and interesting (in a good way) texture. I was most surprised by how much I enjoyed the baba ghanoush, as it tends to be my least favourite Middle Eastern dip. However, the zucchini was a smart addition and I really liked the taste.

We then had the Roasted Tri-Colour carrots, which, unlike in most restaurants, actually consisted of a variety of coloured carrots. They tasted so incredibly fresh and the pieces of tangerine gave a good contrasting flavour. I also liked the crunch added by the sunflower seeds.

For our main course, we selected the Farro + Brussel Sprouts Risotto, as it was one of two vegetarian mains. I don’t even know where to start with how good this was. I’m not a huge risotto fan usually, but after eating Adrestia’s risotto, I was constantly craving it. It had a wide variety of flavours, but they all mixed together perfectly without any one element overpowering the rest of the dish.

(Apologies for the shadows in the picture, I’d been taking hundreds of photos from all different angles and the staff seemed a little weirded out so I didn’t want to overdo it.)

Adrestia Restaurant Sunnyvale Drinks

In addition to the delicious food, Adrestia offers a large drinks menu. Waiting at our table was the cocktail menu, but non-alcoholic beverages and wines were also available.

I enjoyed the (very fresh) freshly-squeezed orange juice, whereas my dad had the Ready Aim Fire. Both were good, although rather pricey.

Adrestia Restaurant Sunnyvale Dessert

Despite being full from the appetizers and main, I decided to order two desserts as they both had great descriptions. Here is the (February 2022) dessert menu, for anyone who is interested:

First up was the Flourless Chocolate Cake, topped with fresh berries. It was extremely heavy, but had a fabulous chocolate flavour. I didn’t notice anything special about the whipped cream, which was listed as a Hokkaido Whipped Cream, but it also wasn’t store-bought.

Our second dessert was the Chai Panna Cotta, which I selected because I love cardamom. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint, with a delicious cardamom streusel and candied orange slice on top. The panna cotta itself had a smooth texture, and strong chai taste.

Adrestia Restaurant Sunnyvale Ambience

Adrestia Restaurant is located entirely inside the Tetra Hotel, and consists of one relatively small dining room. When I stayed at the hotel, the finishing touches weren’t quite done, but just a week ago the hotel had it’s official “Grand Opening”, so that should all be finished by now.

I loved the design of the restaurant – my only critique is that it would be nice if they introduced an outdoor section, given all the patio space the hotel has. I feel as though this would be popular in the warmer summer months.

Adrestia Restaurant Sunnyvale Service

For having just opened right before my stay, I have to give the Adrestia staff credit for their service. While a little reserved, everyone was friendly and made sure our meal was up to par. There were a few mishaps, like difficulties charging the meal to our room, but overall, each staff member we interacted with was friendly and well intentioned.

Final Thoughts

I was seriously impressed by my meal at Adrestia. Hotel restaurants tend to have lackluster burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches, so I was happy to see the fresh ingredients incorporated here, along with the variety of vegetarian options on the menu. And most importantly, everything was delicious, from the fresh squeezed orange juice to the farro risotto. If Adrestia can keep up this caliber of food over the next several years, I imagine it will become extremely popular. I would certainly return for another meal, even if I wasn’t staying at the Tetra Hotel.