Best of Mountain View - Mountain View Voice
Named Best New Restaurant in Mountain View 2004
"Cascal has made a great first impression on Mountain View. The menu features a mix of upscale Spanish and Latin American styles, giving it an 'old world meets new world' feel."

Best of City Search 2004 - Small Plates
"A near-instant hit, this restaurant is a snazzy blend of New and Old World design with a sleek modern bar, billowing drapes in the dining room and a menu to match."

Festive Cascal is worth the wait - New Latin offering in Mountain View is packing them in
"The menu, crafted by Durante and chefs Antonio Lopez-Florez and David Page, features a selection of tapas and standard appetizers and entrees that reflect the culinary influences of various Spanish-speaking countries from both the New and Old Worlds."
San Francisco Chronicle

Fusion flair - Cascal delights with Spanish and South American dishes
"Among the most satisfying small dishes, the veal tagine ($6.50) delivered an accurate copy of Moroccan seasonings, with sweet overtones from dates and oranges, perfumes from cinnamon and cardamom."
Palo-Alto Weekly

Coming Out on Tapas - Mountain View's Cascal succeeds with small plates, big heart
"While I very much appreciate simple genius, my taste buds do lean more toward complexity and richness, which is why the quail's stuffing of pine nuts, chorizo, figs, sofrito, caramel and aged sherry jus made it my favorite dish of the evening"
MetroActive

Metroactive Guide
"Lively with the bold colors and vibrant tastes of Latin culture, Cascal resonates with upscale joie de vivre. Its expansive bar offers a well-developed wine list as well as Latin-inspired cocktails. The Mango-Mint Margarita and the Caipirinha Naranja are among the must-try specialties. Tapas-style appetizers are also served at the bar (the Manchego Cheese is prepared with quince paste and roasted marcona almonds and is to die for). Come on a Friday night, when Cascal presents live flamenco jazz music. (AB) "

Excerpts from - Cascal offers pan-Latin flavors and fun
***
Sheila Himmel - San Jose Mercury News

...try the excellent and beautiful tapas sampler platter ($14), a combination of Spanish classics and nuevo Latino stylings. Among them are pieces of Rioja-inflected Spanish chorizo (black sausage), a lovely roasted red pepper filled with olives, and anchovies on tapenade on toast.

Clearly you could make a meal of tapas. And avoid even looking at the dinner menu, which jumps from green salads to seafood starters, paella, pizza, pasta, ceviche and finally, platos raciones (larger than tapas but smaller than the Cheesecake Factory).

Shrimp ceviche ($7) is more sweet than acidic. Fresh shrimp stay plump in a milky soup of mashed coconut, mango and cucumber chunks. A hot flash of habanero chile cuts to the chase but doesn't take over.

The house paella ($18) offers lots of meat and a good variety, rather than an expanse of rice. The metal paella pan retains the juices of braised chicken, pork tenderloin, chorizo, shrimp, calamari, peppers, clams, mussels and peas. Two people could have a fine meal with one paella and two or three
tapas plates.

The satisfying Brazilian shrimp and fish chowder ($18.50) is well-stocked with fresh fish, shrimp and mussels in a sweet corn, coconut and orange broth...

The wine list is no slouch, either. In keeping with the menu, wines take a tour of Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Chile, with side trips to California.