02 Dec Zengo Restaurant: Offering Tastes From The Test Kitchen

Perhaps you know Zengo Restaurant because of award-winning Chef Richard Sandoval. And perhaps you have visiting one of the locations around the country, in Santa Monica, New York, Washington DC and Denver, to taste the Latin-Asian menu.  But, did you know that in addition to the regular Latin-Asian menu, Zengo, which means “give and take” in Japanese, also offers items from their test kitchen. Every few months the chefs of Zengo come together in researching and developing seasonal menus that feature dishes from one Latin and one Asian country. The items are integrated onto the main menu, but you can locate them by spotting the “TK” next to the specialty items. Now thru December, the Zengo is offering Peruvian and Malaysian dishes as part of the “Test Kitchen” menu. The dishes includes cocktails, appetizers, entrees and even a dessert. Start off with your choice of two new cocktails: the Shiso Mojito ($14), made with rum, shiso, citrus and fuji apples and the Pisco Elevation ($13), made with pisco, elderflower liquor and lychee. The Pisco Elevation was a bit too sweet but the Shiso Mojito is balanced with good acidity. There are three appetizers marked with the TK: The Spicy Crab Potato Sushi ($10) (avocado, malay curry, crispy corn cancha and yukon potato) has a kick but the creamy potato softens the kick. The Chichen ‘A La Brasa’ Satay ($13) (chicken with black bean glaze, cucumber rocoto salsa, toasted peanuts and potatoes huancaina) is tender and juicy. The Arroz con Mariscos ($14) (mussels, scallops, calamari, shrimp over Malay rice with yellow curry and thai basil) was full of flavor and you may want to get some extra bread to dip in the broth when you finish the seafood. The Char Roasted Skate ($28) (with a ginger marinade served with crispy lentil rice cake and sambal butter sauce) was delicate and rich. The meal was finished with the Profiteroles ($9) (cream puffs filled with coconut ice cream, manjar blanco and covered in chocolate sauce). I wonder what the Test Kitchen will come up with next! For more information, visit: Zengo Santa Monica Zengo Denver Zengo Washington DC Zengo New York