DC Restaurant Review: Zengo

I love birthday celebrations and i like it more when they are at great restaurants. We celebrated my cousin's birthday. We had a full contingent of friends and family. my nephew was there..he sings in spanish and has a girlfriend oh by the way he's seven. The driving force for the evening was celebration, good food, and Magwai.

Our destination was Zengo in the heart of downtown. Zengo is a latin-asian fusion joint that caters to the beautiful people in the renaisance known as the Penn Quarter/Chinatown. Latin-Asian fusion you say... think sushi rolls with chipotle and empandas with a curry mango sauce. The food is unique and you have to be ready for the combinations but well worth it. In a city known for traditional french cuisine and steak houses this place is alittle out of place but a welcome reprieve from traditional DC fare. So only expect the adventerous members or hipster lobbyist to be here.

at first blush i have to say i really enjoyed this place because it was high energy. I had a pina majito to start but all i could taste was pineapple i dont think there was any alcohol, maybe that's why chicks flock here....but the bar was loungey and the wait staff attentative. But lets dispense with the niceities and blow some holes in this place....

The bad with Zengo:

I had shit coffee again. Zengo is another restaurnat that thinks it is OK to serve swill poured over month old coffee rinds strained through dirty gym socks.

Service was ok but with a table of twelve an extra hand is vital. Our waitress was competent and nice and pretty bit its too much for one person.

They say the food is for sharing but the portion size is more small plate and with those sizes you can share with another person but not a table of people.

We sat at a high table with stools, hello hostess we had parents with us they can't sit on stools they'll fall off.

On the bad side it was mainly minor problems...on the good side were massive pluses. The food was brilliant.

The good with Zengo:
Calamari-crispy and spicy with a citrus dressing. Well appointed and good. A must if you go. We had four orders it was friggin' awesome.

Wonton Tacos- Decent grade tuna sashimi in wonton taco shaped shells with a nice guacamole. Again a great starter.

Empanadas- The dough was too doughybut the chicken filing and mango curry sauce was outstanding. Get only if you need a hearty appetizer or you are just having salad...dont get me started on just salads. If you want lettuce do what the french do and eat a salad apres le diner.

Zengo Rolls- Boring, i can make this out of whole foods role and some chipotle peppers and mayo. A waste of money. I was actually very excited abou this. I love crazy zanny rolls and this place did not deliver.

Seared Foie Gras- This and duck are from God. She laid it at our feet to remind us about perfection. Seared Foie Gras rules! Its supposed to be accopanied by three sauces, savory, sweet, and salty....they had a sweet sauce which was a little much but c'mon seared foie gras is like fucking butter.

Pollo Latino- Not a good pick on my part. Slightly boring, chicken with chipotle-teriyaki sauce and mashed taro. Basic chicken ok very vanilla try the pork next time.

Churros- hot and fresh like right after a night in Barcelona, This dessert was simple but massively awesome. a great cap to the evening and good enough to mask the bland crap cup of coffee. Serioulsy this was sensational.

Right now its hip and cool and worth the trip, maybe you can just stick with appetizers so go and tapas and dimsum the hell out of this place.

On my DC scale: The bill is in conference committe. There are some kinks to work out but both sides are takingits just a matter of tweaking the numbers.