At all times, I keep a list of MY top 3 restaurants that I MUST experience. Last night I had the pleasure of eating at ZEN ASIAN FUSION in Charleston, SC. WOW! After a fabulous meal, I kept ruminating all through the night about the food, the choices, the sauces, my future choices, MY LEFTOVERS, etc.
After entering a very humble exterior, I was quite surprised by a rich warm interior. The mood was set. Choices were abundant. Typically Charleston, dress is casual.
I did choose appetizers and a dinner course. The food was in abundance and in the future, I'll dine on appetizers and skip the main course ( I like the grazing nature of appetizers.)
Along with a fine house Cab, I sampled the Thai Calamari, a lightly battered fried calamari (one large sliced piece - not like the Jersey rings), served with mango salsa sauce and sweet Thai chili sauce. FABULOUS! My second selection was one of Zen's signature rolls, the Paradise. This roll consisted of the spicy lobster salad, shrimp tempura and banana tempura wrapped in soybean paper and Yuzu Mango Sauce. GEEZZEE, I can't get this one out of my mind. I literally could go back there today and do it all again!
For my entree I chose another Chef's Signature dish, Thai Cashew Sauce, comprised of celery, zucchini, asparagus, sweet peas and cashew nuts, with a choice of chicken, beef, shrimp or all three. I love the flexibility of the chef. I requested tofu for my protein of choice, which presented to be no problem AT ALL. Nice! I also love being given the choice between white and brown rice.
Topping off the evening was a very tasty and very eloquently presented Red Bean Ice Cream. To date this is my favorite restaurant located outside of Charleston's downtown. Apparently others have discovered this gem; in the short 14 mo. that this restaurant has existed, ZEN ASIAN FUSION was voted the BEST ASIAN RESTAURANT of 2011. I definitely know why! This restaurant has it all.
Take a look at their complete menu: http://www.zenasianrestaurant.com/dining.asp
2 comments:
Your meal sounds wonderful. We could be related because a long time ago I learned to make a meal of the appetizers. They always seemed like the most interesting thing on the menu, cost less, and ordering appetizers sometimes even left room for dessert,of which I am a huge fan. Bruce
It took ME a longer to learn this Bruce, but you make sense. :)
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