All words: Brandon Wetherbee
All photos: Stephanie Breijo
Executive Chef Jennifer Nguyen came to Zentan in April of this year. The chef brought the flavors of Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, China and Japan with her. The restaurant made a good decision.
The dinner menu is full of quality options ideal for fans of small plates and sharing. The Miyazaki Beef Hot Rock is a great chance to showcase your grilling skills with an adventurous partner. The scallops are a safer and equally satisfying option.
Zentan, the restaurant on the ground level of Donovan House, keeps the hotel’s spy theme on the menu. All of the maki is named after James Bond films. There’s the Shagalicious with crab salad, cucumber, Miyazaki beef, tempura ebi and crispy leek. The Skyfall features maguro, sake, hamachi, avocado and kelp seaweed. Two orders of maki and a sake sampler make for an excellent date.
The nigiri and sashimi is everything you’d expect from an East Coast seafood restaurant that makes sure their product is sustainable and flown in fresh everyday. It’s fresh. It’s fantastic. But the highlight, the thing that sets a meal at Zentan apart from any other Asian restaurant, is what will be coming to the menu.
Chef Nguyen presented us with a dish that will be coming to the restaurant in the upcoming colder months: an uni risotto, something we’d never seen or considered. It’s comfort food and foreign all at once. It’s simple and not too heavy and we want it now. The dish stands out and will hopefully be on the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus at Zentan.
