Zona Rosa

[Pan]

Marian Burros gave this place a good writeup in "Diner's Journal" in the January 9, 2004 New York Times (link here; you may have to scroll down as appropriate). What do you think of it?

[Sheri-FB]

Stopped by Zona Rosa for a very quick lunch and, based on that, I think a more in depth (ie, more than one quick course) would be worthwhile. We had a chile rellenos wrap sandwich and a chicken and beans tlocoyo (not sure about that spelling, but its a flat corn dumpling with a slightly spicy black bean spread, avacodo, marinated grilled chicken, queso fresco and lettuce). Both were very good. The most expensive item on the lunch menu was $15 and most things were $8-12. The 3 course prix fixe is $18. The dinner menu appears to have interesting options (such as duck confit mole) but in any event it made a nice change from the usual as there is not much Mexican accessible from my midtown office. Also, the lounge looked like it would be good to hang for a few drinks - perhaps a happy hour visit to check out at least one of the dozens of tequillas lining the wall!

Edited January 16, 2004 by Sheri-FB (log)

[Pan]

Thanks for the report, Sheri.

Is there any other Mexican place in New York that you'd compare this place to?

[SobaAddict70]

Shrimp ceviche is another dish that does not usually dazzle, but does here. The shrimp are small and taut, piled in a glassy red marinade that enlivens your palate with roasted jalapeño, tomato and citrus. It contains lime and orange juice but it tastes much like fresh grapefruit.

Zona Rosa (Amanda Hesser)

Chef Adrian León, of Mexico City, offers a stimulating menu of Mexican cuisine that does not "take the easy route of blunt fusion cooking".

[This post will be updated later today or tomorrow when the regular NYTimes DIGEST update is posted. --Soba]

[elivesay]

Zona Rosa is next door to a bar owned by a close friend of mine. I'm at his bar way more than I should admit, and we have observed many times exactly what Amanda Hesser pointed out in her last paragraph - it is usually empty. So one Wednesday night soon after it opened, feeling all neighborly and rather sorry for their lack of business, a group of about ten of us ventured there. This was a spur of the moment decision after having a few drinks. After a few drinks at Zona Rosa, please understand the level of tequila in my blood stream prohibited me from remembering too many details about the food, except that I really enjoyed it. I do remember the service was good, but it took *forever* for the drinks to come from the upstairs bar. Considering we were pretty much the only ones there, we were somewhat confused, but understanding, and simply resorted to ordering a round in advance. I can't remember the amount of the check, but figure food and at least three drinks per person times ten, and we dropped quite a bit of cash.

Their avocado margarita stood out as particularly interesting and delicious, so two nights later five of us went back just for drinks. The staff recognized us from before. This time we went straight upstairs to the bar, hoping for better luck with the speed issue. We ordered five avocado margaritas and were told they weren't making them that night, not because they were out of avocados, but because they were too labor intensive for the demand. This, I should point out, was on a Friday night around 7:00. Again, my friends and I are pretty laid back and understanding, although this time slightly annoyed because we are all either current or former bartenders and/or bar owners and never heard of such a concept, especially if business is slow and you have the ingredients. We shrugged our shoulders, chose some other drinks, all of which were nice and exactly as described on the drink menu, made a few "gee, I wonder how long this place will last" comments and had a good time and no other complaints.

I'm being too long-winded so now I'll get to my point and a question. I'll freely admit I've never made an avocado margarita, but I'm sure they had some avocados lying around, as well as some tequila and whatever else and a blender, and it wasn't like we were only ordering one. Although that's not the sort of thing that's a deal breaker between me and good food, which they do seem to have and I fully intend to try again in a more sober state, it just didn't sit quite right in my mind as good customer service. If the place were established and terribly busy, I would be more understanding. But if you are new and don't have much business, and we are repeat business and next door neighbors, is it unreasonable for me to be disappointed they wouldn't make the drinks? Barring the small possibility that making these drinks is extremely complicated and time consuming beyond my imagination's capabilities, I think not. But I'm open to opinions

[Pan]

I'm trying to understand the star rating. Good food -one bad dish -most of the desserts -(garbage outside+overly direct lighting+overly cold temperature) = 1 star? Sounds pretty fair, I guess. Still, the review was mostly positive, overall.

[georgesimian]

I ate there the other day. We were early for dinner, at 5 O' Clock, the place had just opened. We were the only people there, although a few people came in as we were leaving. The food and the service were great. The drinks were probably what I remember most. I had some margarita with chili in it and it was really good. The guac was good. My fish was really great, but prepared in a way I could have gotten anywhere: pan-fried with lemons, onions, capers. My friend had the shrimp, which I tasted, and it was more interesting. I don't really like big portions, but for the price of an entree you should get a little more than a little piece of fish with a half cup of rice. It seemed a little meek. Anyway, I'd go there again to try something else. Looks like it's not going to be around to long. I'm hardly ever up in that neighborhood, and when I am, the food always seems overpriced and not as good as downtown.

[pnapoli]

we went here friday night and had a really good time. we arrived around 8:30 without a reservation, and they were quite busy, so we went upstairs to wait at the bar. the bartender was completely charming. we ordered margaritas, which were excellent (i asked him to pick the tequila, and i don't remember what it was, but i ended up having three of them...). we waited about 10 minutes and were seated in the upstairs room.

despite the fact that there was a 20+ person party in progress, the service was very attentive and friendly throughout our meal. to start, we ordered a chicken tamale and ceviche 'mixto' (scallops, shrimp, octopus, clams, mussels) which was served in the same sauce that amanda hesser describes in her review. for entrees, we ordered mahi mahi with a toasted pumpkin seed crust and lobster pico de gallo, and a shrimp 'stew' with a smoky habanero sauce that had just the right amount of heat. for dessert, we shared a small chocolate cake with dulce de leche ice cream.

all in all, we liked it a lot and will probably return.