la.foodblogging

For over a year I have driven past a nice-looking venue (at 11334 Moorpark, just east of Tujunga) where a posted sign promised “ZenChi – Coming 05.â€? Eventually the sign was changed to read “Ok….2006.â€?

Funny! At least these restaurateurs have a sense of humour.

Well at long last ZenChi Cafe has opened its doors, just making its 2006 date by the skin of its teeth.

The first thing you notice about ZenChi is the massive and serene stone Buddha statue that greets you as enter their main doorway. The decor has a decidedly Asian influence, featuring dark stained and glossy wooden tables and chairs, stylishly unadorned. A bustling open kitchen dominates the wide front room, while there is a more intimate dining room off to the left hand side. Patio dining is also available.

Chef Manuel Castro (formerly of the Parkway Grill) concentrates on Asian-fusion dishes at this full-service restaurant. The black napkins indicate they have their eye on the business lunch crowd. Indeed, the lunch menu is well chosen for swift one-hour dining, while the dinner menu seems a bit more leisurely.

The starters range from $8 to $12, with offerings such as Thai pork spare ribs ($8), sesame kobe beef satay sticks with asian slaw – very tender and delicious – ($9) and sufficiently meaty blue crab cakes with citrus aioli ($12). At lunchtime you can partake of the ZenChi Sampler and get a little taste of vegetable dumplings, baby crab cakes and crunchy calamari.

On the lunch menu, the $10-11.00 sandwiches and burgers come with a choice of fries, curry sweet potato fries or asian slaw, and while the curry sweet potato fries were shoestring thin and delicious, but there was no discernable curry present. The usual suspects are here; albacore tuna burger, bbq pork rib sandwich, turkey burger with avocado and caramelized onions.

The salads are substantial and tasty, arriving as a mountain of multicolored greens and vegetables on a square white plate. I especially liked the insalata misto (mixed green salad) which at lunchtime ($7.95) came with powerful nuggets of blue cheese, little cubes of tomato, sliced shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts that add a satisfying crunch. The so-called “shaved� red onions in the salad were actually sliced, and a bit too pungent for my liking. I’d remembered how much I’d liked the raspberry vinaigrette during a previous dinner visit and the kitchen very obligingly substituted it for their usual balsamic vinaigrette, so I was all smiles. You can also get chinese chicken or shrimp salad ($11.95 and $13.95, respectively), classic caesar with rosemary croutons and wild salmon, seafood or wood-fired sirloin salads.

The only sticker shock was experienced at dinner, when my foodie companion opted for the Thai-glazed Lamb Chops entree with rosemary pesto and mashed potatoes. These were very good, but seriously priced at $25.00.

From their full bar they feature martinis and cocktails made with Korean Soju as well as mojitos and margaritas ($8.50). There are typical martinis such as apple, lemon drop and even a few daring ones such as lychee and pomegranate.

A crisp Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio was reasonably priced at $8 while the mellow St Jean Pinot Noir was $9.00. In fact, none of the wines by the glass cost more than $10 and – best of all – all come in a voluminous wine glass with a generous pour. For bottled wines, the prices are as conservative (we’re talking Ralph’s-level boring) as the selection.

I hardly ever notice service, whether it’s bad or good. I sometimes get annoyed if the check seems to take forever to arrive. That’s because when I’ve decided it’s time to leave, I don’t like to mess around. But this wasn’t the case with ZenChi. Above all, the service was really attentive without being intrusive.

At ZenChi they offer valet parking, but unless you’re teetering in stiletto heels, you should be able to find a parking place on the local streets nearby.

Bottom line – while ZenChi is a welcome addition of decent yet not exciting cuisine to my ’hood, its low-key ambience left me craving more of a vibey scene.

ZenChi Cafe
11334 Moorpark St.
(Tujunga Ave.)
North Hollywood, CA
818-760-3890

Open Tues – Sun, 11.30am–9pm

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.