For the past two weeks or so, I have been craving hamburgers and fries.  I tried out a few of the burgers in the Republic of Boulder, but I kept getting disappointed.  For example, at one pub – which I won’t name – the burger was flavorless yet simultaneously so over-sauced that the buns turned into wet paper napkins.  And don’t get me started on the overcooked fries that tasted like twigs.

One random night, I was still trying to cleanse my palate of the twigs I had from a few days before, and decided to try out Smashburger located at the 29th Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado.  As soon as I walked in, it was as if the burger gods answered my prayers.

That night, I ordered the BBQ, Bacon & Cheese Smashburger with a side of Smashfries.  In one bite I was able to discern each ingredient all working together:  the tangy BBQ sauce, the crunchy haystack onions, and the sweet applewood smoked bacon.  The egg bun was firm enough to hold itself against the grease yet still soft and buttery sweet.  The best part was I could still taste the savory hamburger.

Smashburger’s signature Smashfries were crispy, and seasoned with a touch of rosemary, olive oil, and garlic.  I had the opportunity to try the Sweet Potato Smashfries, which were equally addictive, and did not require any additional seasoning or ketchup; I think that would actually ruin them.

The staff at the Boulder Smashburger was also exceptional. They were courteous, attentive, kept the place clean, and, most importantly, cooked the food perfectly.  It was the kind of service one would expect at a restaurant, and not typically at a fast food joint.  Tom Ryan, the founder of Smashburger, explained that he wanted to create a restaurant where true burger lovers could get gourmet quality burgers without having to pay for the gourmet price, still have it made quickly, and be able to sit down and eat it in a modern and vibrant atmosphere.

The first Smashburger opened in Glendale, Colorado in June of 2007, and gets its name from the way the burgers are made.  Without giving away too many trade secrets, each morning, the staff makes third pound, and half pound meat balls from 100% fresh (never frozen), ground Angus beef.  When an order is placed, the cook literally smashes the balls of meat onto a flat grill.  I’ve seen other restaurants that tried to pull this off, and often the burgers come out like burnt beef wafers.  Smashburger patties still have a good shape, and retain all the juicy goodness.

Smashburger currently has 68 stores in 15 states and 20 markets.  Ryan hopes that each Smashburger becomes every city’s favorite burgers place.  With that in mind, each Smashburger tries to modify its menu to localize it for each market.  For example, the Oklahoma Smashburger has fried dill pickles and ranch dressing, while the Texas Smashburger is a huge open-faced burger topped with chili.

The Colorado Smashburger is made with grilled fresh green chilies, melted cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, tomato and may on a spicy chipotle bun.  Although the burger itself sounds like a five alarm fire on paper, the mayo, lettuce, and tomato actually end up balancing out all the heat.  I would recommend chasing it down with a chocolate milk shake made with real Häagen-Daz® ice cream.  The Boulder Smashburger menu also includes non-burger items like the Classic Smashchicken, Veggie Frittes, and the Baja Cobb Salad.

Smashburger also allows patrons to design their own burgers.  One of Ryan’s personal creations is made with Smashsauce, cheddar cheese, haystack onions, applewood smoked bacon, and a fried egg on a classic egg bun.  This indulgent creation is like eating a steak and egg breakfast in burger form.  I knew I couldn’t finish it, but I also couldn’t stop eating it.

I took the opportunity to design my own SnapshotFoodie Smashburger.  It’s not an official menu item… yet… so here is the recipe:  cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, BBQ sauce, red onions, lettuce, and tomato on a multi-grain bun.  It is a burger that looks as good as it tastes.

I will continue to try out other burger spots in Boulder, of course.  For now, I feel satisifed in knowing there is at least one good burger joint in town that I can count when I start craving burger and fries again.

Smashburger is perfect for foodies who are true burger lovers.

Smashburger
1650 28th Street
Boulder, CO  80303
303.656.4694
www.smashburger.com

Click HERE for more photos.

If you ever venture along Walnut, just west of 9th Street, stop once you get to a little building whose entry is adorned with Japanese style torri gates. This Christo and Jean-Claude like gateway is your entry into Happy Noodle House. Happy Noodle House is not the kind of place that serves mediocre noodles of every variety, nor is it a pho-get-about-variety noodle house. Executive Chef, Salvatore Proia, IV (aka “Sam”) has created a menu filled with classic Asian influenced comfort food with fresh, local ingredients using classic culinary techniques. If you think that’s a mouthful, wait till you try the food.

Some of the dishes at Happy may sound Asian, and even taste Asian, but may not have an Asian origin at all. Take for example the Crispy Colorado Bass made with cilantro rice, coconut, lemongrass, and Thai basil. The sweet coconut and freshly squeezed carrot juice in the vegetable chowder almost tastes like curry, yet there is no curry in it at all. The zip from the cilantro rice, mint, and the Thai basil also gave the dish a deceptively Asian flavor profile. The real highlight, of course, is the panko crusted Colorado bass which was juicy, lightly, crispy, and surprisingly meaty. Oddly enough, the dish does have a comfort food feel to it, and your taste buds will be treated to something different with each bite.

Proia puts a lot of time into every dish, even something as simple as gyoza. The idea of a gourmet gyoza seems like an oxymoron, but Proia managed to pull it off. Proia uses a rotisserie to slow cook all his meats including chicken, leg of lamb, and his duck. He then minces the duck to make his Duck Gyoza. As soon as you bite into the juicy Duck Gyoza, you can taste the fattiness of the slow roasted duck. The Duck Gyoza is surrounded by chunks of red pepper jelly, which is actually a play on sweet and sour sauce. As Proia explained, he didn’t want to serve the gyoza in a traditional ponzu – which can rob the duck of its flavor – nor did he want them sitting in a glob of sweet and sour sauce.

Since Happy is a noodle house, it would only make sense to talk about their Miso Hot Pot, which is literally served in a hot pot, and made with hazel dell mushrooms, firm tofu, sweet oven roasted tomato, asparagus, and soft udon. In the middle, you’ll find a ball of salty mushroom paste. This allows you to control the saltiness of the dish rather than drenching the dish with soy sauce. By the way, there aren’t any soy sauce bottles on the tables. Then again, adding soy sauce to this dish seems like sodium overkill.

Proia mentioned that Happy will be changing its menu in mid-June for the summer. Happy will feature more local and organic produce, and three course, prefix menus on Monday nights. Proia will also serve up a Tasting Menu with a five to seven course menu which he will personally prepare and serve to guests at the “slurp bar” (aka “noodle bar”) playing on the concept of the Chef’s Table. Happy will also have a rotisserie night on Sundays where dinner parties can order a whole duck, or leg of lamb with a full spread.

One of the things that makes Happy so special is the Bitter Bar, which specializes in classic prohibition era drinks. Twice a month, patrons can take classes from their knowledgeable group of mixologists headed by their Wiki-smart Bar Manager, Mark Stoddard. The Bitter Bar itself is open during regular business hours. After 10pm, however, Happy Closes its front entry, draws the blinds, turns off the front lights but Bitter Bar is still open. The secret is to enter through the alley entrance, giving Bitter Bar a speak-easy feel of the prohibition days.

Just as Happy puts a lot of time and effort into their dishes, Bitter Bar puts a lot of time into every drop of its cocktails. Stoddard explained that a good cocktail is similar to making a good pastry: there’s a lot more science to it than people realize. Stoddard pays attention to every detail to enhance their drinks from the custom etched stemware to their designer ice cubes.

Happy Noodle House & Bitter Bar are perfect for foodies looking for comforting Asian fusion dishes, and classic cocktails, both made with fresh and local ingredients.

Happy Noodle House and Bitter Bar
835 Walnut Street
Boulder, CO 80302
303.442.3050
www.happynoodlehouse.com

Executive Chef: Salvatore (Sam) Proia, IV

Click HERE>/a> for more photos.

Finding a restaurant that serves tasty, healthy, wholesome food in the Republic of Boulder is fairly easy.  Finding it at a reasonable price, however, can be a challenge.  Being very active and healthy, Anthony Pigliacampo and Rob McColgan felt this same frustration, and wished there was a place they could eat healthy food everyday at affordable prices.  Rather than wait for such a place to pop into existence, they took up the challenge of opening up their own restaurant, and created Modmarket.

McColgan stated that they wanted to make the food as organic, local, sustainable, healthy, and affordable as possible.  To make sure their ingredients are fresh, Modmarket has close ties to local farmers, and even has a booth at Boulder Farmers’ Market.  Unlike many of the food vendors at Boulders Farmers’ Market, Modmarket actually buys ingredients from the farmers at the market to make their dishes.

At Modmarket, the salad is no longer relegated to be a side dish to a main meal.  At Modmarket, the salad is the main meal.  Pigliacampo’s favorite salad happens to be the Mongolian made with mixed greens, red cabbage, soy nuts, green onions, edamame, crispy wontons, and topped with a spicy orange mint dressing, which they make themselves.  The salad is crisp, fresh, spicy, tangy, sweet, nutty, and huge.  In fact, all their salads are huge.  Even their small version is probably enough to feed two people.  Pigliacampo likes to add Trip Tip Steak to his salad.  If one of the predesigned salads doesn’t appeal to you, you can also have the chefs build your own salad.

The other dish that Modmarket is known for would be its flatbread pizzas made from 8 whole grains rather than white flour.  People may not realize that many chain pizzerias actually use frozen dough, which can either taste bland, or too greasy depending on how it’s baked.  Some flatbread pizzerias use white flour, which can sometimes taste like bland crackers, which is probably why most people don’t bother eating the crust.

In Modmarket’s case, its healthy dough enhances the flavor of all the ingredients.  Take for example their Garden Pizza made with red peppers, broccoli, fresh mozzarella, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Because the dough is so flavorful, it enhances with the sweetness of the chunky tomato sauce, and red peppers.  You can actually taste the freshness of the mozzarella and the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.  The best part is, all of their gourmet style flatbread pizzas don’t come at gourmet prices and average about $8.00 for a large.

Speaking of affordable pizzas, be sure to visit Modmarket from Monday to Wednesday during happy hour (3pm to 6pm).  If you order a M’Rita pizza, you get a free bottle of Barefoot Wine.  That’s right, a whole bottle.  Now that’s a happy hour.

If you want something smaller than a salad or a pizza, you can opt for one of their hearty homemade soups.  The Curried Split Pea Soup is filled with chunky bits of yellow split peas, carrots, tomatoes, celery, and seasoned with sweet coconut curry.  If you need a quick bite, a cup should be fine.

Soon, Modmarket will be adding a new item to their menu:  sandwiches.  One of its newest creations will be a Tomato Basil Chicken Salad Sandwich.  The chicken is actually roasted in the same wood fire oven used to make the pizzas.  Unlike the dry, pre-packaged, and cubed stuff you might get at a regular sandwich shop, Modmarket’s chicken is moist, tender, and fresh.

Modmarket has managed to take everyday foods, and made them healthy, sustainable, and, most importantly, affordable.  Parents can actually take their kids to Modmarket, feed them pizza, and know that they are still eating healthy.  Office workers can grab a quick sandwich, and not feel guilty about the calories.  Which reminds me, because both Pigliacampo and McColgan are both health conscious, nutritional facts are printed onto the menus and the receipts, front and center.

Modmarket is perfect for foodies looking for healthy and affordable everyday foods.

Modmarket
1600 28th Street
Boulder, CO 80301
720.663.9440
www.modmarket.com

Click HERE for more photos.

SnapshotFoodie will give away a FREE $50 gift certificate to Zengo at the end of May to anyone who follows/friends/subscribes to SnapshotFoodie on various social networks. If you are already a follower, you’re already entered, and, yes, you can win more than once. Just click on one of the various links below to enter:

Examiner.com

Facebook

Twitter

Yelp!

FourSquare

Click HERE to read a review of Zengo.

As soon as you walk into the door, you get a sense that Edwin is a fun guy to hang out with. From the “Kung Fu Hustle” movie poster on the wall, the school cafeteria style, red serving trays, and the table tops covered in Chinese newspapers, which Edwin Zoe designed himself, you quickly realize this is not your typical Chinese restaurant. The menu not only shows the northern and southern Chinese influence of the cuisine, it also reveals that Boulder itself has had an influence as well. Having lived in Boulder for over twenty years, and having graduated from of the University of Colorado-Boulder, it is not surprising to find that many of the foods are made with local ingredients, organic unbleached flour, all-natural meats, and cage-free eggs. They don’t use MSG, and many of the dishes are gluten-free. To make the Boulder influence complete, the restaurant is run on wind power.

What makes the cuisine stand out is how the food is prepared. Whether it is a small order of Baby Shanghai Bok Choy, or Ma Ma’s Chicken Soup Noodle, everything is made fresh everyday, and the noodles are made to order. Because the kitchen is open to viewing, you can watch Zoe Ma Ma and her staff make the dumplings, and noodles right in front of your eyes. Watching Zoe Ma Ma is a treat in it of itself, whether it be watching her make her meaty Original Potstickers – based on a secret family recipe – or teaching her staff how to make them. After having Zoe Ma Ma’s Original Potstickers, I am literally boycotting any restaurant that serves frozen potstickers.

By the way, since this is authentic Chinese cuisine, don’t expect a fortune cookie at the end of your meal. Fortune cookies were invented in a Japanese teahouse in San Francisco. And this is not the type of Chinese food you’d want to leave in the fridge for a couple of days. You’ll want it hot and fresh, trust me.

Each day, there is a different special of the day. On Mondays and Tuesdays, for example, is Edwin Zoe’s own Sichuan Braised Beef Noodle. They also have Congee, and Roast Duck and Wonton Soup on the other days. On this particular day, the special was a Chinese street vendor dish known as Zong Zi (pronounced “zong zoo”). As soon as you open up the bamboo wrapper, you can smell the sweetness of the marinated pork belly mixed with sticky pearl rice, juicy shitake mushrooms, and soft lotus seeds. Even though I’ve never tried this dish before, I found the dish comforting.

Another dish worth trying would be their version of Old School Hot and Sour Soup. It is a hearty soup, mainly because they don’t skimp on the ginger, mushrooms, and tofu. They also added a little white pepper so it has some kick at the very end. For the vegan in you, the Vegan Potstickers, which are made with a gluten-free rice wonton wrapper, are just as good as Zoe Ma Ma’s Original Potstickers. The filling has a quiche like consistency, and the tofu almost tastes like eggs. This combination of small dishes and specials makes Zoe Ma Ma a great place to either grab a quick bite to eat, or to have a hearty home cooked meal.

As Edwin Zoe points out, “I can taste the love that was and was not put into food. I wanted to make sure people could taste the love that my mother puts into these dishes.” The saltiness of the pungent spicy bean sauce, and the warm noodles in their Za Jiang Mian, for example, instantly transported me to when I was a kid eating a Korean variation of this called Ja Jang Myun. The comfort of a warm bowl of noodles, and sound of Zoe Ma Ma laughing with her staff and patrons made me miss the food that my mother and grandmother used to make for me as a child, and almost brought me to tears. Even if you’re not Asian, you will taste the love in every dish.

Zoe Ma Ma is perfect for foodies who want to taste and experience authentic, home style, old school Chinese cooking.

Zoe Ma Ma
2010 10th St.
Boulder, CO 80302

Executive Chef: Zoe Ma Ma

Click HERE for more photos.

The most popular dish on Centro’s menu would be tacos, inspired by the tacorillas and taco stands Clark saw in southern California. They have four varieties of tacos: shrimp, vegetarian, duck, and pork. Customer can mix and match flavors as well. The Shrimp Tacos are light and fresh, served over cabbage, red onions, and tart escabeche pickled radishes. The Duck Mole Tacos have a slight Indian flavor profile. The duck is leg is braised, pulled off the bone, and then mixed in with a house mole that has been cooking for 8 to 9 hours, made with dried chilies, toasted garlic, toasted cumin, and dark chocolate. Every taco is topped with imported Mexican jalapeños, and with some cool sour cream. The jalapeños pack a little more heat than usual, which is no surprise considering Clark has a high tolerance for spicy foods. So keep the sour cream close by to help cool your taste buds. Clark stated that there is nothing better than just eating a few tacos and washing them down with a nice light beer.

Centro’s menu also has a Charred Ahi Tuna fusion dish that combines Clark’s experience in Hawaii with his love of Latin-Americna flavors. The Charred Ahi Tuna is served over sweet potatoes glazed with piloncillo Mexican raw sugar, and topped with a hot cucumber salsa inspired by bread and butter pickles, Mexican Pico de gallo, and Korean hot cucumber salad. The sweetness of the potatoes is a nice counter the spiciness of the cucumber, and the saltiness of the ahi tuna actually balances it all out. Clark recommends pairing the dish with their Capirinha made with cachaça rum, sugar, and lime.

Centro is the perfect place for foodies looking for authentic Latin-American ingredients.

Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace
950 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO 80302
303.442.7771
www.CentroLatinKitchen.com

Executive Chef: Ian Clark

We started with the Smoked Pork Ribs.  Now, when I was in high school, one of my father’s employees would make us homemade ribs every summer.  I thought they were the best ribs I ever had.  That is until I tired the Zolo’s.  You can immediately smell the smokiness, and the brine from the ribs when it arrives at the table.  A lot of love goes into making these ribs.  They are brined for 24 hours, infused with smoke, and then braised for 8 hours.  The ribs sit on top of a bed of a Picked Chile Salad, which is made from the same brine at the ribs.  They also have a few giant sized jalapeños, which, surprisingly, were more tart than spicy.  The tartness of the brine brings out the saltiness of the succulent pork meat. Brian Selbitschka, Zolo’s Mixologist, was on hand, and recommended pairing the ribs with the 2008 Paso  A Posed Tempranillo (La Mancha, Spain), or the La Floradita Daiquiri.

What I appreciated about Smoked Pork Ribs is that they aren’t over sauced, and the meat isn’t full of gristle.  You can actually taste the crispy pork; it’s like eating grilled bacon on a stick.  Bret Smith, the Executive Chef at Zolo, explained that the southwestern flavor profile is about big bold flavors.  He wanted to make sure that foodies like me could actually taste the ribs, rather than masking it in a swamp of sauce.

Not all the dishes have the big bold flavors that Smith spoke of.  The Colorado Tilapia Tacos, for example, taste very clean, and refreshing compared to the salty ribs.  The fish are satisfyingly meaty, lightly seasoned, and dressed with Tomatilla Salsa, and Avocado Crema, and sit on top of a corn tortilla served with a side of Black Bean Refritos.  Try pairing the tacos with either the 2008 Eric Montintin Sauvignon Blanc (Loire Valley, France), or just washing it down with a Silver Coin Chinaco Blanco Margarita.  I love the fact that the tortillas are made fresh at the restaurant everyday, and that the Tilapia is local.  In fact, Chef Smith is trying to incorporate as many local ingredients from local farmers and growers as possible.

Speaking of local ingredients, one of my favorite dishes at Zolo is Colorado’s Best Beef Ranch Steak, but it’s not just because of the steak. I think you can tell a lot about a chef from the type of steak they cook and how they prepare it. This dish is rustic, and each ingredient plays off the other to balance out the bold flavors.  The steak itself is lightly seasoned, again, so that the patron can actually taste the meat. The sauce is made of New Mexican Red Chile, which has a kick at the beginning that slowly dissipates at the end.  The steak sits on top of a bed of grilled chard adding a smoky, bitterness to the dish.  Mixologist Selbitschka recommended pairing the steak with an Añejo Manhattan, or the 2006 Bleadsale “Langhorne Crossing” Cab-Malbec-Shiraz (Langhorne, Australia).

My favorite part of the dish, however, is the Root Vegetable Pave, which is made of layers of several different types of turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rutabagas.  This buttery, sweet gratin style dish immediately evoked a memory of a Greek Thanksgiving dinner I once attended.  I hope Chef Smith serves it as a standalone appetizer someday (hint, hint).

We finished off with a rice pudding desert designed by Erik Rollings, Zolo’s Sous/Pastry Chef.  It was like a summertime rhubarb pie in a jar.  Think of it as a deconstructed rhubarb pie a la mode with the strawberry flavor of rhubarb as the filling, the caramelized puffed rice acting as the crust, and the bourbon vanilla pudding as the ice cream.  This desert was genius.

The spring menu at Zolo is perfect for any foodie looking for southwestern comfort foods with big, bold flavors.

Zolo Southwestern Grill
2525 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 449-0444
www.zologrill.com

Executive Chef: Brett Smith

A lot of restaurants have Kobe Beef Sliders on their menus.  What makes Izakaya Den’s stand out is the lightly seared foie gras.  The salty fattiness of the Kobe masks some of the strong pungent taste that one often associates with foie gras.  The searing also gives the froi gras some firmness.  This combination of firmness and slight pungent taste actually gives the foie gras a flavor profile that is very similar to a stinky cheese.  In a sense, it’s like eating a cheeseburger.

But the feast of flavors doesn’t end with the sliders.  The Kobe Beef Sliders are accompanied with fresh cut pomme frittes lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.  The hidden treat of the dish is the habanero ketchup.  It has a nice sweet and tangy flavor with a bit of heat kicked in at the end of it.   The Kobe Sliders help bring some of the heat down.  After finishing my entire plate, I realized that this was not just sliders with a side of fries.  The dish is well thought as a whole with the flavors from the buttery buns, fatty Kobe ground beef, pungent foie gras, crispy pomme frittes, and the tangy habanero ketchup all playing off of each other.

Izakaya Den’s Kobe Sliders are the very definition of gourmet comfort food.

Izakaya Den
518 S. Pearl Street
Denver, Colorado  80210
303.777.0691
www.izakayaden.net

Executive Chef:  Darren Pusateri

The first items on the menu that caught my attention was the “secret ingredient” of Flash Seared Hiramasa, which I will get into later.  It’s primarily made of Australian hiramasa splashed with a citrusy yuzu, white soy sauce, topped with a light myoga salad, and sliced jalapeños.  As the dish approached my table, I heard an unexpected sizzling sound.  This is where the secret ingredient comes into play.   The sizzle is produced by the juices mixing with Pop-Rocks® candy.  This combination of high-quality ingredients served with the childhood candy of urban legend might seem counter-intuitive at first, but it totally works.  The sweetness of the candy actually balances out with the kick from the jalapeño, and enhances the flavor of the hiramasa and yuzu.  This is a great appetizer to have with friends, especially during happy hour.

Which reminds me, their mixologist and Bar Manger, Mike Henderson, also happens to be the Vice President of the Colorado Chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild.  Henderson recommends pairing the Flash Seared Hiramasa with their 2007 Trouchard Roussane.  Speaking of drinks, they have a huge glass wine encasement, which sits right in the middle of the restaurant.  It’s so tall they literally need a ladder to access the wines. The other feature I appreciated about TAG was the semi-open kitchen, where you can actually watch the food being prepped.

To continue with the fusion theme, I tried their Szechuan Colorado Rack of Lamb made with Dragon Chili Sauce served with Israeli couscous, and heirloom vegetables.  When you read it on paper it sounds too simple:  lamb with Chinese sauce.  Big deal, right?  When the plate arrives, you are not presented with just a dish, but rather something that looks like an abstract painting.  This complex mixture of sauces – made of soy mango mustard, sweet chili sauce, Lingham’s Hot Sauce, just to name a few – is what really makes the dish.  I was hit with different flavors with every single bite, and each bite better than the next.  I ate it as slow as I could to savor every bite.  TAG’s Szechuan Colorado Rack of Lamb is possibly the most delicious work of art I ever ate.  Henderson recommends paring this great dish with their 2007 El Castro Mencia.

TAG is one of those restaurants that is just right: it isn’t huge, but it’s doesn’t feel crammed either.  The décor and food are upscale, but the prices seem reasonable, and the staff is warm and friendly.

Great food, great drinks, and Pop-Rocks®?  Need I say more?

TAG Restaurant
1441 Larimer Street
Denver, CO 80202-1704
(303) 996-9985
www.tag-restaurant.com

Executive Chef:  Troy Guard

Their Won Ton Tacos are cleverly deceptive. Inside each Won Ton Taco you’ll find sweet sushi rice topped off with charred ahi tuna mixed with some pickled ginger and mango salsa. All the ingredients are then nestled within a deep fried wonton shaped like a taco shell. I couldn’t but help laugh with each bite I took because they feel like tacos, but the flavors are pure Asian. At times, I actually thought I was eating a wonton, or maybe even an eggroll, instead of a taco.

The next fusion entretizer on the list was the Thai Chicken Empanada. On the outside, it’s looks like an empanada dish. As the dish arrived, however, I could easily recognize the aroma of the sweet Thai curry coconut sauce. Like most Thai dishes, the Thai Chicken Empanada has a little kick balanced off with some sweetness. It’s chicken filling made with chile poblano rajas, and the warm flaky dough gives it a sense of comfort food, perfect right after a long day at work. Their mixologist paired the dish with a refreshing Cucumber Mohito. I am not much of drinker, but even I loved this sweet and minty cocktail.

These two entretizers should give you a good feel for what the rest of the menu will be like: a delicious blend of Latin-Asian flavors. Every dish on Zengo’s menu will deliciously play tricks on your taste buds. Along with entrées like Kobe Beef Charasco and Pan Roasted Chilean Sea Bass, even their sushi rolls play with fusion flavors combing traditional sushi ingredients with things like sesame-chipotle rouille, jalapeno-chive aioli, and sweet-samba aioli.

Zengo is perfect for any fusion foodie.

Zengo Restaurant – Denver
1610 Little Raven Street, Riverfront Park
Denver, CO 80202
720.904.0965
www.modernmexican.com/zengodenver

Executive Chef: Clint Wangsnes