DonnaMarie "I eat; therefore I am"

The jalepeno rolls are wonderful. Spider rolls delish, and the sushi chef, Hiro, is wonderfully friendly, helpful, and darn cute to boot! . Every time I have been there, the people at the sushi bar are friendly, so it feels like a cozy social gathering. The menu boasts creations such as the Ashley Special or the Scott Special named after Shogun patrons who have earned their place there.

Always make sure to check out the “Special” board. My favorite specials when they have it: The twice fried pompano was quite the experience for me and I would get it again. I never dreamed I would eat a fish head! Tastes like bacon! The baked salmon roll is truly divine. No rice in it. Truly. Fresh Soft shell crab, I could eat a bucketful. Garlic squid- I thought I hated squid! But noooo, and it has garlic shoots that my friend thought was string beans for the longest time, ha! and Enoki mushroom..Mmm…sauted with garlic and shrimp. Tiger eye is a warm dish with fish stuffed inside a squid. Another riceless delicacy.

I was forced to try an oyster shooter. Not my thing. really. No REALLLLYYYY. They don’t get the hint and I somehow end up with one in front of me. I almost gagged the last time. But they DO have a vegetarian oyster shooter. So now I can shoot with the rest of them. And the unfiltered saki reminds me of spiked horchata. ha!

Something you don’t see on the menu board or the special board is the seafood salad. This is not to be overlooked. tuna, salmon, one more raw fish that escapes me now, crab, and shrimp atop a bed of lettuce, carrots and avocado, and a wonderful dressing.

The prices are reasonable, so I can afford to stop by regularly. Maybe much too regularly.

I really enjoyed my cultural experience at Messob. As this is my only experience with Ethiopian food, I don’t have anything to compare it to.

The friend who took me warned me of slow service, but we didn’t have that problem at all on the Wed. we went. We were seated in the cozy little hut-like coccoon area near the front. The food is scooped up with the tart, crepe-like sheets of bread so no utensils are given. I found the food delightful, especially the vegetarian dishes. The Ethiopean cottage cheese was nice and reminded me of the Indian paneer.

The fresh roasted Ethiopian coffee was worth the wait. Don’t order this if you are in a rush to get out. The waitress brings your beans out half way through the roasting to swish them under your nose. I don’t usually like black coffee, but I enjoyed this and it went nicely with the baklava dessert.

Might be nice for a date as eating with your hands and sharing a communal plate is kinda cozy.

So I’m jumping on the band wagon here. This is definitely some damn good pizza. Someone I know once mentioned Zelo in passing. I yelped it and have been meaning to try it ever since. I finally had my day Sunday afternoon. I was restless and bored and suffering with a fractured foot. A friend took pity and took me to Zelo. There are skateboards on the wall as décor and it looks like skaters are working the joint. It’s a small, simple pizza place with a counter to order your take out and a few tables inside and out. I hobbled in on my fractured foot and settled into a black checkered covered table, laid my cane down, and the friendly worker immediately appeared and handed us a menu with the regularly available pizzas and entrees and then told us the specials. Chalk boards on the wall will tell you what special pizzas and entrees they have that day also. A meatball sandwich, a chicken dish and cuke salad were the entree the specials that day.

The fresh beet salad with walnuts and bluecheese sounded delish, but it appeared my friend had a fear of fresh beet-aphobia, so we opted for the broccoli and black bean salad with Dijon vinaigrette. The Broccoli Salad was quite nice with the broccoli lightly steamed to perfection, atop a bed of fresh fluffy greens and a very light and flavorful Dijon dressing. The man next to us ordered the beet salad and it looked lovely. I’m getting that one next time.

The Corn Pizza (a regular pizza) was my fave. The roasted balsamic red onions blended with the smoked mozza so well, I sometimes thought I was eating pancetta. The corn complimented the super crispy corn crust perfectly. The Four Cheese (Regular pizza) was his fave. It was pretty basic (some folks have simple tastes). The unique crust gave it extra charm. The Primavera Pizza (Special of the day) had just the right bite with capers and green olives added. I only think it needed some red sauce to complete it. The Spinach Pizza (special of the day) had ricotta and garlic added to the sauted spinach. But it’s the crust we both agreed was the prize here. Crispy, crunchy, corny, and grainy. LOVED IT. And the frosty beer completed it.

You can get par-baked pizzas to go and pop them in your oven at home to roast them to cheesy, crispy completion.

I perused the long list of their rotating unique special pizzas. Kale pizza with butternut squash?? Leek pizza? Potato Pancetta? I intend to try every last one of the pizzas on that list. Goodbye size 2. I bid thee farewell…

After visiting a friend in the hospital, we found ourselves driving up Fair Oaks and hungry. Mojito’s restaurant was on my mine, but Central Park loomed up ahead of us. “Wanna try it?” Sure! Especially since I had a faint memory of just reading Peter D’s review and how this was a favorite of his.

It’s a favorite of ours also now. The atmosphere is quaint and cozy, dimly lit, clean lines, and movie legends portraits adorn the wall. We ate with Marilyn, Elvis, Rhett Butler and Scarlet, and the Rat Pack. We were sooo hungry it was hard to decide what to get, but we finally made our choices while we snacked on focaccia. I liked that they offer it with olive oil and what appeared to be balsamic soaked bits of sun dried tomato? Delish.

My Wild Mushroom Penne with truffle oil was the bomb! Plenty of mushrooms and perfect sautéed in garlic. The entrée ordered was the Asian Baby Back Ribs. Sooooo tender and the garlic plum BBQ sauce was excellent. The Asian slaw with sesame oil complimented it perfectly. No the AuGratin potatoes with it I thought was just weird. Cheese and Asian food just don’t go together in my book, but my friend loved the potatoes and said cheese goes with ANYTHING. Whatever. The potatoes were good, but maybe a garlic fried rice would have been a better pairing. We sat in silence devouring, savoring, and smacking our lips. And everything reasonably priced.

Aahh, full and satisfied. Dessert?? Okay. The dessert menu was small and simple. I opted for the Brioche Bread Pudding and Caramelized Apples per the waitress’s suggestion. And it was unique. A refined bread pudding if you will. Delicate and light with a fine smooth texture and almond flavor.

Perfectly satisfied. It’s actually a nice date place. Cozy, excellent food, and won’t break your wallet.