Zengo D.C.’s bridges the Pacific with a small plate menu that combines Peruvian and Japanese tastes.
By Kate Faherty
The Zarza Salad, one of the featured small plates on Zengo DC's new Lima-Tokyo menu. Photo credit: Tina Wong.
Chef Richard Sandoval has pulled together a new menu featuring the cuisine and spirits of Peru and Japan, which will be featured at Zengo DC throughout the end of the month. The menu, A Taste of Lima-Tokyo, offers seven specialty small plates that highlight the traditional tastes of both Peruvian and Japanese cuisines.
The small plates are between $6 and $15 and are created to highlight the savory flavor of both cuisines. Sandoval has embraced the techniques of both cuisines and worked to combine the flavors to create a fusion with each plate. Seven plates cover unique flavor combinations and many options for palate pleasers.
The Oyako plate includes roasted chicken, huancania sauce, Japanese sweet potato and fried egg. Another featured plate includes tuna, salmon, fluke, sesame seeds, cilantro and yuzu leche de tigre. For a sweet finish to the meal, diners may try Zengo’s homemade green tea ice cream with cajeta sauce.
Regional spirits balance out the meal, as the Lima-Tokyo menu includes a specialty cocktail menu catered to this month’s special. Japanese vodka and whiskey, Sake, and Peru’s national grape-based spirit Pisco fill out the menu and highlight the flavors of the dishes. The Lucuma Martini combines vodka, almond milk, vanilla extract, chanace and simple syrup. A familiar yet exciting drink, the Blood Orange-Chancaca Whiskey Sour, mixes whiskey, blood orange puree and chancaca simple syrup.
The new Lima-Tokyo menu brings in fall at Zengo DC with full flavor and unique flavor combinations. The full menu can be found here.
The Concha a lo Macho plate is filled with seafood and a shrimp-aji amarillo aioli. Photo credit: Tina Wong.
The menu features flavor fusion cocktails as well, such as the Peruvian-inspired Sparkling Sake Pisco Cocktail. Photo credit: Tina Wong.
