All You Can Eat & Drink Brunch in DC: Zengo

Earlier this month I was invited to check out a new BRUNCH menu at Zengo by Heather Freeman PR.

Because I've eaten at Zengo multiple times and really enjoy their happy hour specials, I was looking forward to trying an all you can eat and drink brunch menu ($35).

All you can eat/drink menus are best when you have a few friends joining you: that way you can try a larger variety of dishes without being completely full. I was in luck: it just happened that my good friend Jenny was visiting from New York City with her boyfriend Chris, and they agreed to meet me for brunch.

Since we were meeting at 11:30 on a Saturday morning, I was starving: after a Friday night salsa dancing I had no time for breakfast.

Hugs were exchanged, "so good to see you" was uttered, and then it was time to look at the menu!

Ok, let me be honest: of course I checked out the menu SEVERAL times the night before and already knew what I was going to order :) I like to plan ahead.

We started with drinks: Jenny ordered a sake sangria (sake, red wine, triple sec, fruit juice, blackberry liquer), Chris had a bloody mary, and I chose a guava mimosa. We were all happy with our choices. The best part is that you can switch your beverage choice midway through the brunch! My second (and final) cocktail was passion fruit mimosa, and I really liked..that is until I noticed that Zengo also had pomegranate mimosa...but by that point I could not handle another one (light weight!).

We chose which dishes we wanted from the menu while catching up, sipping our drinks and coffee. Our waiter was really knowledgeable about the menu and was able to recommend the number of dishes to order and told us about his favorites.

Below are OUR favorites.

bay scallop ceviche: thai chile / avocado / peanut / mint /crispy shallot {The scallops were pretty small, but had great flavor from Thia chile and I'm a big fan of any dish that has avocado.}

ceviche dorado: mahi mahi / aji panca / kimchee / cucumber / cantaloupe {If you saw my latest oatmeal post, you know how much I ♥ kimchee!}

angry zengo roll: tuna / wasabi tobiko / avocado / cucumber / sesame chipotle rouille {This was a fun roll: fresh tuna with a bunch of interesting additions. Plus, it was reall pretty.}

shrimp-vegetable potstickers with red chile-dashi sauce

achiote-hoisin pork arepas: corn masa / avocado / crema fresca {This was actually my favorite dish out of the bunch! You get so many different flavors and textures in one bite: perfection!}

short rib hash: poached egg / yuca / poblano rajas / caramelized onion

salmon benedict: poached egg / kimchee / chili hollandaise {My favorite part about this dish was the chili hollandaise: that would be good on pretty much anything!}

beef tenderloin palomilla: peppers / onion / cognac pepper sauce {I don't remember being asked, but the meat was served medium rare, which is exactly how I like it. The peppers and onions added a nice kick to the dish.}

lobster-chipotle grits {These were creamy and flavorful, but I did not taste any actual lobster chunks...perhaps the grits were just flavored with a lobster broth?}

churros with mexican hot chocolate {How can you go wrong with fried dough? I just wish the hot chocolate had a thicker consistency.}

Would I recommend Zengo for a DC brunch destination? Absolutlely! I'll have to go back and check out a few of the dishes we missed this time around.

Disclosure: we were treated to brunch and Chris left a tip. All opinions are my own.

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