Lunch=Ramen
As a food blogger, you receive a ton of press releases. Some releases sound enticing, some are just plain blah. When I got word of Zengo’s new lunch menu, I was curious to see what the fusion restaurant had to offer customers this summer. What I did not think was after seeing what the restaurant had to offer this would make me get up 10 minutes later and hustle over to the restaurant to try the image that had just come across my iPad screen. The image of the pork ramen noodles made me forget my original plans of grabbing something from the salad bar next door, I had to have what was on that page. Good idea.
Zengo’s lunch is quick and good, which is necessary in the downtown DC market. No one needs anything that will take an hour to make, a place that lacks in customer service and the food tastes mediocre. Zengo met all the expectations of my two minute lunch hour. The slow simmer of bok choy, mushroom and pork belly meet in a bowl topped with my favorite garnish: a poached egg. Some may think ramen is an easy feat but even it can be ruined. I am a witness to one restaurant in particular (in downtown DC) that attempted the same exact dish except they failed to add in salt, pepper and pretty much everything that would flavor the ramen and make it more than the Oodles of Noodles from my college dorm. Zengo must have got the memo.
Pleased that I visited, I wanted to suggest this as a lunch destination to JKGF readers. In this heat, I know it sounds unbearable to slurp on warm broth but it’s worth it and…they have a pumping AC.
*Zengo’s lunch menu here.
Category: restaurant reviews, Washington D.C.
About the Author (Author Profile)
Johnna French is a Harlem NY native with deep roots in Panama, Washington, DC and North Carolina. All four places have heavily influenced her life and the foods she loves today. After graduating Howard University School of Law and beginning her life as a young professional in the city she was led to start Johnna Knows Good Food in November 2007 to keep family, friends and colleagues updated on where to go and what to eat while dining in the nation’s capitol. French, who still practices law, leads a team of three writers to cover the ever expanding Washington, DC food scene. French has been featured in print and television, appearing in Washingtonian Magazine and is a regular contributor to various local TV affiliates including WUSA 9, FOX 5 DC and WJLA (ABC Affiliate) News Channel 8. During the 2016-2017 football season, Johnna aired on Comcast Sports Mid-Atlantic (CSN) show, Redskins Life, as the weekly tailgate host. Johnna is currently a regular contributor to the FOX Baltimore Weekend morning show.Subscribe
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