Zanzo dans Tai Hang........... Zazie dans le Metro

Zazie and Zanzo are not related but it just reminded me of the 1960s French film Zazie dans le Metro which was really funny.

Zanzo is a new hip bar serving Japanese style tapas located on School street round the corner from LabMade in Tai Hang.

I was attracted to this place because of the black tempura coating.

Although I do not drink alcohol but they specialize in Japanese-styled sake and even have their own labelled sake in partnership with some brewery in Hokkaiddo.

 

Above the bar table, there are lots of sake bottles.

 

 

Despite sitting at the bar table I was surprised I was not given any water or even tap water.
I know this place is for drinks but I was here for the food and I do not drink alcohol.

I finally got some tap water when they got my order wrong because I ordered Tofu pudding but the tofu skewer arrived, so they probably tried to make me feel better with a glass of water.

Anyway, the tofu pudding was not available that day so I will have to come back another day for it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chicken breast with truffle miso cream:

 

I did not know what to expect when I ordered this but it turned out to be great.
I do not normally order chicken breast because it is usually tough and dry.
When it came it reminded me of the chicken breast at Maureen's and it was PURE WHITE CHICKEN MEAT!

 

It was fatless, skinless, veinless and bloodless and the best thing about it was that they were really soft, tender and moist.
The truffle miso cream was a slight disappointment because it was not strong enough and the sesame sauce beneath it was stronger than the truffle sauce.
The julienne vegetables were a good balance to the chicken.
The chicken was also sprinkled with sakura (cherry blossum petals).
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
charcoal vegetables:

 

Without product shots, one would never have guessed it was charcoal tempura!
Initially I were they were grilled in a charcoal fuelled grill but it turned out to be charcoal tempura.
The charcoal tempura was the best coating they could have used because of it colour which complemented the colourful vegetables and made it vibrant and fun to eat.

 

 

There were bright violets, greens and yellows.
The peppers had the strongest taste and I felt that it should have been paired with some mayonnaise.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Spiced obaro konbu and nori:

 

 

 

I had to order this because the appearance looked really similar to wood!
Basically it is seaweed pressed as thin as paper before it is roasted.

 

The taste of this was slightly smokey and does not taste as marine as the green ones.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Home made tofu with okinawa brown sugar:
I wanted to order this but it was sold out.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Muzi Muzi Muzi Muzi Muzi Muzi Muzi Muzi

This dessert shop has been around for quite a while but the branch locations were inconvenient.

Finally they have a new branch at DOMAIN which is right above the MTR station so I went in late December because they were supposed to open on Christmas Day.

 

However when I got there, it was not opened yet and they finally opened in mid-January.

I wished I had checked OpenRice before my visit because the English on the menu is slightly weird.
It is best to refer to the product shots for a rough idea.

The menu did not have the ice glutinous dumplings that I was hoping to try (bing juong).
The average dessert costs around 2X which is quite cheap.

I ordered the Yu yuan with matcha smoothie and the Toddy palm seed and mini sago with tofu noodles.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Yu yuan with matcha smoothie:

 

 

I honestly thought that this was a drink, but smoothie means ICE-CREAM in Muzi terms!
The matcha icecream, dumplings were in red bean soup which could have been presented slightly better.
However I ordered the wrong dessert because I do not like red bean.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Toddy palm seed and mini sago with tofu noodles:

 

 

This was ok, the tofu icecream and tofu noodles had a really strong soya bean taste.
The taste is exactly the same as the soymilk drinks you get at shanghai noodle shops.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I will come again after checking OpenRice to try other items.