829 Main Street, Napa CA 94559
(707) 224-8555
No Reservations allowed.
Parking: Street parking
http://www.zuzunapa.com/
Last Visited: September 24, 2006
Food: 2 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Service: 2 stars
Price: $ to $$
Be sure to read through to the end since the first half of this review covers my 2003 visit while the latter portion covers the 2006 visit.
The décor is warm with earth tones - lots of browns and greens. The music played on the stereo system is Spanish style. When we arrived, the first half hour was from the sound system. The rest was from a live group upstairs. I preferred the sound system. The start and stop of the music upstairs was a little distracting.
There’s not much on the table. Brown paper, a candle, silverware, and a stack of small plates for the tapas yet to come. The menu is divided – cold tapas on the top, tapas served hot on the bottom.
- Dish of Mediterranean olives – A plentiful dish of seasoned kalamata and green olives $3
- Boquerones – White anchovies with an endive salad on top. The endive is tossed in fragrant lemon oil and vinegar with fresh herbs and sprouts. It’s light and refreshing. Two servings. $4
- Heirloom tomatoes salad with feta cheese – drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper – looks appetizing with red, yellow, and green tomatoes, and the oil is great for dipping bread $6
- Seabass special – Sea bass is browned and baked served on a swirl of mashed potatoes along with some marinated red and yellow peppers – nice flavoring from the oil, but I didn’t like this dish as much. If they had used another fish, I would have been okay with it, but I prefer the buttery seabass over this cut. $8
- Argentinian Marinated Flat-Iron Steak – This is served with chimichurri – a mix of herbs, Argentinian style. About seven or eight slices of beef are fanned on the plate and served medium. The seasoning is a little spicy and very fragrant and colorful. I kept thinking this would be excellent on a toasted French bun or with some mashed potatoes. Very flavorful. $8
- Semolina Cake – This dessert is excellent. Served warm with a scoop of meyer lemon crème, and a strawberry and rhubarb sauce. Intense strawberry flavors mingle with the cake and the lemon. It’s one of the best desserts I’ve had in a while. $6
Note: The bathroom is dark – yellow lighting - I suppose to give it some unique feeling. Street parking is ample. Service is good, though our server was a little clumsy when taking our order and dropped all her papers on the floor. Other than that, they are attentive – taking away all the plates as necessary. The tables don’t leave much space, so this is a good thing.
Almost three years to the date, I returned to Zuzu hoping to have a spectacular meal like my last visit, but I was soon disappointed. However, compared to my experience at John Ash, the folks at Zuzu had a much better reaction. Yet, they still failed to live up to expectations, and I more than likely won’t be back.
- Shaved Artichoke and Portobello Mushroom Salad with Lemon Truffle Vinaigrette and Sao Jorge – Well, this sounded lovely, and it tasted pretty good too, until my dining companion found a hair in her salad. We were splitting this small plate. The waiter asked if we would like another one, and when we declined, he said he would remove it from the bill. Considering this was a starter, it basically ruined my dinner, and I really should have walked out at this point rather than continue further. Nonetheless, this is a better reaction than the aforementioned experience, but once there is a hair in the food, I make it a rule not to go back. Had it not been for the hair, this would have been listed as great since the vinaigrette was light and had nice flavor. $8
- Paella del Dia – Served in a small cast iron pan, this paella contained chorizo and lamb. The meat was cooked nicely – the chorizo sliced and the lamb in small pieces, but the paella seemed to be too tough – the rice would have been better had it been a touch softer and more tender. This one had too much bite for rice. Fair. If you decide to go for this dish, share it with someone. The paella for two is a bit much for quantity if you plan to enjoy other items. $9
- Bunuelitos de Jamon – These were described as Andalusian Black Forest ham fritters. The waiter mentioned that they were new to the menu, so be sure to let them know how it tasted. I found the fritters to be a little dark in color – more than just golden brown. They tasted okay for flavor, but a bit soft on the inside and too hard on the outside. Fair. $7
- Bacalao – The Salt cod was baked in a small dish and topped with white truffle oil. It was served with small garlic crostini that were quite golden and crispy. This was probably my favorite dish of the evening. The bacalao was baked in a wide mouthed dish that was fairly shallow, so lots of the bacalao had become golden on the top, given a different mouth feel from the fish at the bottom of the dish. It had excellent flavor and seemed endless as we ran out of the crostini and had to switch over to the bread at our table. Very good and not too salty. $9
- Moroccan BBQ Glazed Lamb Chop – The lamb chop had great flavor and texture, but the BBQ glaze was Hoisin sauce. I was surprised by this, and felt it to be too sweet. I expected the description to mention Hoisin sauce if it was used as the primary base, but it only said BBQ Glazed. Although the lamb chop was tender and nicely grilled, the sweetness was a bit overwhelming. Okay. $14
- Organic Broccolini - Sautéed with garlic, lemon, and chili flakes, the tender broccolini is cooked until bright green. I thought this was a bit overdone with garlic and chili flakes, so much that you couldn’t taste the vegetable itself. I would have toned down both so that the flavor would be more mild, and I would have browned the garlic more. Fair. $6
They also offered a fried manchego cheese dish that I had wanted to order, and when I saw it at the next table, it looked like it was breaded and very nicely done.
Aside from the food issue, there were service issues too. When we left, our server didn’t say goodbye. I made eye contact with another member of the wait staff who said good night, but I really wanted my server to say good bye and to apologize again. That would have been much better considering we were seated upstairs and coming down the stairs where he was standing, I was aware that he saw us and chose to avoid us. I felt that there was significant room for improvement in how to handle this good bye greeting and graciously acknowledge us with an apologetic manner, yet the absence of such a greeting seemed to indicate failure in service.
I really liked Zuzu, but after this last visit, I don’t have plans to go back. Food and service were dropped from four star ratings to 2 stars because of the hair and service issue, which is still more than generous. The food flavor is still good, but eat the food with a close eye if you choose to visit.
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