Zest Kitchen & Bar, Salt Lake City #2

After I had such a great experience at Zest this past year, I had to come back for more. So, on my way out of Salt Lake City, the night before my flight would take me away from all of the beautiful mountains, me and my friend stopped by for a final dinner.

On this particular Saturday night, there was a DJ, dancing, and hook-ups going on. We had just finished five hours of driving after a full day of jumping and were exhausted. We definitely didn't expect the liveliness we witnessed here! We were seated right next to the dance floor so we got quite the show.

I started with a berry lavender lemonade, which was really refreshing.

Zest is a vegetarian restaurant and most items are or can be made vegan. We ordered the Baked Mushrooms as our appetizer, which were baked mushrooms stuffed with cashew cheese and served with pesto and red pepper coulis. These had a beautiful presentation, but when we tried them, they lacked some flavor. Just one more ingredient would probably give it the oomph it needed.

For my entree, I got the Shakahari Curry Eggplant and, man, was this dish loaded with flavor. I've never tasted anything like it in my life. The eggplant was battered and covered with pepitas and baked and served with fennel curry potatoes and a cucumber mint lime salad. It was so filling that I couldn't finish it and that's saying a lot! I liked it, but it was a bit overwhelming with the different flavors.

My friend ordered a more subtle Stuffed Avocado Salad. He loved it. Made with romaine, seasoned walnuts, pico, cashew sour cream, and cilantro lime vinaigrette, it had just the right balance of flavors.

All in all, we were both pleased with our meals. I think Zest does a really good job with serving unique vegan meals in a low-light, romantic, yet casual setting. It's still one of my favorite places in Salt Lake City.

Previous review
August 3, 2016

Zest Kitchen & Bar
275 S. 200 W.
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801) 433-0589