I hate to speak poorly about a Baltimore restaurant, as I think too much of that happens already. However, when the food is as bad as it was last night at Zen West Cafe in Belvedere Square, that is really the only option.
So, on to the story. Last night, I met up with the good people from Tilt Studio and the local design collective they organize, for a happy hour at Ryan’s Daughter. For those of you not from Baltimore, Ryan’s Daughter is a nice, cozy Irish pub with good beer and good food, an excellent choice for a networking happy hour.After a few drinks, and some light food, Dustin, Mike, and I decided that we needed more to eat and headed over to Zen West Cafe. I’ve passed this place a bunch of times and it actually looks pretty cool from the outside.
I guess we should have known when there were only 15 people in this huge restaurant, that something wasn’t exactly right here. But, we decided to go in anyway and give it a try. The hostess and waitress were nice enough, but the food was a bit pricey, especially for how good it was. I ordered fish tacos, which were $11. I was a bit surprised when my plate came out with only 2 tacos on it. The fish tacos were a bit dry and also oddly-seasoned.
The three of us ordered the Guac Burger, Chicken Fajitas, and Fish Tacos, respectively. I think it’s safe to say that none of us were particularly pleased with our food. But it wasn’t until this morning, when I got multiple emails about how harsh the food was and how much everyone’s stomaches were killing them, that I decided never to go to Zen West Cafe again.
So, if you are looking for good Mexican or Tex-Mex food, I would suggest looking elsewhere. Unfortunately, Zen West just isn’t making use of the awesome space and location that they have.
If I would have seen this video before yesterday, there’s no way I would have gone there.
Chipotle is like a police station - disgusting inside. The foil-wrapped food is bulging with blandness and a serious lack of style. I would rather eat out of a garbage can than digest a crumb of anything from Chipotle.
On the other hand, the Burritos at Zen West were more than flavorful and did not cause any intestinal distress. Perhaps the other reviewers were vegetarians and their bodies have a hard time digesting meat.
Zen West gets a thumbs up, so does Holy Frijolies.
Chipotle gets a big thumbs, and bottoms, down.
Says tedbell at 8:08 pm on September 3rd, 2007
Just so y’all know, it is still awful. We used to live across the street from Holy Frijoles AND STILL LOVE IT!!!!, and moved closer to Zen West, so it’s convenient.
Then again, that depends on your definition of convenient. Every time we go there, I tell myself, “All I need is decent service OR decent food,” and then find myself in a rage, every single time, when I get NEITHER.
Last time we were there, the waiter took our drink order 3 times, and finally brought us our complicated drink order (1 margarita and 1 water) a short 25 minutes after we were seated. We ordered salads…..which took an hour to get. So obviously, they must have been great salads, if they took an hour to make, right? Well, the grilled meat was cold and the lettuce and dressing were warm. They looked like they had been thrown together in a McDonalds Salad Shaker - no presentation. The steak was overcooked, cold, and had no spices on it. Oh yeah - real tex-mix. I couldn’t taste the spices on the chicken because it was burnt. The waiter asked how the food was, and we told him. Then he went and got the manager (which was appreciated).
She accused us of lying about the cold food, and kept asking, “You’re sure it was cold.” When my wife raised up and said, “YES it was cold,” the manager switched her tack to “Well, it’s very busy for a tuesday night.” I told her that both of us used to work in restaurants, so we “know busy,” and it was not all that busy (empty tables during dinner rush).
Her response was, “Well what am I supposed to do? What would you HAVE ME do?” My wife said, “Bring us the damn check and we’ll leave. We’ve been here 90 minutes for a salad. We are ready to leave.” I was walking out the door 15 minutes later (she never brought the bill), and she chased us down with the bill. I paid it and she just laughed at me and took the money out of my hand. Yeah. Enjoy that 30 cent tip.
Now, this is the WORST experience I’ve had there, but we have been there at least 10 times, and we have never, ever had a “good” meal. We love Mexican and Tex-Mex and it’s just hard to believe how BAD a restaurant can make it!
Says Swamp Thing at 1:14 pm on August 1st, 2008
