Zu Robata

I came here on a Monday night after reading about the highway robbery that is $20 Omakase. Twenty bucks for a 9 course meal?! How could I resist?

It sounded good in principle, but in actuality, the food was just a disappointment. Let's just go in order, shall we?

* Miso soup- they have really good miso soup with the perfect blend of seaweed and tofu. It even came in a pretty white bowl that accentuated the colors in the soup.

* Pan fried edamame with black bean sauce- this was a most interesting dish. I have never had edamame in this fashion and really enjoyed it. It came coated with this spicy goodness that I could not stop licking. 

* Black mussels- WTH? This was the most bland and disgusting dish I've ever had. It was so chewy that I had to drink water to swallow it. My DC and I both agreed we did not like this dish. Granted, it was pretty, but I don't give a shit if it's pretty. Food needs to be edible. Oh, the after taste was just plain gross. I had to keep drinking water and he was downing his coke like it was the end of the world.

* Spinach with garlic and butter- This came in an interesting presentation. Wrapped in foil atop of a mini burner, I was intrigued to see the contents (and also to get that nasty mussel taste outta my mouth). It took a few minutes to steam, and the waiter came over to open it for us and fashion a "plate" from the foil. The spinach itself was decent, but it was so buttery, I felt that I gained a pound every time I took a bite. 

* Unagi Roll- VERY random plate. It was just ordinary sushi. I can't really say much, but ok...

* Hokaido Scallop wrapped tuna olive tapenade with crunchy carrot- That's a mouthful. I am a HUGE fan of scallops, I'll take them any which way.. but these were just meh. Seared and with this very intersting crunch stuff on top.. it didn't really taste like carrots, unless carrots all of a sudden taste like nuts. Also, spicy as hell.

* Salmon Teriyaki- dude, this was undercooked. Salmon teriyaki needs to be cooked completely. I hated this dish. And it had skin on it. Hated that more. However, it had spinach underneath coated in the good teriyaki sauce which I ended up eating over my steamed white rice. Can't go wrong with white rice!

* Chicken spicy anticucho miso- WTF? We were baffled when this dish came out. It was the worst chicken I have ever tasted. Dry and doused with this spicy sauce all  over it. It just did not go with the flow of the "Asian" flavors. I felt like Bobby Flay had just popped in and made this. Except, Flay would do a much better job. Sigh. We had 1 bite and could not wait for that dish to disappear.

* Dessert quad- well, this was kind of a redemption for Zu. I really really liked the banana cake with caramelized banana on top. This is saying alot since I do NOT do dessert. The hazelnut ice cream was extremely sweet as was the ice cream with portfiteroles. The chocolate souffle was not bad, but a few bites and I had reached my sweeetness quota. I did like the ZU sugar adorning the top. Nice touch. 

Overall, the food here was just not tasty. Price was reasonable. Service was decent, but a bit slow at times. It was freezing in the restaurant as we seated close to the door, but still, there shouldn't be an opening on a 47 degree night. Sigh. 2 stars. 

Zu Robata

12217 Wilshire Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90025