Bottomless Brunch in Denver – Notes
I know this post is long-overdue since my trip to Denver was about a month ago, but betta late than neva. Denver was a surprisingly cute teensy city, minus the daylight stoners chilling on the street. You gotta love the new marijuana laws in Colorado! Wish I had a little more time here, as one local strongly recommended driving out to The Boulder. And I do want to do some rock-climbing someday… Wistfulll~ But alas, there’s never enough time (unless you’re a super-baller travel/food journalist, which I’m clearly not).
I ended up only trying one place on my list – Zengo for bottomless brunch. This was a great deal~ For $25, one can order as many food items on the brunch menu as the stomach can handle. ($35 for additional bottomless drinks!)
Ceviche Dorado– good, but too sour. Coconutty milk sweetness dampened it a little, but I was expecting more of a Malaysian taste. Pineapples were likely canned, which is a minus by my books. Tuna pieces meshed well with flavors.
Kabayaki Glazed Salmon Belly Rolls – yummy flavors. Cooked/seared salmon pieces mixed with a little bit of creamy goat cheese (that wasn’t goaty in flavor yay), asparagus veggies. The mustard/wasabi dressing was really good. Not too nose-numbing, but added a nice zing to the rolls. Sushi rice is below average.
Achiote-Hoisin Pork Arepas – DELICIOUS! Pieces of marinated pork on well-formed cornmeal. Topped with guac and creme fresca. Sinful and delicious. One of my favorites of the brunch.
Wagyu Beef Albonidas – nothing special. Menu said there is kimchi but did not taste kimchi. It was like some strange blend of tomato sauce with cinnamon. The meatballs themselves were chewy and hearty. The sauce was strange. The crispy onion shoestrings were surprisingly very flavorful – probably the highlight of this plate.
Chorizo Egg Steamed Buns – Blah. First off, this dish was a misnomer as there was no incorporation of chorizo whatsoever. Was not impressed by scrambled eggs and bacon slid in between steamed buns. I can probably make this at home in 10 min. Whatever special salsa soja there was did not carry through.
Pork Carnitas Hash – same pork marinade as used in the arepas. Good quality. The potatoes were decent.
Crispy Tofu – Despite the cute waiter’s recommendation, I was not insanely impressed. Sweet sauce. Tofu was not crispy, and a notch too crunchy, too fried. I have had real crispy tofu, HK-style at dimsum before, which is way better and cheaper.
Pandan Waffle – I wanted to love these so badly, but in the end was unimpressed. the waffles tasted heavily of egg, no hint of pandan. It just looked and tasted like a green eggo. The guava reduction sauce was a refreshing kiss of rain forest however.
Roasted Plaintains – redeemed the restaurant. These were my favorite. Deliciously fried plaintains in sweet honey glaze. Came with a salty ginger creme fresca for dipping. The blend of flavors left a complex tropical-sensation of a dessert in my mouth. Two thumbs up for these suckers.
In summary – I probably ate too much, gaining empty calories on fewd that’s just not worth the extra belt loop. If I were to do it over again, I’d get the rolls, arepas, and plaintains. Then call it a day and move on.
