Bar Snacks Menu Changes at bluezoo

… and we’re here to taste and explore (again)

We went over to bluezoo on Monday night to check out the changes to the bar snacks menu.

Let’s start with a few items that didn’t leave the menu…

• Crispy Calamari … cajun remoulade, fried pickles, shallot rings (these are great)
• Classico Flatbread… roasted tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, torn basil (is this different from Olive’s Classico Flatbread?)
• Charcuterie Board… daily selection of cured meats, house pickles, mostarda, crispy ciabatta
• Crab Nachos… lump crab, black beans, pico de gallo, cherry peppers

So what’s gone? Two items that we really liked and one that was good (but not a favorite of ours)…

• Togarashi Hot Dog…  kim chee collard greens slaw and pickled mustard seeds
• Clam Belly and Bacon Flatbread… the name says it all
• Brisket Burger… (I can’t find a description easily)

They were replaced with three new items, and we’ve had them all!

• Mushroom & Fontina Flatbread (we tried the mushroom & fontina flatbread earlier in the month)… roasted mushrooms, fontina cheese, mushroom cream, calabrian pepper vinaigrette
• Pork Belly Bahn Mi “Sandwich”… korean BBQ glaze, pickled carrots, cilantro, yucca fries
• Fish & Chips (the fish changes, it isn’t always cod or haddock for example)… beer battered fish, craft beer vinegar aioli, salt and vinegar fries, house pickles

I’ll start with the Mushroom & Fontina Flatbread… Chef Bobby brought this out for us while they were still in the experimenting stage. Our flatbread had truffle oil on it, but it isn’t included on the final version. The mushroom cream (I called it mushroom ketchup)… our full review is available here. Serious umami. Very nice flatbread for us mushroom lovers (and possibly even some willing to be converted to mushroom lovers from mushroom likers).

Next up, the first thing we tried on Monday night was the Pork Belly Bahn Mi – Chef Ryan had spoke of it with a lot of pride when we were in last Friday for a look at the dining room menu. There is a korean BBQ glaze, pickled carrots, cilantro, slivered green onion, all served on house made pumpernickel with yucca fries. (We later asked Chef Bobby what the powder was on the yucca fries, he said it was garlic powder… it was POWDER not like the stuff you keep in the cupboard at home).

I REALLY liked the yucca fries. This dish is another example of “at bluezoo, get some of everything in your bite!” This was great, nick usually turns his nose up at cilantro, but this was so well-balanced that he was really impressed and said he could eat this all day long. The lightness of the pickled carrot and the green onion was perfect for the richness of the pork belly. The glaze wasn’t as spicy as we expected, given that it contains korean chile paste… it had quite a few sweet notes. The pumpernickel was nicely toasted and had a nice richness. DEFINITELY a do again for the two of us.

Chef Bobby had spoken to  us earlier about what we planned to try, when we said Fish & Chips, he said “Oh, they’re going to change your ideas of what fish & chips are!” We asked him to recommend a beer since the fish are beer battered and there is a beer vinegar aioli… We talked about it some and decided on Mama’ Lil’ Yella Pils.

The fish tonight was mero (hawaiian fish) – a lot of GBD (golden brown deliciousnesss) going on.

My first taste was “yum, happy!” Nick really liked both the salt & vinegar fries and the fish.

I fell in love with the salt & vinegar fries (well, I love salt and I love vinegar).

Now, this isn’t like any fish and chips we’ve had before (oh yes, the beer paired nicely)… not like what you get in Epcot nor what we got in Newcastle, England this summer… Really good in it’s own right and we’re interested to see what the dish is like with different fish.

Midway through our tastings, Chef Ryan brought out a surprise for us. He had read in a previous blog post that we really like lamb. (It was a compliment to find out that Chef Ryan reads our reviews and that he would take the time to share something that he created with us.) I knew from following him on twitter that he’d been making a lot of sausages (different kinds). I didn’t know that one of them (at least) contained lamb … and A5 Waygu Beef… combined with moroccan spices… stuffed in lamb casings… thus, it is lamb and waygu marguez… O-h M-y…

I’d heard of parmesan broth but had never tasted it. It was completely new to nick, I think he’s over the moon about it. It was light and the perfect essence of parmesan cheese. The clear vegetable on top of the sausage is the pickled fennel, another new item that we both fell in love with.

My first comment tasting the sausage “that’s damn good sausage” and nick said “that sausage is da bomb”. It was very lean and very flavorful (usually, when we’ve had marguez it’s been greasy or oily, the way that good pepperoni is). Our biggest congratulations to Chef Ryan  on this creation. We look forward to tasting more sausages <wink, wink, nod, nod> 🙂

All-in-all, another delightful evening at bluezoo. Can hardly wait until we go back next week with Lisa & Andy (shhh, it’s their wedding anniversary).

Thanks for looking and listening,

Nora