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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Brand new restaurant review: Zebu Grill

Hi, I have a unique restaurant review for you today: (although almost everything can be that way here, in unique New York, try saying that five times in a row)
Zebu Grill
305 E. 92nd St.
New York NY
4.25 stars out of 5

It is not often that I eat at a Brazilian restaurant, I am not an expert in their cuisine and there seems to be a lack of this type of food in New York City. Therefore, when I went to Zebu Grill, I had my mind open and was ready for a gourmet adventure. My friend and I split two appetizers: Enroladinhos (3 Brazilian spring rolls filled with shrimp and crab meat with a spicy mango sauce on the side), and
Costelinha de Porco (baby spare ribs with a blood orange, ginger & coffee bean glaze. The spring rolls were crisp and delicious, and were a perfect match for the spicy mango sauce. I really enjoyed the spare ribs, they were extremely tender and almost fell off the bone. In addition, their sauce was sweet with a little kick of spice and was very tasty. For my entree, I tried a tilapia special, sautéed and accompanied with an acai sauce, julienne vegetables, and yucca puree. The fish was great, it was seasoned just the right amount and the acai sauce surprisingly gave it a great flavor. (acai, for those who don’t know, is a South-American berry, which is small and black-purple, it resembles a grape and some say it has great importance for different aspects of health). While the vegetables were fresh and well-cooked, I disliked the yucca because it was very dense and dry. For dessert, I decided on passion Brulee topped with caramelized bananas. This was outstanding, the bananas were crunchy and sweet, while the custard was light with the definite flavor of passion fruit.
This restaurant was more expensive than I had thought, I would warn anyone going to Zebu Grill to consider that fact. The meal was truly superb for the most part, however I am hesitant to recommend it without the understanding that there probably are other Brazilian restaurants that don’t cost as much. For the record, my friend ordered Feijoada, which is Brazil's national dish: lean cuts of beef, pork & sausages in a black bean stew. He really enjoyed it, I even tasted a little and it was great, and I might try it at the next Brazilian restaurant that I try. Regardless of the price, I definitely recommend that you try out this restaurant, or at the least, have a taste of this delicious cuisine. Well, thanks for reading, please let me know what you thought of my review.
Dan