This week's restaurants: Salazar, Mazunte, Metropole and The Rookwood

Wow, was I lucky this past week in the array of places we ate out.

Salazar Appetizers

Last Tuesday evening my husband & I along with two of our friends tried SALAZAR, one of the newest additions to the Gateway Quarter (aka Over-the-Rhine) downtown Cincinnati neighborhood.
It's a very small and noisy dining room, even early on a Tuesday night. Everyone enjoyed the food, although I must say that my favorite tastes there came in liquid form: an excellent Old Fashioned and then a delicious glass of French chardonnay. Food wise, my buccatini pasta entree was too dry and light on sauce and clams, although I did enjoy my appetizer of shrimp seviche..And all my companions raved about a house-made black cherry and pistachio ice cream.

Pasta at Salazar -- needed more sauce!

Given the hype surrounding this new, chef-owned restaurant, it left me slightly disappointed--but not enough so not to return sometime.
The next day I met my friend for lunch at MAZUNTE, which is as good at tacos as anywhere else in town. But I tried enchiladas this time, and they were fine (but not as tasty as the tacos from the previous visit).

Mazunte Salsa Bar

Over the weekend we had tickets to a couple of performances downtown and wanted to dine out before or after. Friday night we ate at METROPOLE in the 21C Hotel, and as always there we liked the menu choices, the drinks, and the execution of the dishes. I ordered two salads instead of getting an entree, and then indulged in dessert -- vanilla custard parfait, they called it, although it didn't really seem like a typical parfait with various layers of flavors.

Metropole Dessert

And finally, Saturday night after a play we sat outside on the large deck at The Rookwood restaurant in Mt. Adams. I went vegetarian with a salad and then grilled eggplant for an entree -- nicely done -- and a couple of cocktails from one of the best cocktail makers in the region.

Veggie appetizers @ The Rookwood

Yes, he had a burger!

Pre-Theater Dinner @ Zula's (OTR)

We prefer eating at the bar rather than in a dining room at this lively spot on the edge of Washington Park. Here's a shot of our delicious appetizers -- haricots verts salad (with hearts of palm, roasted garlic, roasted tomatoes and frisee) and cured Scottish salmon. Then we split a mushroom flatbread, with drinks of course, before heading out to catch "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" at the Shakespeare Theater.

If you haven't tried Zula's yet, you need to. Here's a link to their website.

Eating at the bar @ Zula's (OTR)

We had tickets to see the new conductor with the Cincinnati Symphony on Friday night; beforehand, with no dinner reservations, we luckily snagged two seats at the bar at Zula's Bistro.
It was perhaps our third or fourth meal there, and this was one of the best.
The bar scene was lively -- and by the time we left to walk to Music Hall, beyond lively to rather insanely crowded.

Zula's bar

Both the drinks (well designed and executed cocktails) and the food were truly spot-on. We each had one of the seviche-type seafood starters, or small plates -- mine was tuna, his salmon. I had a salad with haricots verts, olives, and a few slices of hearts of palm, while he ordered a vegetarian flatbread. That turned out to be so large (and delicious) that I helped him finish that rather than order another plate.

Tuna with avocado and Serrano chili

The wine choices combine the more familiar with some adventurous, less commonly available glasses.
All in all, it was a way fun start to the evening.
And the concert was fabulous!
Zula is at 1400 Race Street and is open for dinner every night except Sunday. 

The Anchor: Excellent new dining option downtown

The Anchor opened on Race Street facing Washington Park in mid-September. My husband and two of our friends had a chance to try it for dinner on Saturday, and we were all completely delighted by this new spot. (No website yet, but they do have a Facebook page.)

The restaurant is in one of the brand-new buildings along the park -- ground floor for some upscale condos. However you may feel about the gentrification of that part of OTR (I like it), this restaurant will be a godsend for Music Hall patrons, who up until now have had zero places to eat within walking distance, which means eating somewhere else, getting in your car, parking and making it to an 8 PM show. Now you can arrive early, get a choice parking spot, and have a lovely time at The Anchor before the symphony, ballet, opera or other event.
As the name suggests, the menu is almost entirely seafood, and it's a small menu of perhaps five appetizers, 3-4 salads, and less than a dozen main courses--the latter of which includes a couple of hearty, filling and less-expensive sandwiches. Our friend had a trout sandwich on thick bread with a bacon aoili; it came with a pile of fried onion rings and amounted to a meal that would satisfy even the biggest appetite. She shared the onion rings and took half the sandwich home.
My husband and I both had the "filet fish of the day," which was a fresh water bass, nicely grilled and set on top of a salad of avocado, corn and other ingredients that melded together beautifully with the buttery fish (that's my dish in the photo).

Fish filet entree at The Anchor

There were rich choices and virtuous ones on the menu, which is a great thing in my book.
The house also features a few interesting cocktail concoctions and a short but well chosen wine list.
We'll be back!!
The Anchor is open Tuesday - Saturday from 5 PM for dinner, and will start serving lunch this coming Thursday - Saturday.