Fusion has always been a big thing in Manhattan, as we get excited to see what two types of cuisine will gel together best up and down the streets of NYC. ZenTaco, a new spot that recently opened in the Upper West Side, takes Asian and Latin cuisine and blends them beautifully onto several different taco choices for you to really enjoy.
The Upper West Side has always been one of my favorite areas of the city to chow down in, as several of their restaurants are moderate in size but make up for that with their incredibly diverse menus that will satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
ZenTaco might just be one of their new hotspots in 2018, if they play their cards right. The menu is broken up into run of the mill appetizers for you to indulge prior to ordering their line of tacos. A classic that I would recommend, that is more on the Asian side, is their Crispy Wontons with duck sauce and a spicy mustard sauce. Simple, but packs a great bite with some sweet and hot options on the side.
For the tacos, bowls or noodles, you have several different prepared options to try from or you can build your own. The tacos come in a set of three, and the bowls are a bit more self-explanatory. If you are building from scratch, you have your choice to stay on the Mexican side and do a taco, or have your options on as Asian bun. Should you go the noodle route, their Cold Soba noodle bowl will do the trick.
The two prepared taco options that we tried packed sweetness on one, and spiciness on the other, with both working really incredibly. The Crowd Pleaser was the latter of the two in terms of spiciness. It came with Chicken, pico de gallo, queso fresco, chipotle mayo and pickled onions. There was a good amount of heat from them, although it could’ve used something to cool that down. Overall, it was a big and tasty bite.
The other, which was more on the Asian side, was their Miss Piggy, which came with Pork, zesty orange, Asian slaw, ponzu and sesame seeds. I preferred this one as I liked the flavors better, in particular the zesty orange that soaked up some of the bun and was really tasty. Overall, this was a great spot to go to and one that should be on your pre or post holiday binge list.
For more information on ZenTaco, please check out their official website.