Zest Restaurant is located at the Novotel Darwin Atrium, on the Esplanade. Upon arrival our waiter didn't give us the opportunity to choose between being seated outside, in the humidity, or inside in air-conditioning; we were immediately taken outside to the patio. However, we asked if we could be sat inside, I for one wanted the pleasure of air-conditioning and adequate lighting.
Main meals range from $18 - $39. Breads, $8 - $10. Entrees, $14 - $19. Desserts, $11 - $20
The menu displays vegetarian, gluten free or healthy options and also advertises flexibility when ordering; you may ask the chef to adapt meals to suit.
Zest offers a range of Australian and New Zealand wines.
Our waiter suggested we try the "Paprika Soup" ($9) as one of our entrees. It's very odd that a soup would be named after a spice. We were originally informed that it had potato and bacon; we found that it contained mushrooms, bacon and onion. Its texture was thick, it lacked garnish and did not look appealing. It came with a slice of toasted bread. I was disappointed with the soup's mild flavour. Unfortunately, the soup had been served in a cold plate and arrived barely lukewarm, it was returned to the kitchen to be heated up.
We all enjoyed the Jalapeño Bread ($10); served with tomato salsa, sour cream and guacamole. We delved into it before I could get a clean photo.
The Grilled Tandoori Chicken Skewers with Mesculin Salad and Raita, ($14), was a good choice; it was moist, fell apart in your mouth and had lots of flavour. It looked great and was worth purchasing. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of this entree.
We'd had a rough start to our meal, with the soup entree having to be returned to the kitchen, and hoped that the rest of the meals would improve. Alas, this was not to be.
When my Fettuccine, ($22) arrived I was astonished. It looked flat, there wasn't an awful lot in the plate, and there were components of the recipe missing. It was advertised as having zucchini, rocket, basil, tomatoes, lemon and pine nuts. My meal, however, had no rocket, lemon or pine nuts. The meal wasn't very hot as it had been served in a cold plate.
At this stage the Team Leader came to our table to find out what our concerns were, he then scurried off to the kitchen to attempt to improve on our situation. When he returned he informed me that they had "run out of pine nuts and rocket". He offered me the chance to order something else off the menu, however I chose to stick with the Fettuccine as there was nothing else that appealed to me. As he left our table the waiter came out with the next plate of Fettuccine for me, this time there was a lot more in the plate and it had some broccoli mixed through it. This one was also served in a cold plate and lost its heat quickly. The waiter informed me that the "rocket" was in the meal, I did find one piece of greenery that could have possibly been rocket. But still no lemon or pine nuts! As for the flavour, predominantly Parmesan, I could not taste any Basil. The lemon and pine nuts would have made a huge difference to the flavour of this meal.
The Thai Beef Salad, ($18) came with rice noodles, chilli, basil, mint, cashew nuts and nam jim dessing. This salad looked great, it had been served with ample height, had plenty of colour and interest.
Upon ordering we had enquired as to what type of fish was being used and were told it was Barramundi. We enquired further as to whether it was farmed or wild Barramundi. Our waiter informed us it was wild. We waited with eager anticipation, as not too many restaurants are using wild barramundi these days.
Market Fresh Fish, ($29) with crispy herb batter, panzanella salad, saffron aioli grilled lime and potato cris; this meal looked appealing. The fish was white which led us to believe it definitely was wild. I tried a piece of panzanella and found it rather chewy. (Panzanella is usually made from stale bread which has been toasted; it soaks up the flavours of the dressing). Unfortunately the batter overpowered the fish.
Steamed Baby Vegetables, ($8) were ordered to complement our meals. We suggest that Zest changes the name of this to 'Steamed Vegetables' as they definitely were not baby carrots or baby zuchinni.
We decided to order desserts; we wanted to give them another chance to get it right. We ordered the Chocolate Decadence, Bourbon and Date Pudding, and Mixed Berry Cheesecake. The Team Leader came back to us and explained that a mistake had been made with the cheesecake, it had been "put into the freezer instead of the fridge when it was brought in", and hence it was frozen. We ended up ordering the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta instead.
Chocolate Decadence, an array of chocolate delights arranged with berries and soft chocolate anglaise, $18. We were disappointed with this dessert; the white chocolate had coconut sprinkled in it, the dark chocolate had almond slivers which had not been toasted. This was a dessert that any one of us could have quickly put together ourselves at home. There was very little on the plate and we informed the Team Leader that we felt this dessert was a waste of our money.
Zest Bourbon and Date Pudding, with ice cream, fresh strawberries and bourbon caramel, $14. The pudding was light and delicious. Perhaps a bit more bourbon would be nice as it was extremely hard to taste, but apart from that we really enjoyed this dessert.
Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with hibiscus, champagne jelly and candied star fruit, $12. We were informed that the hibiscus was not available; we were asked if it was alright for them to substitute it with star fruit. This dessert was already advertised with candied star fruit, but was still served with only the one piece. We did however enjoy this dessert.
As we looked around the restaurant we noted the tables were covered in heavy white tablecloths that looked like they needed a good starch and iron. A freshly starched and ironed tablecloth will instantly dress up a restaurant giving it an upscale atmosphere. If Zest was to take just a little more care with their table presentation it would make a world of difference.
The service was adequate; we were attended to promptly, our water filled often. The waiter was pleasant and chatted amiably; he made us feel welcome.
The management, 'Team Leader', was very apologetic and offered drinks on the house. A pity he didn't go further and offer for the three of us to come back and experience a better meal all round at a discounted price. He spent quite a bit of time at our table trying to placate us, a little too much time in my opinion.
We were advised that the "executive chef" was in the kitchen keeping an eye on the newer chefs. I was quite amazed with this statement. How could an executive chef allow meals to go out nearly cold? And how could an executive chef not inform staff that certain components of a meal were not available? And worse, how could an executive chef allow a meal to be served when several of its components were missing? And what executive chef would train their staff to serve hot food on cold plates?
Overall a disappointing experience.
