Had brunch today at Zest, a new restaurant in DC’s Eastern Market neighborhood.
In terms of appearance, it’s a very peppy (zesty, perhaps?) place, with plenty of natural light and an upbeat soundtrack of pop tunes playing at a respectable level in the background. But that’s about as far as I can take the compliments.
And yes, writing “pop tunes” made me feel old.
Being greeted by the surliest bartender in all of the nation’s capital wasn’t the greatest beginning to the experience. But after my other friends arrived we took our seats at a spacious window table, away from his mean glare.
Browsing over the somewhat limited brunch menu, I went for the country ham, cheddar, onion, and pepper omelet served with home fries and toast. It was rather bland. Picture a road. On one side of the road is Flavor Country. On the other side of the road is Chewing Plastic Country. Zest’s omelet was perfectly in the middle of said road. The pepper was the only thing giving the omelet anything resembling identity, and the country ham had clearly spent too long in the sun as it had turned a grim black color.
The three friends I dined with gave similar opinions on their dishes, thumbs neither up nor down. Still, Zest is a new place. Maybe they’re working out the kinks — minor fixes like making the food stand out or having friendly staff.