I'll just be here, eating a poppadom, laughing at the table. The things we do for that 'gram pic or I do anyway. So there I am at Zen Metro, loving life and eating every vegan option I could. I last reviewed Zen in 2016 and I have been a couple of times since. Just not as many times as I'd like. So getting invited to go and try it out again, was a blessing. I took my fellow Thai food lover, my madre, with me. I'm gonna get this out of the way now, this meal was complimentary in exchange for a review but my opinions are my own. Ok, onto the good stuff.
The venue is really pretty, I love the different accents of colour, cherry blossom tree in the centre of the restaurant. I'll let you decide if it's real or not. Mirrors and use of glass. There's a bar area, which leads to the restaurant area. It's very picturesque and great for a first date. We even saw a few on a Wednesday night, imagine that. On to the food...
Starting with the Vegan Starter Platter of dreams that contained spring rolls, veg tempura, papaya salad and tofu skewers. It retails for £13.95 and everything in it was awesome. The veg tempura had the lightest batter with crunchy veg, the tofu skewers contained a spicy basil sauce that was tangy and delicious and the spring rolls had a lovely mix of silver noodles, black mushroom, carrots and cabbage, lemon leaf. The papaya salad was nutty and spicy, which made for a delightful combo. I would happily have that all again. Pretty good value for the price.
I was intrigued by the Coconut Soup (£5.95) (Tom Kha Kai) on the menu, so had to try that too. It's described as a mild, tamer twist on Tom Yum,this soup infuses fiery chilies, thinly sliced young galangal, crushed shallots, stalks of lemongrass and tofu topped with fresh lime leaves. A beautiful starter!
Starting with the Green Curry (£9.95), which contains coconut milk, bamboo shoots, green beans and fresh basil leaves with broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, baby corn, courgette and aubergine. This is the perfect combo of sweet, spicy and creamy. The kind of dish that tastes even better the day after and has just the right amount of vegetables and sauce. Please note it does not come with rice or noodles. This is my favourite curry that they do.
Next up, it's the Yellow Curry (£9.95), this contains fine beans, mushroom, tofu, peas and crop aubergine. Again, another lovely curry that's sweet and creamy. Not very spicy either. I love the inclusion of peas, such a clever and great addition to the curry.
To go alongside the curries, I had Coconut Rice (£3.95) and my madre had Steamed Jasmine Rice (£3.25). Both were lovely, had creaminess and the perfect sticky portion of goodness.
The last of the curries that we tried off the vegan menu at Zen Metro was the Jungle Curry (£9.95), which contained baby corn, red onion, cherry tomato, winter melon, poku and straw mushrooms. I didn't like this one as much as the others. It just didn't have the same depth of flavour or creaminess and it was a little too runny. I would prefer the yellow or green curry but that's just my personal preference.
Another star of the show was the Pad Thai (£9.95). It's like Wagamama who? Really lovely dish. Lots of vegetables, flavour and nuts. I like the sweet and sour of the tamarind sauce in particular. Plus beansprouts are my favourite, so this is always good to have in a dish. Another MUST HAVE, alongside the Green Curry and Yellow Curry.
Can you believe that they have a vegan dessert that isn't sorbet?! They had a Chocolate Fudge Cake (£6.95), which reminded me of the cake in Matilda. You know the one that Bruce eats the the whole cake of? Yeah, that one. Amazingly rich. Would have been great warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream but still one of the best vegan dessert options in Birmingham.
Overall, this was a great revisit to Zen Metro. it reminded how good the place is and it's nice to see how the vegan options have developed. The staff were also in the know and the waitress we had was amazing.
**I was invited to the eatery to review their vegan options. My views are my own but the meal was paid for by the venue, in exchange for this review**
Would I go back? Yes, for the Pad Thai and Green Curry for sure
How did they cope with the vegan dietary requirement? Easily, on a vegan menu and with staff that knew the vegan options well
What are the prices like? This meal was around £80 for 3 currys, pad thai, 2 sides of rice and 2 desserts.
What is eatery best for? Date nights, catch ups with friends and dinner with family on a special occasion.
Hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know if you're been on any of my social media channels and what you thought
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