Saturday, October 3, 2009

Mazen's

I had a relatively bad dinner at Mazens last year for my birthday so I decided to give them another chance this year. Well one thing has not changed is that the pita is still nuked and delivered in a plastic bag. Bread should not be treated in such a way. Why they continue to do is a mystery? This makes it rubbery and inedible.
To the rescue came my favorite seafood. A softie (soft shell crab) pan sauteed with a nice lemon butter. The taste was wonderful and loaded with meat. I prefer pan sauteed because I feel it intensifies the flavor while fried while crunchy can be greasy if not done properly
This is a cup of the crawfish bisque (cream) Quite nice with great crawfish taste and a medium spice level. Nothing wrong here.
The fish of the day was flounder. Below is Fish with Chipotle Cream with shrimp, crab fingers and crawfish. I got this preparation last year. It came pan toasted (breadcrumbs) which I do not particularly care for. Maybe if I was raised up north were they seem to bread everything I would have liked it better. Also the shrimp and shellfish offered with the dish along with the fish were going bad. Anyway my waiter offered this either pan sauteed or pan toasted. I asked for pan sauteed. Unfortunately my waiter did not know his stuff. Listening to another waiter give the specials at nearby table I found out my waiter not only had left out several specials but was ill informed. This dish comes only pan toasted. Not wanted to create a stir I hoped for the best. That is would come out pan sauteed. Wrong. However overall it was at least 200% better than last year. The shellfish tasted fresh. The flounder was cooked excellently. Also this year there was an abundance of the sauce which made everything much better. Sweet cream with a great kick.
The standard potatoes and haricot vert accompaniment was excellent also
I also got the Grand Mariner souffle although I had difficulty ordering it as the server did not seem to realize it take a significant amount of time to prepare and I did not want to wait until the end of the meal then sit there twiddling my thumbs. Excellent as usual although I think I will get the chocolate souffle next time.
A new addition to the menu is the Turkish coffee. While not a big coffee drinker I love Turkish coffee
Here is the brewing pot. Finely ground coffee with cardamon has steaming hot water poured over it. No filter. You let the grounds steep and settle then you pour the top off.
Overall it was a good experience although it did have it glitches.

http://www.mazens.com/

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