I had a vendor dinner tonight with two people I happen to really like. After our meeting, we popped online to OpenTable to see what was available.
Of course, since it was a Wednesday night, we had quite a few choices, and JH said he'd like to try Ponzu. I hadn't been there for anything but drinks, so off we went.
Ponzu has an "Asian-inspired" menu with most items tipping their hats to Vietnamese, Japanese and even Indian cuisines. Because of that, we ordered a bottle of Praxis Lodi Viognier '02 ($35). The Praxis is a great example of this grape which can so often be cloying and offensive. It's loaded with honeysuckle and stone fruit on the nose, crisp acidity and the faintest hint of spice on the palate, and a long, clean finish.
We were brought a small basket of shrimp chips and poori, which were fine. To start, we ordered the Garlic Naan Bread ($7) and Chicken Spring Rolls ($9) to share.
The naan was well-flavored, but too pasty inside with not enough tasty burned bits (I don't think they used a wood-burning oven). The accompanying spiced pear chutney was very good, however, and I kept that for our next course. The spring rolls were crisp and not greasy, but bland. There was no seasoning on the filling (which appeared to be 100% shredded chicken), but when wrapped in the butter lettuce, basil and mint, and dipped in the sweet chile sauce, the rolls came to life.
For our mains, we ordered three items plus a side:
- Asian Herb Butterfish w/garlic japanese eggplant, carrots & cipollini onions ($18). I usually love butterfish, but this was overcooked (though not dry) and had lost its unctous richness.
- Masala-Spiced Lamb Kabobs w/raita, cilantro-mint chutney & curried squash ($19). The lamb was delicious and very juicy. The chutney was also great, though I didn't sample the squash. The spiced pear chutney from the naan was really great with this dish.
- Tamarind-Glazed Duck Breast w/bok choy and endive ($21). The glaze was very good, but the duck itself was a bit rubbery.
Overall, nothing was bad, but nothing stood out, either. And everything needed a bit of salt. At the risk of sounding hokey, the food lacked any soul... any passion.
Desserts fared no better. My Cognac Chocolate Torte was treacly sweet, the "torte" gummy and the malted graham cracker crust dry and bland; nowhere was there even the slightest hint of cognac. I did ask for a small scoop of the ginger ice cream, and it was very, very good.
The Fresh Fruit "Sushi" Plate was simple. Fuji apple and kiwi "sashimi", strawberry and banana "nigiri" and green mango and papaya "roll". Aside from the fact that the bananas were old and overripe, this dish was fun and tasty. All desserts were $7.50.
Service was generally very capable, and well-heeled (though we had to refill our wine glasses ourselves).
I think what it comes down to at Ponzu is that the kitchen is bored... or just doing a job. There's no passion in the food or desserts, and they are trying too hard with the gimmicky preps.
