Zinqué - DTLA — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I've eaten here twice and prior to writing a poor review, I made sure to give this popular eatery another chance. This was one of the first establishments in DTLA to accommodate streetside outdoor eating options during the pandemic. The trendy high traffic area opened the door to lots of guests in a high vis location.  That said, Zinique always appears busy, and you'll often wait for a table if one is not reserved in the upbeat cheerful outdoor seating area. But, in sharp contrast to the open air bar area just mentioned, the indoor seating is dimly lit with high ceilings and dark walls that make it nearly impossible to ever easily spot dining staff should you desire their attention, which you'll do most all of the time.  But, you won't wait for a table indoors usually! Overall, both visits displayed unimpressive and inattentive staff with zero noticeable management. During my first visit outdoors, we saw our server only two times. Other than putting the order for drinks and food in at once, then allowing my lukewarm subpar drink, ordered off the special bar menu to dissolve, she didn't do much else besides drop the bill. The second visit brought little improvement in skill or service and didn't do much for this review.... so I'll jump to the meals. Both,  equally drab. Both, over priced. The caprese salad ordered outdoor in summer boasted Dennys quality off color Roma tomatoes and the French style dinner had zero French influence that I could see during either visit. Nearly 9 months later, the seasonal smoked salmon carpaccio was as memorable as a frozen meal is and my other half couldn't finish his flavorless panini. (By the way, what's up with the influx of French-claiming-culinary-fraud anyways? Last I checked, both carpaccio and panini are Italian, but I digress)

Regardless, I'm about as motivated to keep writing this review as you should be to visit Zinque DTLA....

We had plans to see a show at the United Theatre next door, so we made 5pm reservations ahead of our 7pm show. This was such an enjoyable evening, and our experience at Zinque was a large part of the nights success.

The restaurant is literally next door to the theatre, so we were able to linger over dinner until just before the show. Proximity 10/10. We parked on the corner of Hill and 9th for $12.

We had a party of 5, and made reservations. We were seated immediately at a great table. My only complaint was the low lighting - the menu was hard to read.

We started with a bottle of wine - a rose (first one listed). It was delicious.

First course was fried artichokes, shrimp and blistered green beans. All were delicious, but the general consensus was the artichokes were the best. I really loved the bright flavor of the shrimp.

For the main course, my husband and I split the steak and fries (it had a fancier French name). Our excellent server recommended the chimichurri sauce which I proceeded to pour on everything. It was fantastic. The fry sauce was also spicy and tangy. I liked this dish more than my husband, but he said the streak was great without the sauce. He would order again. I would definitely order again!

My friend and her sister shared the Coq a vin and it was savory and chock full of vegetables. Everyone tried it and agreed it was fabulous.

Our other dear friend had the grilled salmon over a rice concoction and he said it was excellent. The flavors were well balanced and interesting.

We ordered the broccolini as well and it was perfectly cooked. If you are keen on broccoli it’s worth ordering!

Finally, for dessert we ordered the berry crumble, apple tart and cookie. We also loved them in that order. Everything was devoured.

Our waiter was amazing, I wish I could recall her name. She had wonderful recommendations and...

We were headed to a show at the Ace Theatre so why not try the restaurant about 20 feet from the entrance! Zinqué is a French-ish restaurant serving plenty of vegetarian options, all of which we tried were delicious.

We were tended to by three different servers which, once we understood they share tables was fine, though it seems that they didn't realize that the previous one had already been to us so it was a little confusing, but hey, when you've got an entire staff of people taking care of you all at once, there's nothing really to complain about.

I had the Mezcalita D'ananas Cocktail. Really well mixed without any particular ingredient overpowering the other. It had just the right amounts of smoke, sweet and alcohol tastes on my palette. Delicious drink!

My wife and I shared three dishes, all of which came out quickly:

1. Quinoa, Roasted Beets, Avocado, Grated Carrots, Cilantro Salad - Generous portion size which could easily serve as a meal for one. Perhaps a tiny bit too salty for my tastes, but overall pretty good.

2. Potato Gratin Dauphinois - Classic French potato dish done perfectly. I've made this before and I couldn't have done better than what they served.

3. Broccoli, Spinach, and Green Curry Soup - Unique tasting soup (because of the curry) with a perfect texture...not too thick or thin. We really liked this.

We also finished with Mousse au Chocolate (when in Paris...) This was a nice indulgent add-on. Rich and light. We would have liked more of the cream it was served on but overall really liked it.

There was PLENTY more on the menu in every category for vegetarians so we could see coming back and having a completely different great experience with all new foods.

Well...