We went to Ocean Zen last night with several of Sarah’s cousins that live near Springfield. At their family reunion a few weeks ago we commented that it was funny we had to drive two hours to see each other so we’ve started a semi regular dinner gathering. For some reason there’s a desire to get pins and funny hats – making us like both Rotarians and Shriners. Dinner with the cousins is the perfect dose of Sarah’s family – mainly because when gathered en masse there are nearly 100 of them – overwhelming.
I’ve been to Ocean Zen twice before, but only for lunch. Around the table we had the lamb chops, macadamia nut crusted chicken, sea bass, a salad with salmon, the rib eye and some sushi. My rib eye was great – I especially liked the red onion mashed potatoes. The steak could have been trimmed better, but it was okay. Everybody else really like their food as well. The one thing I noticed with this many different entrees is that Ocean Zen really likes to assemble towers of food on the plate. I’m all for presentation but seriously, I had a pile of mashed potatoes with a steak on top, with two onion rings stuffed with sauteed mushrooms piled on, then some asparagus. All told the top of my food was six inches off the plate (this was common for everything but the sushi).
We finished the night with Sarah’s sister and her husband who are in town for the Cowherd Fourth of July Extravaganza (which is a story all to itself). We went to Patton Alley Pub for drinks. Patton Alley has a very different feel after 10:00 on a Friday than it does during happy hour. Much fun.