Zula, Cincinnati (OTR)

I was back in Cincinnati for work but this time for a much shorter trip all the while I was still able to try one new restaurant! It was a bistro specializing in Mediterranean flavors and wine! A friend raved about the mussels so while I already knew my friend Lindsey and I were sharing a pot of those we had many other small plates to choose from. If you happen to love bacon this would be an especially good place for you since it was included in many of the dishes. We started out with the Plancha Mushrooms with smoked bacon, scallions, lime, & cilantro. The Yellow Fin Tuna Crudo with tomatoes, avocado, citrus, & Serrano peppers; I just loved the spiciness of the peppers and coolness of the raw fish. The Roasted Beet Salad with bleu cheese, herb salad, pistachios, & beet vinaigrette. The beet on beet flavors was cool to see since I would never think to do that myself. Then we pigged out on the Mediterranean Mussels the broth included scallions, Serrano peppers, garlic confit, lemon, parsley, mint, & sun-dried tomatoes. We ordered a side of bread too and were able to soak up all the soup we wanted, literally two meals in one! We shared a bottle of Kermit Lynch Côtes du Rhône, which may have been a little heavy for what we were having but we both enjoyed it since we tend to prefer heavier/ earthier wines! We finished the meal with a dessert that was out of this world. The Raspberry Marsala Cake was both light and sweet. It came with mascarpone cream and vanilla bean panna cotta. While both Lindsey were polite this is a dish you want the last bite of! We came on a week night so it wasn’t too busy and the waitress was great, she never loaded our table with too many dishes at once. The parking was a little problematic due to construction but besides that I wouldn’t say there were a whole lot of cons.