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On a windy Wednesday winter evening, Zima is warmly lit and welcoming. As we step into the spacious open-air section, I notice immediately how minimal yet effectively they’ve made use of giving it an appearance of being large enough to be easy on the eye but enough to accommodate a crowd of 12, if they have to. Since there was a bit of a nip in the air, we started off with a steaming cup of cinnamon-y hot chocolate, which was malty and thick, and perfect to generate some warmth.
Our meal commenced with tasting some fresh labneh, which had a pronounced tartness to it but tasted delicious and creamy nevertheless. It was followed up with a Fattouch salad, made with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and toasted pita bread. Even though there was more than a generous sprinkling of the tangy Middle Eastern kryptonite – sumac, the salad retained its crunch and freshness. We also ordered the Grilled Halloumi salad, which was passable.
Trio Of Hummus
A trio of hummus was brought out to the table and served with pillowy soft pita bread. The delicious and garlicky Hummus Beiruti came out tops for us, for it had a combination of savouriness, a sharp hit of the pickle to cut through the richness as well as well-balanced flavours. Another fantastic discovery at Zima was their Za’atar Saj, a crispy Middle Eastern flatbread with an almost biscuit-like base, topped liberally with za’atar. We were a little disappointed to know that some of the items we requested, like the Zima Grilled Fish, wasn’t on the menu.
Moving to the mains, there was a mellow-spiced and buttery soft Kafta Lahm, a lamb kebab cooked with onions and fresh coriander. The Yemeni Chicken Mandi, which was a serving of spiced rice that nestled two generous portions of tender and juicy chicken, came with a spicy daqoos sauce and a small bowl of stock. While the chicken was tender and cooked to perfection, the rice has much scope for improvement as it uses the sauce as a crutch to possess flavour of any kind. The Grilled Prawns were also a miss since they were flame grilled to the point of having a rubbery texture.
Although Zima does have vegetarian options on the menu, the fare is just good enough to be palatable. What Zima does well, it does exceptionally fantastic and what it doesn’t, leaves a lot to be desired. Our meal ended with a supple and custard-like Crème Brulé, a moist Milk Cake and the sickly sweet Baklava, which can be skipped, if you ever decide to visit this place. Zima is perfect for first dates or a quiet working dinner (as the music levels were kept to a bare minimum) or if you’re just looking to hang out in a relaxed, open space that instantly transports you to a tropical vacation.
