Z Teja’s
535 Bellevue Square
8th & Bellevue Way
Bellevue, WA 98004
The northern-most restaurant in a chain opened by Jack Gilmore, their founding corporate chef, offers a southwest twist on American fusion cuisine. The spice and smoke heavy menu draws extensively on seafood and pork with the occasional Asian curveball with steak and chicken as usual mainstays. Choosing to dine alone on a Monday night allowed for a laid-back and conversational wait staff and general atmosphere, though a weekend is much busier. For dinner the cast-iron skillet dumplings, which the menu describes as “a sizzling skillet of shrimp-and-pork dumplings, served with a red-chili ginger dipping sauce,” were served as described, piping hot and created a spectrum of texture as the wrappers were both softly boiled and fried crispy; inside the savory flavor of the ground smoked pork supports the softer flavors of the shrimp. The dipping sauce offsets the deep taste of the meat with a sweet start and a zip that lingers. Following the dumplings, a swing was taken at one of the Asian curveballs; the miso salmon, “a filet with miso glaze, served with pan-seared mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans and carrots” arrived well arranged and equally hot as the dumplings. Once slightly cooler, the medium-rare fish was an excellent blend of flavor with the salty miso. The mashed potatoes, while well presented, were flabby and lacked substance. They would have been better with a cream flavor such as yogurt or sour cream to offset the salt and spice of the fish and sauce. The green beans were well flavored unfortunately the carrots were julienned so thin, it arrived overcooked and soggy. With the highest priced item on the menu at just under twenty-five dollars, a full service bar and a selection of equally inventive desserts, Z Teja’s makes a good stop for a night out when a big budget is not in order, such as a movie night or casual date.
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