Zot is a fairly new Belgian restaurant to grace the Philadelphian scene. We weren’t sure, but we think it opened earlier this year. Located on an unfortunate block of Lombard near South Street, it serves “belgian food by a belgian chef”. The place is very attractive. You can definitely tell they spent a lot of money on the construction and decoration. Located in an old rowhouse, there’s a wine bar and piano in the first room, the regular bar in the second room, and then just dining at the back.
We got there fairly early on a Sunday, so for awhile, we were the only patrons in the place. Everybody had a beer before we were seated, but I was not partaking that evening. They do have a tremendous beer selection. They’d better, after all, it is belgian. The tableware was also attractive. The water glasses slant sideways. The silverware is freakishly long and different.
L was a brave one. She went with the sweetbreads. I forget what kind of sauce she picked. She picked the stoemp with leeks. I’d never had sweetbreads before, so this was a real treat. To my surprise, I liked it!
So that left me, and I went with mussels. I picked the “snob” mussels, which are made with lobster bisque, cream, and cognac. I only got the 1/2 kilo but there were plenty of mussels for me. And they weren’t puny either. There was a good mix of sizes and some were quite large. I enjoyed them a lot. In fact, I really enjoyed all the food that night.
So the service is lacking. Seriously. They don’t fill your water much. They do the first time and then leave wine bottles filled with water on the table so you can refill. But they don’t check to see if you need any more. Like I said before, they also don’t give you more bread. They also don’t really bother to check if your food is ok. And they certainly don’t seem to care if you get the food that you order. And don’t get me started on the check. I don’t know how long we had to wait until they picked up our check, and getting change, even that was a hassle.
It’s a pretty restaurant. It has pretty servers. The food is pretty. But really, it’s missing something. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s just too much show and not enough substance. It’s all very pretty, but underneath it all, you see some homeliness. They definitely need to step up their game because Zot could be so much better. It has so much potential, but it has to follow through. Otherwise, you’re going to keep reading reviews like mine.
