(215) 732-5200
200 S Broad St
Philadelphia,
PA
19102
39.9492
-75.1643
Neighborhoods: Center City West, Center City
Zanzibar Blue
What People Are Saying About Zanzibar Blue
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
In Short – Classy couples, single traveling business folks and jazz nuts sit in the same room eating, sipping champagne and digging the music. Live jazz plays seven nights a week as the kitchen turns out classic Southern cooking, soul food and Latin and French dishes. Menu highlights are warm spinach salad, Portobello mushroom Napoleon, crab cakes and West Indian pollo pan-do (chicken breast, curry, cayenne and coconut rum). Weeknights feature a three-course prix-fixe meal based on a theme.
Upsetting, but I will try again
by brownasian
Personally, my experience was pretty bad. Maybe I chose a bad day, I don't know. My best friend and I were on a mini vacation and wanted to dine somewhere nice. We liked the place, but the service was bad and the dinner wasn't superb. Our cocktails didn't arrive until we were ALMOST done with our dinner! So I thought maybe my Martini would save the evening... NOPE. Even though, we wasn't happy, we're going to give it another try.
Jazz Brunch, NOT!!! Bad Service, Awful Food, 2.5 Hours Wasted
by shootmeok
Came for the brunch without reading any reviews. The "Basket of the Best Breads" was so much less than that, barely enough for two people (2 slices of each bread) at $7.95, missing some of the advertised breads and definitely not warm. The Challah bread was hard as if stale, not pleasurable. In the starters the "Mixed Greens" were minimal and the Overflowing Melon Bowl was anything but, the equivilent of one slice of unripe melon and a dollop of yogurt. The waitress was not even aware that certain items were not available until she put the order in and we had to reconsider our orders. The main dishes did not arrive until we had been there one and a half hours. In the mean time the band was loud, not together (a member was learning the tunes), and played motown soul cover tunes not jazz. When the food finally arrived Huevos Rancheros and Poached Eggs Oscar it was cold. The side of bacon was only 2 slices, and the homefries side was barely the equivilent of a 1/3 of a baked potatoe at $3.95 each. Finally it was time for dessert. The "Homemade Godiva Chocolate Bread Pudding" was replaced by a Brownie, and the "Peach Crisp" by peach cobbler. Neither were good. We came in with an open mind and average expectations, but left disappointed, disgusted, and hungry.
- Pros: Easy to find, Good Location
- Cons: Inattentive staff, Disappointing Food
Awful service, mediocre food
by tskubiak
Though the atmosphere is nice and the jazz for the Sunday brunch is great, the service at this place is atrocious and the food is mediocre at best. The brunch offers a drink, starter, main course, and dessert. 1 hour and 15 minutes after ordering... no starter. No waiter to be found either. We found the manager, they admitted that the waiter cancelled our order in their system, and promised our food would be up right away. Another 15 minutes went by, and we received the starter. Another 30 minutes went by and no main course. We asked the manager again; they promised it was coming. Almost 30 minutes later SOME of our food came out. By the time the rest of the food came, everyone else's was cold. Everything was overcooked and bland. Then we got the bill.... and never received the dessert. We spent 2 1/2 hours there. What a waste of time and money.
The Details on Zanzibar Blue
When to Go:
Go on a Wednesday night for Latin jazz and the killer haute Latin prix-fixe menu.
Category:
Payment Methods:
American Express, Visa, MasterCard
Restaurant Special Features:
Online Reservations, Live Music, Brunch, Prix Fixe Menu
Cuisine:
Smoking Permitted:
Yes







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