Zen Forrest

Editor's pick

4148 Rowan Road, New Port Richey, FL 34653

(727) 372-9545

http://zenforrest.com/

Categories: Restaurant

Cuisine: Asian

Features: Catering

Cost range: 10.01-20.0

Payment options: Credit cards accepted

Alcohol: Beer and wine only

More in this neighborhood: West Pasco

It is a rarity: A lovely strip mall restaurant opened in a gastronomically timid town, Zen Forrest serves gripping pan-Asian cuisine and is alive five years later to tell the tale. There are reasons for that. Victor Wang is passionate about what he does, strutting his stuff in ambitious monthly prix fixe dinners. In the mix are Asian street foods paired with microbrews and imports, or a classic Peking duck dinner. The rest of the time, he gives his growing fan base what it wants. He does a gorgeous classic fried rice, the salty-soy vibe balanced by matchstick lengths of sweet barbecued pork, but he also offers the locals fiery Korean kimchee that he makes himself and then mixes with shredded pork for bokkum bap, a zingy-garlicky Korean spin on fried rice. He's pushing the envelope.