Laziza -- Kent, OH

Last night Dave and I met up with our friend Stephanie at Laziza in Kent. Dave and I had been to Laziza a few weeks ago for date night, but only ordered cocktails and appetizers, so I wanted to wait for an actual dinner to give you the full experience. However, I was a bad blogger last night and brought my camera without its necessary SD card, so all of these pictures are from my phone.

Laziza is located in Acorn Alley in downtown Kent. They have valet parking for $5 and are across from the downtown parking deck in Kent. There is also street parking available.  The restaurant serves Mediterranean cuisine in a wide range of appetizers, salads and entrees. They also have an extensive martini list and a full bar.

Here's some of the decor near our table, I was very impressed with their sense of style. Everything tied nicely into the Mediterranean theme. 

Fresh flowers on every table helped to tie everything together. 

There is an upstairs, we didn't go exploring, but I think it would be cool to sit up there and look out over Kent.

I started my meal with the Salted Caramel Macchiato Martini which came with caramel and salt on the rim. Dave ordered a pilsner and Steph ordered a sweet Riesling. We had the drink bases pretty covered.

I'm a big fan of martinis and that is what I will almost always order when I go somewhere, I thought this one was really good. During my last visit I tried the Cuyahoga River martini, which has citrus flavors, and the Animal Cracker Martini. I thought both were good, but since I had already tried a more savory martini last time, I stuck with sweet drinks this time.

Dave and I ordered an appetizer which was the Trio Dip (spicy mayonnaise, hummus and tapenade) served with naan bread.

My favorite two were the hummus and spicy mayonnaise. Dave said he felt weird eating mayonnaise without anything else, so he preferred the hummus and the tapenade. 

We did run out of naan bread, but our server was kind enough to let us know that we could order additional naan bread for an upcharge or finish up our appetizer with complimentary pita bread.

Dave's entree came with a soup or salad, he was debating which one to order when our server recommended the French Onion soup.  

He was right, it was quite good. 

Steph ordered the Blackened Salmon for dinner -- which was served with a butternut squash sauce, butter poached asparagus, tri-colored carrots and topped with spicy remoulade. She ordered an additional side of vegetables to replace the fingerling potatoes that came with the dish. Steph got a salad with her meal as well, which came out after our appetizer and at the same time as Dave's soup.

I chose the Tomato Stack Salad -- two towers of tomato and mozzarella served with a parmesan crisp and topped with pesto, lemon oil and balsamic glaze.

Dave ordered the Vegetable CousCous --  Butternut squash, carrot, chickpeas, peppers, cabbage, turnips, and tomatoes served over couscous.

All three of us really enjoyed our meals. Dave and I had intended to split the salad and his entree. We made it all the way through the salad, but there was no way I could finish half of the couscous. They give you quite a bit of food and after our appetizer (which included naan) I was really full. However, all three of us enjoyed our meals. I thought each one was presented beautifully, the culinary presentation was wonderful. All had good flavors and I thought each was pretty elevated, it was not your traditional restaurant fair there was a level of sophistication and culinary skill to each dish. 

Before we left I ordered one last drink the Brownie Batter Martini. I'm not sure if I preferred this one or the Salted Caramel Macchiato that I started with, it's too close to call a winner.

Overall, I loved the decor, the music played at a nice volume, and Colin gave us excellent service. Dave thought the portion sizes were a little too large, but I don't mind having leftovers and I think all of the bread we consumed with our appetizer was the catalyst for why we couldn't finish our meal.

My rating for Laziza: