Fat Guy on a Diet

For lunch today, a coworker brought up the idea of going to Zen Thai and Japanese Restaurant on Watson Road.  I’ve been passing the place for over 2 years now, and have always wanted to go, just never really had the opportunity.  I decided to jump on the chance and we went.  I’d previously visited the location years ago when it was a Foxy Red Hots, which no one on my team really cared for.

I was suprised at how much still remained the same at the location.  It seemed they just took out the hot dogs and dropped in Asian cuisine.  (And new employees as well to prepare it all).  Still, the place did seem to be much brighter than I did remember from my previous visit.  Upon seating, I reviewed the menu to see if there was anything on par with my favorite item from Thai Jasmine in O’Fallon, Spicy Vermicelli.  However, none was to be seen.

My coworker recommended the “Drunken Noodles” and I almost decided on that, though I decided to go with a red curry with chicken instead.   I also ordered an interesting appetizer, curry puffs, in order to maximize my first time dining there.  Soon after, the Curry Puffs were delivered with a bowl of Miso soup and two spring rolls.

The Curry Puff was a puff pastry filled with “Curry”… of which type I’m really not sure.  If anything, it almost tasted like a meat pie, but made with a pastry puff, giving it a slightly sweet flavor, mixed in with the slightly bitter flavor of the filling.  It an amazing combination, and well worth the extra few calories.  The miso soup on the other hand was a lukewarm broth that didn’t have much flavor overall, and really could have used some extra spices.   The spring rolls were warm, crisp and flavorful.  If it hadn’t been for the puffs, these would have been my favorite part of the meal so far.

Once we were done with the appetizer, we were presented with our main entrees.  My red curry was well presented, with most of the additions lumped into the center, sitting in a bowl full of the red curry sauce.  The curry itself was very good, though I didn’t find it to be nearly as spicy as I was hoping.  The additions to the curry included fresh basil leaves, bell peppers, and bamboo shoots.  There wasn’t much chicken, and overall, I couldn’t account for more than maybe 2oz total.  Still, the dish was very good overall, and I was impressed.

Lunch:
QTY	Item	Calories
2	Curry Puffs	180
2	Spring Rolls	180
6oz	Miso Soup	50
1 cup	Jasmine Rice	205
	Red Curry w/ Chicken	680
Grand Total:		1295

So, here’s my problem… some of the items I’ve been able to guess using information on the web.  The others, I’m clueless about.  Here’s how you can help!  Comment below and let me know what you think the calorie costs are for both the Curry Puffs and Red Curry with Chicken.  I’ve got my ideas, but I’m really curious to what everyone else thinks.  Once I’ve got a few suggestions, I’ll go ahead and post the final numbers.  I’m sure it’s going to be a slightly expensive meal, as far as calories go, but I’m going to work it off in the gym this evening, and do an extra light dinner.   That should get the day back on track!

So comment away, and let me know how bad (or good) you think this turned out!

UPDATE: Thanks for all the input and advice.  I decided to go on the higher end of the curry scale, 680 due to the size of the portion, as well as to just cover all of the bases.  I also went with the 90 calories each for the curry puffs.  That brings the total for the meal to 1295 calories. That makes it a pretty larger “Non Free-Day” meal.  However, given the size of the other meals and the exercise in the evening, overall, it was a really good day!