When another couple asked for a recommendation for new spot to go for dinner, we thought The Consulate would be a great choice. On our other visit we really liked the vibe, the food was delicious, plus sharing tapas would give us lots to choose from. The special country that half the menu would focus on was Zambia. I have never been, so I had no idea about the cuisine and was excited to try. We were a little concerned about the spiciness of the Zambian cuisine, but there was zero to worry about, it was more about flavors than spiciness.

We ordered a few items from the Zambia side of the menu and some from the regular.

The Cucumber Mango Salad ($12) included red onion, cilantro, baby spinach, cherry tomato, cumin, cinnamon, peanuts, clove, sprinkled with lime juice. This refreshing dish boasted both tangy and flavorful components and would have been much better with riper and sweeter mangoes. Given the under-ripeness of the main ingredient I can only rate this a 7.

The Sauteed Chinese Eggplant ($10) was served with red pepper, basil, garlic in a ginger sauce. The eggplant was ultra-soft from the sautée, while the red pepper strips were firm and crisp. I really liked the combination with the ginger sauce. I rate this dish an 8.

The Piri Piri Roasted Cauliflower ($12) was a simple head of cauliflower sprinkled with smoke paprika, rosemary, garlic and oil. You take a knife and cut into sections and enjoy. This was our favorite of the appetizers with the crispiness of the stalks and the pungent toppings. I give this a 9

We moved to the larger plates and we ordered a few. Unfortunately, several were not in the same league as the smaller plates.

My favorite was the Korean Pulled Duck Confit ($17), which was served a la tartare in a cylindrical shaped mound with a few crostinis. It included slowly cooked pork with chunks of butternut squash, dried cranberries, garlic, scallions, encased in a Korean bbq sauce. The flavors were incredibly rich and I would order again. One person at the table thought the sauce was a little too sweet. I rate this dish a 9.

The dish from Zambia we ordered was Zambezi Chicken Cutlet ($14) served with crushed peanuts and topped with an African Groundnut sauce. This was a basic breaded cutlet with a little sauce on top. I was underwhelmed by the dish but the sauce was interesting for a 6.

The only two dishes were really not to my liking.

The Char Siu BBQ Pork ($12) was oven roasted, with five-spice powder and served with a dark honey glaze. This dish should not have left the kitchen. There was so much fat and sinew in our pieces, it was either a big seller and we received the left-overs or the kitchen did not notice the poor slices. The sauce was delicious though and I will give it a 3 for the sauce.

The other non-recommended dish is the Pan Fried Shrimp Dumplings ($11) stuffed with both Chinese Black Fungus Wood Ear and Shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, carrots, celery, ginger and served with a sauce. The highlight of the dish was the wrappers, which were excellent, but the stuffing was tasteless and was screaming for an identity. I also rate this a 3.

After reading other reviews we expected, found and accepted, and will confirm we experienced many during our visit.  We were 20 minutes late getting seated and the hostess was not transparent in her assessments. The service during the meal was incredibly slow, with long pauses before we started and at several intervals. Our server, though, was very good, she knew the menu inside-out, made recommendations and checked in often, as did the manager. We will definitely return to the Consulate, we loved the vibe and most of the food.