Mondays are no fun — it's back to the grind after two short days of rest. To extend your weekend a bit longer, check out Mojito Mondays at Zengo.

Zengo is Japanese for “give and take” or “back and forth,” and at Zengo the give and take is between the flavors and tastes of East and West. Nowhere is the meeting of Asian meets Latin American cuisine more evident than in the mojito menu. The restaurant offers three different house mojitos and a rotating fourth special mojito each week.

Bar manager Kelly Berger says mojitos are gaining popularity, and she has even been trying different spirits in this usually rum-based drink. For example, she's created both “Tequilajitos” and “Sakijitos” — again showing off their Asian-Latin convergence.

The first of the three main mojitos is Traditional Mint, which is light and minty, but not overly sweet, and tastes like full-blast air conditioning on a hot summer day. The second is the Guava. Although similar to the traditional, the guava juice turns the drink pink in color and the overal sip is slightly sweeter. The Mango Mojito tips the scales the other direction to the tangy side, more yellow in color, but still maintains that cooling mojito zest. Zengo bartenders hand muddle each one.

It's with the weekly specialty mojitos that Zengo gets to stretch the boundaries with bold tastes. At the beginning of May you could find a version with guanabana, a tropical fruit from the Philippines. Also called sweetsop, it has a creamy coconut taste which adds to the texture and aroma of the mojito. The following week the Aguardiente Cristal mojito was offered. Aguardiente Cristal is an anise-flavored liqueur made in Columbia with a licorice flavor. The creator of this one, bartender Kanani, also adds passion fruit, making for a sweet and sour blend that perfectly imbodies Zengo’s give-and-take philosophy.

Although mojitos are offered daily, Mondays are special: mojitos are just $5 all night long, so get ready to extend your weekend fun.

Photos by Carrie Dow