Zen Japanese & Sushi Bar

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  1     

Went here on an internet offer that my girlfriend bought for my birthday. What a mistake that was!, we ordered a main and was told that they are "out of oysters", we asked if we could substitute with kingfish, only to be told that they are out of kingfish", when we asked for extra anything to make up for no oysters, we were told "no".

The food was bland, 3 tiny pieces of Salmon shahimi for starter, and not that fresh. Service was slow, and for dessert, we were told that they are "out of green tea ice cream"...This is on a Friday night, early in the evening, they have to be kidding. My girlfiend ordered a mineral water @ $4, when we are allowed a $3 drink on the offer, she was going to pay the extra dollar, Guess What?....."out of mineral water".

The bill if we had not had an internet offer would have been an Outrageous $90.
Give this place a miss, it's not good. I said to my girfiend.. "if they want a tip, tell them we are "out of change" lol.

Apr 14, 2012 

2.7 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  6      Value  1     

I have been to many sushi places, and this one was the worst. The sushi was not fresh and the fish just tasted stale. It was very expensive, and the service was poor. Stay away!

Apr 08, 2012 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  1     

I went here armed with a voucher that I bought online, really regret going there as the food was just awful and there are so many other nice places around there we could have gone to.

Ordered gyoza, edamame, spinach and a sashimi plate. The gyoza and edamame were fine but the rest was just really bad. The sashimi plate was tiny, didn't even closely resemble the picture, tasted grainy and not fresh and had seafood sticks, what self respecting japanese restaurant claims seafood sticks as sashimi?

Also witnessed the waitress adding msg to another customers soup before presenting it to them. Staff seem friendly but I will avoid this restaurant in future and would advise others to do the same.

Mar 12, 2012 

4.5 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  4     

This was probably the worst Japanese food we had! The prawns in the salad were warm. The tuna and salmon sashimi were not chilled and fresh. The batter on the tempura was too hard. Excessive Msg. I would not recommend this place to anyone unless you want to experience so called "Japanese food"!

Mar 11, 2012 

6.3 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

This was our second visit to Zen. The first time we visited, we were pleased. We had cooked meals, and sushi rolls. However, on our second visit, we were quite disappointed. We ordered mostly sushi and sashimi. Overall, the fish was not of good quality. The tuna was grainy and had a bad texture. This is a big mistake for a 'sushi bar'! We most likely won't return unless we are having a cooked meal. The staff was attentive and friendly.

Feb 12, 2012 

4 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  4     

I went to Zen for quick lunch one day recently. None of the girls in the kitchen were japanese, think they were indonesian. This should have indicated to me that I should not have ordered Japanese food.

Anyway, I was craving for a bowl of miso ramen. When I tasted the ramen, I should have immediately sent it back. It looked like (Ayam brand) instant noodle with flavour sachet added with a little meat and veg thrown in. The soup was white in colour, I suspected they put a little egg white in it. I was very hungry and was not in the mood of complaining and waiting further for a different dish. So I sent it back for them to re-heat it. It came back too quickly but warmer. The soup didn't taste anything like miso soup. I don't know why they even bother to put this dish on the menu.

If you are looking for genuine japanese restaurant, this is Not the restaurant to go to.

Feb 10, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9     

Just moved to randwick. Really yummy teriyaki salmon. I'll be back.

Dec 11, 2011 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Now and Zen one is lucky to find a consistently good restaurant. This happens to be one of them. 4 of us ate here recently and ate a veritable banquet of fresskeit.

Entrees: The yummiest of Potato croquettes, Tuna sashimi, Agedashi tofu, Ohitashi - boiled spinach with japanese sauce, vegetarian teriyaki. Mains were equally scrumptious: Beef Udon Noodles, Sukiyaki Beef, Spicy Tuna rolls (8 pieces) and Chicken Katsu.

We rolled out of here, feeling altogether like a Sumo Wrestler. All the food was fresh, nicely crafted and delivered within minutes. Return? Hai!

Sep 24, 2011 

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  5     

We went to Zen on Mothers Day. The place did not look too busy to warrant such a slow service. My soup was not hot enough. The taste was average. Even the tea seemed a bit watery. My 12yo son like his sushi though. Also, they don't have a lisence to serve Japanese beer or sake. I think this restaurant is somewhat overpriced. Overall it was okay but I would not go there again.

May 09, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  9     

Indecisively walking around the Spot @ Randwick trying to decide what cuisine I felt like having and which restaurant to go to. Scissor, paper, rocks victory to my partner and off to Zen we were. I'm glad she won.

Service was really friendly and excellent value. I think we only paid $60 for the night and I had to move out a notch on the belt after dinner. I recommend the chicken katsu curry, it was full of flavour and not too spicy. Pork Dumplings were also delicious and the spider rolls were light and crunchy.

Apr 27, 2011