Zen Japanese Izakaya

My wife and I came to Zen hopeful and excited to try new food. We absolutely love asian food, so we were happy to try a new place especially for Valentine's day. We made a reservation at 6:30PM and had some issues come up and the restaurant was amazing enough to allow us to push our reservation to 7:00PM. This was perfect.We arrived and the ambiance was amazing, we were seated immediately and there wasn't a lot of people so it was great for us to be able to talk and really enjoy each others company and that we did for the next hour.After the staff took our order, they would come to our table only to clean up. I never got my water refilled and it took them over an hour to bring our food out after guests that have arrived after us, had their food long before us. Very disappointing and left a sour mood on our Valentine's day, we will not be returning.

First time here and decided to try it out for lunch on a Saturday. Ordered the chirashi bowl and it was quite delicious. The bowl with rice underneath the fish had 10 pieces of fresh fish along with avocado and egg. The fish pieces were a bit smaller than I'm accustomed to compared to other chirashi bowls that I've had at other establishments. Parking was a challenge due to the busy bagel store that's next door on a Saturday. Service was great and attentive. Will be back to try the rest of their sushi menu.

What can I say... YUMMY! SCRUMPTIOUS! DELICIOUS! DELIGHTFUL! Absolutely love every dish I ordered. Ikageso Karaage - so so good. Seasoned beautifully and cooked perfectly.Spider Roll - it was wrapped up well and everything comes together in the roll. One plate is not enough.Agedashi Tofu - big tofu with smooth outer layer. The tsuyu sauce was light and flavorful. Very good. Salmon sashimi - so so fresh. Every bite was just delightful. Maguro Tabekurabe - highly recommend this dish. The presentation of the dish was from the fattest bluefin tuna to the leanest. Every piece of sushi in the plate was utterly perfect.Salmon Roll - it had some white sesame seeds on it which was special. The roll is a good option if you don't want nigiri. Overall the food was super delicious. Service was great. Staff were friendly and helpful. The restaurant has ample seating for big and small groups. But making reservation in advance is highly recommended. I would definitely come back again. No doubt about it.

Just excellent in any way good food great services nice location and an unforgettable taste

Yes!!! Little hidden gem in the Montrose area. Ordered quite a few different things but too hungry and forgot to snap pictures. Everything was very good, sashimi was high grade, service was excellent, not super packed at the time, and like the vibes/ambiance Karaage, buttered enoki mushrooms, sashimi, chopped scallop nigiri, California uni nigiri, salted yellowtail collar, and eggplant appetizer.

Food was good. The Zen ceviche was delicious!!!. Sushi rolls was decent. Place was clean and good service

We tried this spot out for lunch this past weekend and we LOVED it! Glad we got a reservation at 12:00pm because within 30 min the whole place was packed, which is a testament to how great this restaurant is.Food: we tried several of their nigiri and appetizers, my wife got their tan tan noodles (awesome consistency) and I got their lunch chirashi. Everything was fresh and tasty,I feel like you can't go wrong with your orders here.Ambiance: great decor and environment, it does get a little bit loud since the place was packed but we love the hustle and bustle, reminds us of the izakayas we tried in Japan!Service: there were two main servers for the busy lunch hour but they still made sure we got everything we needed, which was pretty impressive!Price: the nigiri was a bit on the pricier side but the fish was very fresh and it's quality ingredients. You get what you pay for, so I didn't mind it at all.Can definitely see ourselves being regulars here!

Went here for a quick lunch between appointments. Knowing how busy this place could get during lunch hours, we decided to arrive a bit early (before noon). We were seated right away in a booth and ordered our food promptly. The food took about 10 minutes to arrive, we had Tsukiji 5 and Small Bowl, Chirashi, Karaage (too bad their Nankotsu Karate was out already) and some sort of fried cake. They were solid, the sashimi and sushi were fresh while the side dishes were good as well. By the time we finished, the place was already full with folks waiting in line. So if you're still wonder how good the foods are, wonder no more. It's important to note that parking is very limited in front of the restaurant and the exterior looks a bit run down. If you drove by, you might miss this place. However, as the saying go, don't judge it by the outside.

For Tuesday's lunch, my brother suggested @zenjapaneseizakaya. They had several lunch specials...they all looked really good.Hubby and SIL both had the Tonkatsu Bento. I had the Sashimi Bento, which was so much food! Brother had the Chirashi. Dad had the Unagi Bowl and the Tempura. Everything was fresh and delicious.Highly recommend if you're in the area!

YUM! I'll start with this, I'm vegetarian.I came in with a few friends for a dinner, where we ordered a plethora of items which I felt were fairly priced. The vegetarian items ordered among the laundry list of others were: the Umekyu Maki, Vegetarian roll, seaweed salad, enoki butter, nasu dengaku, and vegetable tempura. There are limited vegetarian/vegan options however the tapas are done WELL. The umekyu maki is a new sushi roll I'd never tried which I thought was unique. The enoki butter was also a star among the bunch too. The place itself is super cute and quiet. Great for a fancy or casual dinner. The employees were kind and constantly checking up on us. I think I could be back :)