Zen Japanese Restaurant

My boyfriend and me arrived at Zen hoping alot that they have great fersh sushi. We are big fans of sushi and sashimi and especially roles. We ordered the lunch specials one of each. I am sorry but we didnt find it any better than many of the places we already know. Ichiban for example is better. Unfortunately we paid twice as much as elsewhere without being satisfied. The decor isnt anything especial anyway either for the $$$

My boyfriend and I were seated, and got our menus and ordered from the chef when he looked at us. However it took a very long time for our ordres to be delivered, and finally after the waitress came to ask again. The food took a long time. When it did come, i felt the sushi was foul and not fresh. the Tempura appetizer was bad and not crisp enough. I had to remind the staff several times for everything. Their attitude definitely was no good. They give you a lot of attitude and teach you lessons you don't need while eating. As for the edamame, it was a bit too salty for my liking but was okay. With so many other places in Toronto, i'll defneitly look around for somewhere with more polite chefs and less attitude.

Are these guys serious?? I spent $150 for three people and they kept ordering me around. What a joke! take your shoes off, put your jacket outside, have this, don't have that, be quiet, and so on. What else? Pay a lot and go hungry? Well, they did that too... I am the boss not you Mr. Chef!

I can eat sushi as much as anybody else can. I mean it is OK once in a while. But the problem is it costs so much for so little food at Zen. How could you justify $40 per person for something that doesnt even fill you up?
At these prices drinks are out of the question.

Their teriyaki sause was great, no matter what kind of teriyaki - salmon/chicken/beef, they all taste excellent. Sashimi was fresh and delicious. By the way, it was my first time to try tempura ice cream. Unfortunately, it was not the same as my expectation. I think the coating of it was too thick and not enough ice cream in it..

Services was great, they were nice and friendly. Although their food was a bit expensive, still we should at least try once. On the other hand, parking was the worst, the parking lot of this plaza was full all the time because lack of parking space.

I highly recommend the customers should make a reservation because the size of this store is not big enough and so the place is very easy to get full.

I am trying to walk home 'finding my way back home' because the food is so expensive here. You can only touch the specials and even those cost you a buck or fifty!

It is not that good

We have been going there for over 20 years. We started going before we had kids. Now the kids are 19 and 21 and this is their favourite restaurant.

look as much as I like japanese food this place cannot charge this much for it. Their rent cannot be that high. Look at the decor inside.

The food is good and I suspect the chef knows what he is doing but at some point it is all too much.

Our family has been eating a Zen since our children were small (they are now in their mid-20's). This is the place we come to for almost every birthday and special occasion. We have never, in all those years, had bad food or poor service, even though the ownership changed about 12 -14 years ago. There are few restaurants that can compete with the quality of the sushi and sashimi.
Yes, it's in a "dodgy" strip mall in Scarborough but we have never had any concerns about that. It's part of the Scarborough experience and frankly, if you can't deal with that then all the more first rate sushi for us!

This restaurant is a surprising find in a questionable Scarborough neighborhood. Everything was fresh and delicious. The atmosphere is pleasant, and the service was efficient.

Although we arrived quite early for dinner (just before 6), almost all the tables had been reserved. We were fortunate to get two seats at the sushi bar, and enjoyed watching the chefs make each dish!

The only disappointment was the prices - they are higher than you would expect in this area of town. But the quality of the food make the expense worth it!!