Zen Japanese Restaurant

Zen Japanese Restaurant
388 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn
(Ph) 9818 0116

My parents were in town! Dad loves a good Japanese meal so I searched the Entertainment book for a place - found something local! I've actually driven past this restaurant multiple times before =)

A little cosy restaurant - must be a gem as there were lots of Japanese people dining there on this night! They're actually a group with another Zen restaurant and also a Jap/Korean restaurant in the city?!

We were seated in the corner where the lighting was terrible! There were 2 little candles on the table but that was about it - poor dad couldn't read the menu he forgot his reading glasses! =P So apologies for the flash in the photos ><

We were started off with some par-boiled broccoli with some miso paste - random much? =P

Our favourite Jap entree! Edamame - boiled green soy bean $7 so much fun eating these, so tasty and addictive =)

We always get Agedashi Tofu at Japanese restaurants so we decided to get this instead. Tofu Dengaku - deep fried tofu coated w potato starch, served w Homemade sweet MISO paste $9. So much tastier than Agedashi tofu as agedashi is always swimming in the broth so the crumb is always soggy, but this was deliciously crunchy with the miso paste =)

Another tasty entree! Nasu Dengaku - deep fried egg plant w homemade sweet MISO paste $10. The eggplant is not usually deep fried so it was much tastier with a crunchy skin on the outside - again was delicious with the miso paste =)

Next came the Seafood Tempura - 2 pcs of Tiger Prawns, 3 pcs of each Prawn, Fish, Calamari & Vegetable $27 What a big plate of tempura - perfectly deep fried and delicious with the dipping sauce. The prawns and fish were quite fresh though the calamari wasn't as nice though - wasn't chewy and was kinda soft =/

We saw the table next to us had ordered a sizzling plate which looked quite appealing so we got the Yakiniku - thinly sliced premium scotch fillet marinated in YAKINIKU sauce & cooked w mixed vegetables $22

Wasn't the one the other table had ordered which was actually the steak (they were still thinly sliced compared to a slab of Western steak though!) - this was more like a stir fry though was still quite good.

P got a Steamed Rice $2 to go with it - how is this steamed rice?! Well it was steamed, though was 5 grain rice which P wasn't a fan of.

Last came the Sushi & Sashimi Combo - MAIN 8 pcs of nigiri, 16 pcs of sashimi $35

Love <3 very fresh sashimi, sushi was good too my favourite was the eel - a super thick tasty slice =)

Food~
7/10 - good fresh food here, very genuine Japanese food as can be seen by all the Japanese people there!

Service~
3/5 - very attentive service by the waiters

Atmosphere~
2/5 - a bit too dark for our liking, we could barely see what we were eating!

C.
xo