Zen Japanese Restaurant at Central Festival

[Evil Penevil 7,609]

 

My meal at Zen was more interesting for what didn't happen than what did. A couple of Fridays ago, My Source Coyote and I were going to eat at the Hilton midday seafood buffet. Stupidly, I forgot to book a table and when we turned up at noon, not a single seat was available before 1.30 pm. By that time, the buffet dishes would have been more savagely plundered than a bucket of KFC in a Jomtien condo, so we decided to move next door and eat at MK in Centan.

 

It was rammed, with a line of 20 people waiting to get in. Fuji was also full, but no waiting line. Shabushi and Oishi were packed as well. MSC then agreed to Zen, since we'd exhausted all her first choices. Who knows why, but Zen had a lot of empty seats. The food there isn't any worse than the other places and somewhat cheaper, yet it wasn't popular that day.

 

 

 

MSC is a fanatic about salmon sashimi, so that's what were ordered, in several different formats.

 

 

It was very fresh, no complaints from either of us. Freshness is always the ultimate test when it comes to sushi.

 

 

MSC then continued with set meal that consisted of a sake oyakodon (salmon and salmon roe over rice), miso soup and a mystery appetizer.

 

 

She liked it a lot.

 

 

She also ordered her beloved enoki mushrooms.

 

 

I wasn't feeling in a flat-out raw fish mood, so I ordered soba noodles in soup, which was very good.

 

 

 

Noodles and slices of pork floated in a flavor-packed broth.

 

 

 

 

We then split a speciality salmon sushi roll, which was also very tasty.

 

 

I've forgotten the prices of the individual dishes, but total damages for two, including soft drinks, were about 1,200 baht. That's not too bad, considering how salmon top-heavy the meal was.

 

 

Zen does have special offers that would push a meal there into bargain territory.

 

Bottom line: Another good option for Japanese food in central Pattaya at mid-range prices.

 

Evil

Edited May 11, 2016 by Evil Penevil

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

Zen has become my favorite. The food at Fuji is OK (though they serve mugicha when you ask for green tea, and their curry rice is terrible) but it's noisy, full of the din of clanging cutlery and other people yapping. Zen is nice and quiet and the food is better in my opinion.

 

I automatically rule out joints like Sukishi where they have the hot plates at the tables. I don't like going to a restaurant to cook my own food, and if I order one of the dishes they cook for you I have to work around the hot plate in the center.

[cbrib 354]

Thanks for another great report Evil! I'm usually a Fuji guy but will give Zen a go

[Dungheap 243]

Thanks for these reviews EP.

 

One minor detail, those are udon noodles not soba.

[MM 6,562]

I haven't tried the full on meal at Zen, but when I was shopping, I did stop for a small snack where they advertised a pork cutlet meal for less than 300 baht.

 

For sushi and sashimi etc, I primarily go to Tsunami.

[Patna 3,801]

It has been two years since I was in Zen the last time. In atmosphere and service is way above Fuji but I prefer the food in the latter. Mind you I almost exclusively go there for sushi and sashimi so cannot say much about the rest. It's also slightly more expensive if I remember correctly. Fuji went downhill and more and more resembles to a bus station, though. I would go to Tsunami every other day as Martin, alas I cannot because of the timetable.