Zen Japanese Restaurant

Having lived in Japan for a full year, and Japanese food being my favorite, I'm always happy to try a Japanese restaurant
But I have to say that here I was more than happy!
First, the decoration makes you feel like traveling to Japan, really typical from there and beautiful
Staff is very welcoming though, smiling, gotta love it
And the last but not the least the food indeed
They have lots of options, entree, salad, tempura, sushi, sashimi, mains (including bentos, that I heard and could see from other patrons, are very popular here), noodles, desserts... As for drinks, beer, wine and sake, and soft drinks
I personally went for
- assorted nigri sushi, a classic
- seafood yaki udon (with prawns, mussels, baby octopus, calamari, mixed vegetables). A very generous serving I must say, I was impressed
- dorayaki (Japanese pancakes filled with red beans, here served with vanilla ice-cream, maple syrup, and strawberries) (just a side note, I took my picture a bit late, hence the slightly melted ice-cream, it didn't come like that indeed; but well, let's say it added an extra artistic touch hehe
I enjoyed all my food, the place, and the staff
They are very popular, and no wonder (to be noted, they have 5 different rooms, if you're a group, don't hesitate to ask if one is available upstairs, as they are extra beautiful, and could be private for your group)
Highly recommended!

An authentic Japanese restaurant located very close to Swinburne University in Hawthorn. We enjoyed every dish offered here & its wonderful hospitality throughout our meal dining in even though it’s just a mini restaurant. Basically, our dining experience had been unforgettably pleasant & comfortable.

I found the place when exploring my food map, and the reviews sounded quite promising, so I gave it a shot. When I went on a Friday lunch hour, the restaurant was packed.
I ordered their deluxe bento box from their lunch special menu, which includes a choice of two main courses. And wow, The bento box provided a wide range of delicious food selections. I appreciated how many various flavours and combinations I could enjoy in one dish. Definitely will return again!

Authentic Japanese cuisine, ambience, culture & politeness. Japanese food never disappoints me and this restaurant has kept the standards high.

My only concern was the lack of light on the first-floor dining area. It was dimly lit and appeared slightly depressing instead of romantic (of that was the idea to keep the lights dim).

i ordered the kaiseki bento and it was so good!! very good value as well for the amount and quality. atmosphere was really chill & the ladies serving us were so nice! it was a great experience & we’ll definitely visit again!

I have been going here for over 10 years. A great place offering an atmosphere of calm and peace. The food is wonderful, the staff are welcoming, a great place to unwind and reflect. Be it dining alone or with friends it will be an enjoyable time. A great place to reflect, recenter and heal with food and tranquility.

I had dinner with my husband and it was really good choice for our date.
We got Takoyaki, Agedashi Tofu and Tempura for entree. They were the perfect combination for our main dish like sushi&sashimi. They were really sweet and fried well.

And we got main dishes Sushi&Sashimi combination and assorted charcoal sushi seared well with teriyaki sauce. Every dishes was really fresh and soft.

I really want to try other ones like grilled menu next time and every staffs was kind and lovely.

After having had the most wonderful food in Japan just a few months ago the bar was set high. Zen did not disappoint. In fact all dishes were really good. Sushi with eel was nice. Kaseiki bentobox is filled with a great variety of tasty items for a really good price of just $32, including miso soup, rice and a scoop of ice cream. Sake Teriyaki (salmon) was perfectly cooked. They also have a wide range of sake available.

Food is tasty. Friendly staff. Nice relaxing place to enjoy Japanese food.

Fantastic food! Attentive staff! A great choice for an evening out with friends..

Three of us came to Zen Japanese Restaurant on a Monday night for dinner. Among the three of us, we ordered Kaiseki Bento, Teriyaki Bentos and Sake. The Obento boxes came with miso soup, main meal and ice cream! It was honestly probably the best Obento box I’ve had before, because it was so gourmet and fancy. Thank you to all the friendly staff, their excellent customer service and the chefs for their fantastic culinary skills! ありがとうございます。ご馳走様でした！

Service was prompt and friendly.
Food was tasty but somewhat overpriced.

A nice restaurant to go.
Service is amazing
I really like salmon bento, you can have a variety of food comes with a small portion, pretty enough for a lady and healthy choice

This is possibly my favourite Japanese restaurant! The food is amazing, the staff are always friendly and polite, the atmosphere is cosy... Awesome place to have lunch, I recommend the teriyaki salmon bento!

The food exceeded our expectations. We had a range of menu items and couldn't really fault any (sushi+sashimi, teriyaki bento, that noodle soup thing, the meat skewer thing). I'd go again.

Friendly service, fresh and tasty Japanese food. Multi dining rooms.

Had a wonderful wine dinner last night in one of Zen's private dining rooms. The food was amazing and Jake and the team where extremely accommodating and easy to deal with. Thank you

Been here twice already and the food is always very consistent, delicious and fresh. The staff were super friendly and even accommodated a birthday cake that we brought and gave us a free ice cream and candle for the birthday girl :)
Left a tip and will definitely be back again!

The food was absolutely fantastic it was flavourful and fresh and just outstandingly delicious. The meal was tremendous.

Great food and service and they have a good bento box special for $18.50 takeaway which is good to see as too many other asian style places charge you $24 for rice and a bit of meat. Zens bento boxes are good value and most importantly a Healthy meal choice.