Zen Box Izakaya

Reviews 7

SH

Shon Parker

So...I lived in Japan for a year almost a decade ago now. I was excited to see that there was someone trying to pull off the "Izakaya" here in the US. Izakayas (to sit, to stay) are pub style hangouts in Japan. They are all over the place and are a place to unwind, get good and sauced if you want and have a bunch of plates of food to share with the table. Very relaxed, its the perfect blend of "bar" and "restaurant". This place, in a lot of ways, immediately brought me back. Drinks: Sake(Hot, cold and room temperature), Japanese (and other) beers, Shochu and Chu-hai! Chu-hai is a fruity cocktail made with shochu. Ladies, go try it youll love it. Food: I looked at the full menu and am excited to go back and try some things. We were there during the late night happy hour so it was a smaller menu, called "The Other Menu" on their website, but still plenty of choices. Off of the happy hour menu we had Gyoza(deep fried japanese style), butter sauce mussels, chicken kara-ge(deep fried chicken pieces) grilled hamachi collar, takoyaki, seaweed salad and cucumber, and deep fried and then grilled tofu. Aside from the seaweed salad, which is the typical salad youll find in all sushi joints here in the states, Zen Box is doing Izakaya food proper. From the dipping sauce for the Gyoza to the proper side bits on plates that belong with particular dishes, it was all delicious. The takoyaki was done just like I remember it back in Osaka and the hamachi collar had a great miso glaze on it. The chicken kara-ge was EXACTLY like I remember it from izakayas in Japan. I mean EVERY place did it exactly the same, and this is no different. To say "its just fried chicken" is not doing it justice. Theres a particular way the batter is made, the proper ginger/mustardy/sesame/soy sauce, the chicken itself. It was perfect. The wait staff was knowledgeable of the menu and very friendly. The owner is a really great lady and was very open about her concept and the izakaya, along with her travels throughout the east. :D Shes Malaysian by birth, but you can tell shes done her homework and has a great thing going. My wife and I had drinks, a great amount of food and an awesome experience for just under $50. I would encourage you to be DARING and try some things that might be different. No one in the world wants to eat food that tastes bad! Im waiting to see what else they have in store to offer. Definitely check it out!

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LO

Loulou V

If youre gonna go there, make sure you have a reservation before you get there. Sadly we had to argue with the people to let us have a seat, there was four tables that were empty and not being used. Finally we got them to sit us down, the takoyaki we didnt go all crazy for it, Ive tasted better. We order both noodles of the Tonkotsu and Kimchi, and Katsu curry. I thought since this place got really good review, so I had very high expectation. But in the end the broth and noodles were nothing special. The noodles taste like they just took it out from the noodle packet and boiled it, the egg was over salted. I have tasted better homemade broth, then what they have served. Then we ordered the ribs, and I have to say. Im even more crushed, the meat was dry. Ive tasted Korean BBQ ribs that taste ten times better than what they served. So I dont understand why people over react, over the food. I think Ill just come over for the drinks, from now on. Thats the only thing that havent disappointed me. To my fellow Asian, heed my warning. Dont have high expectation.

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TO

Tom Cooke

What a great little find! Fun/funky decor and employees. It was busy on a Monday night which was a good sign. Lots of interesting things on the menu, which ranged far and wide across oriental foods. As mentioned on the menu, portions are smallish, perfect for sharing, there are only a few ‘entrees’. I’m not sure I could give you the names of what we ordered, but we did get the edamame, cool and crisp. We had 2 orders of brown rice, which was plenty for 3. We split up the fried calamari, teriyaki salmon, beef with potatoes and some sort of fried chicken pieces. Items came to the table as they were prepared, calamari and chicken arrived first. Calamari was crisp, lightly battered, perfectly cooked—not chewy, which can ruin it. Very tasty sauce with it. Chicken was nicely spicy with a soy sauce based sauce, wonderful. Teriyaki salmon was wonderful and fresh, tangy teriyaki sauce a nice accompaniment. Beef was thin slices, nice and hot, tasty veggies served with it. Nice quick, no fuss service, great prices. A treat!

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RA

Randy Price Prevot

I came on a Saturday night, right after open. The front area was full, but service was punctual, and my food came quickly. Maybe that haste speaks to the trouble I had with it. The Tonkatsu Ramen demonstrated a serious lack of seasoning and love. The noodles had the look and feel of packaged and the rubbery boiled egg that was plopped in appeared more like an afterthought--or leftovers--than a true garnish. The gyoza I ordered on the side were well crisped, but just as bland. Ive had richer, more savory meals from cafeterias and vending machines. As I ate, an NHK technology program about competing teams of gyroscope engineers played in the background. It felt allegorical somehow. All I could think about as I ate was the earnestness of the staff and the industrial-quality of their product. What a shame.

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PA

Paxton Thedford

Late Night and Early happy hours: two VERY different experiences. The only reason Im not giving this place five stars is because I had a terrible late night happy hour experience. The daytime one was phenomenal. Great service, amazing food, and ridiculously affordable prices. 5 star, everything youd want. Late night was awful though. Staff was visibly upset when we walked in, and was very rude. Everything took forever to come out, and one dish was forgotten completely. I understand that we came in late and you want to get home, but if you have a late night happy hour you should expect people to come in. But like I said you cant beat the prices and the quality, so 4 stars it is. Just dont go late at night.

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DH

Dharma

Good environment and excellent service (5/5). Food was average and somewhat expensive considering of what we got. Ordered the tonkatsu ramen and takoyaki. Not really impressed with the broth, the flavor profile was not what I was expecting (too salty without the deep flavor). The ramen noodle was coarse and a bit undercooked. Yes, I know what ramen should taste like. I have been to Tokyo and had ramen at Tsujita and Daikokuya (2 best ramen place in the US). The place had good selection of Japanese beer, which is a plus. Would return to try a different dish but unsure if i would order the ramen again.

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NE

Nevin Lyne

The food and staff here are both amazing! I grew up in Southern California and lived in the SF Bay area for years with access to amazing Japanese food and Zen Box Izakaya is up there with the best! This is one of my favorite places to eat in town, and I bring my staff along with out of town clients here all the time. I am not really sure if the 1 star reviewers are actually reviewing the right place because while yes this place can get crazy busy, I have never had bad service or bland food here, ever, and have eaten everything on their menu at least twice (if not many dozens of times!).

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