Zento Japanese Restaurant
| Address: | 693 N Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA |
| Phone: | +1 703-566-3695 |
| Site: | zentorestaurant.com |
| Rating: | 4.6 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 12–10PM 12–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 9
AL
Alexander Dornstauder
Zento was not a bad time, to be honest. It was a busy place and during Happy hour we were lucky to sit at the bar and not wait for a table. Happy hour was by far the most affordable I have seen in the area with an offering of various rolls, including several *insert fish here* and avocado rolls, 2 for 10$ as well as discounted sake of a fair quality. They also offer gluten free soy sauce, which was not of amazing quality Im sorry to say. The staff seemed to be aware of gluten in food and offered me a gluten free version of a roll that sounded safe to begin with, a picked ginger roll of some sort. Now, the server said "I will put it in gluten free," but seemed dismissive and in a rush. This was not of the greatest concern to me initially, but was later paired with a scoff and a laugh from the wait staff and the sushi chef; both of whom were immediately in front of me at the bar. This made me nervous about how seriously they took it, but I understand everyone makes fun of people they serve at work. The overall atmosphere was busy but generally friendly. I would go again, but would only have the rolls I knew to be gluten free without bothering to take a chance on something new. To be fair: I did not get sick, the rolls were good, and the price ended up pretty decent. However, to be perfectly honest Momo is only a few blocks away and that is my preference between the two. tl;dr - good happy hour, busy but comfortable happy hour, seem to be aware of gluten and allergies even if they joke about, would visit again (if the wait at Momo was too long and Bilbo Baggins had no room to sit and wait)
KH
Khoi Nguyen
Best sushi HAPPY HOUR in the area!! Sad that I just recently discovered this area and will be moving away. Stopped by on a Monday night with a friend to enjoy HH. Monday nights HH is from 5-10 PM. For appetizers we ordered the Yakitori, fried calamari, Karage chicken. For sushi we had the salmon, white tuna, albacore, spicy salmon, spicy white tuna, Mexican, and Alaskan roll. All of the appetizers are delicious. Yakitori was lightly grilled, well seasoned and moist. Calamari was delicious with their spicy mayo sauce. Even though they smothered it with the sauce the calamari did not become soggy. The Karage chicken is a MUST order. Lightly fried chicken with their house sauce and honey. For around $5, the order came with plenty of pieces so you do get great value. The rolls themselves tasted very fresh, but I do wish they would take it easy with the spicy mayo sauce. I feel like the Chef just blasted the rolls with as much sauce as he wanted. Service here is great. Waiters are very attentive and well aware of all the specials. Food comes out rather quickly even on a busy Monday evening. This is the best place in the area for fresh happy hour sushi. We ordered around 35 pieces, 2 apps 2 beers and bill came to around $65. Cant beat this price in the area. Ill be back to try some of their other rolls and sashimi.
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Sue Fritz
This place is usually a top choice for me for sushi. Its not the best sushi spot in Old Town, but its one of the top places, and a great location for me. There are two main reasons for giving low stars. 1) no delivery. There are other good sushi restaurants that deliver to the area. Its not worth the slightly better sushi to get pick-up when I decide to eat in. And if I go out, like I said, there is a better sushi spot in Old Town. 2) when I do order take-out, Ill typically order what I think is called the Sushi Special (?) which comes with sushi, sashimi, miso soup, salad, and a California roll. In the past, Ive swapped the California roll for a tuna roll with at most a $0.50 extra charge. Today, however, after I ordered and paid online, they charged me $3 extra to swap the rolls! I asked if a tuna roll is always $3 more than a California roll, and she said yes. I didnt want to argue because its not worth the aggravation - I just wont order take-out there again because that was a clear lie. Plus, the $3 was before tax, so I never paid the tax on the extra charge, which adds to the scetchyness of this all. Zento, you just lost a loyal customer. ETA: Zento has apologized and offered compensation for this issue, which is very much appreciated. Now they just need to offer delivery!
AL
Alice Wang
The best time to come to Zento is on Monday. They have happy hour every day from 5-7pm, but on Mondays happy hour prices last all night. Zento has a pretty extensive menu, from various salads, sushi and sashimi, donburi bowls, and ramen and udon soups. We ordered an assortment of sushi and sashimi (yay, happy hour prices!) and then we also each ordered an entree. I decided to go with the fried chicken curry bowl ($15). It comes with rice, Japanese-style curry, potatoes, carrots, and pickled radish. The curry was decent although definitely not the best Japanese curry Ive had. Same with the sushi and sashimi. It didnt blow me away, but it was good enough for your casual Japanese restaurant. The service was great though. Our server was very friendly and accommodating. He had an easygoing, approachable demeanor. Free two hour parking in the garage behind them on Wythe Street.
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Charlie Souvannavong
Ive been here twice now, once for lunch and once for dinner. Had great service and food both times! I had sushi on the dinner visit and ramen on the lunch visit. The sushi was fresh and the sushi rice was done well. The broth for my ramen was fantastic! Perfect balance of salt and aromatics. I also liked the reasonable prices as well. I would give it 5 stars if the ramen noodle had a little more resistance. Overall, I would definitely come back.
DO
Donald A. Hays
Its really just okay. Their prices are fairly good. Ive gone there about 3 times now. Its good enough to keep me coming back, but not good enough to be excited about it. Their ramen was a little lackluster in flavor. I really preferred Daikaya in DC. The spicy tuna roll has a strange texture. Im not used to them mincing the tuna in a roll... I dont like it. If you want really good sushi nearby Id say try Momo Sushi in Alexandria.
ER
Eric Maenner
Monday happy hour all night which gets you 1/2 price sushi and sashimi from a list of selections, so I usually make a point to have dinner here then. Never had a bad experience and the quality is super fresh. Zento is a small place with a limited number of tables so things fill up quick, but you can eat really well for a reasonable cost if you come for the happy hour. Try the Shrimp Shu Mai or Tako Yaki appetizers - sooooo good!
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Tamara Y. Washington
I went here after work due to the Yelp recommendations. Zento did NOT disappoint. Service was great. Sushi was creative and VERY tasty. There was a special roll tonight that was topped with seared salmon.....VERY tasty. I had 3 different rolls (non-tempura) and they were all VERY good and fresh. I also had miso soup as a starter.
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Sophia Mala
Delicious, prices are good for the happy hour they have from daily 5-7. I didnt care for the Godzilla roll Bc it had some sort of cucumber vinegar like relish in it, but everything else I enjoyed. If u want to save money come during happy hour. I would come here again for happy hour for sushi!
