On Friday Hubbs and I met up with StevieC for Japanese food at one of the most obscure, underrated surprise Japanese restaurants in the city, Zen Sushi & Grill (formerly known as Shabu-Shabu, and Sakura).
It was our first time there, and admittedly we were a little worried at first. The location: sketchy downtown, on the edge of Chinatown and near dark alleys. However, we were delighted upon entering, to see a very clean, very spacious, very Japanese-y restaurant with tables, booths, and those Tatami semi-private rooms. LOTS of Tatami rooms, in fact. The restaurant was well-lit and comfortable, and remarkably quiet for a Friday night.
We sat down to wait for StevieC, and were immediately greeted by our server, who brought us our drinks right away (a very small pot of green tea). If I have one complaint with Zen, it is that their teapots are far too small to accomodate my thirst. The servers here, like at Doan's, seemed to "share" our table and thus we were served by whichever server happened to be free, rather than one designated person.
Anyway, our choices were to order a la carte from the menu, or go with their all-you-can-eat special (which I think they do nightly). Of course, at $24/person, we opted for AYCE. The list they brought us allowed for unlimited portions (and a fair variety) of sushi, cones, maki, hot food (gyoza, tempura, edamame, baked oysters, green onion cakes, miso soup, teriyaki beef and chicken, etc.), and a limited amount of sashimi as well. Although each portion was not huge, it wasn't miniscule either, so we were happy with what we got for our money.
The food didn't take too long to come out, and in total I think we
ordered three separate rounds of grub. The servers were patient with us while we were waiting for StevieC, and they were also very good about bringing us plate after plate of food. They were polite and we were impressed with the service.
At the end of our feasting/gorging, we sat around chatting for quite a lengthy period of time, and it seemed not to bother the staff for us to loiter for so long following our meal. We eventually paid and left, and luckily, our car was still there! ;)
Before Zen, I had no idea that our humble town even had AYCE sushi, but now that I know about this gem of a restaurant, you can bet that I'll be back! Hubbs is already craving sushi again, so it likely won't be long before we head there once more. If you're looking for relatively affordable, decently fresh AYCE Japanese food, for sure give Zen a visit. You will probably end up rolling out of there, satisfied.
Rating: 9.5 / 10
On the insistence of Mrs. Vinny and Vanilla Con, Hubbs and I went to Huong Que Pho Restaurant to see if their pho lived up to the hype. Keeping in mind that we only had the beef rice noodle soup a few days ago, we figured that only the reputedly "best pho in the city" would make us want it again so soon.
The place is located in Chinatown, which means that prices are often more than reasonable, but the location usually sucks. True to form, the "shops" near the restaurant were all run-down and vacant, and the neighborhood of the place was sketchy at best. When we walked in, there was nobody at the till and we had to wait for a bit before the server lady came out to give us menus and a place to sit.
The pastel green walls and salmon pink tabletops were an interesting combination to be sure; as a whole the place was clean (for an Asian Chinatown eatery) and relatively quiet and pleasant, although tacky in terms of the furnishings. A TV and DVD player set on a platform in one corner of the room loudly played a Cantonese serial with Vietnamese dubbing while we sat waiting for our food.
We ordered their house special pho, and the server lady brought out tea for us automatically. We were a little hesitant about the teacups, though; they were of the Chinese variety but all the design had faded off the sides and they looked a little dirty (though I think they were clean and just speckled). Then the server lady brought out some sprouts and mint leaves for us (and yes, Mrs. Vinny, these tasted like mint leaves), but we didn't actually have any.
When the pho arrived, the first thing that I noticed was the scarcity of meat in my bowl. I had one beef ball, a couple of slices of raw beef (it looked like about 4 thin ones), and about 3 thin slices of beef brisket. There was also some shredded tripe in between the layers of meat, but that I assumed to be no more than about 2 tablespoons' worth. This was noticeably less meat than what I had in my pho at Doan's (2 beef balls, too many slices of beef brisket to count, and equally many slices of raw beef), and since I was particularly hungry during this meal, it was a tad disappointing. The broth, as promised, was delicious and tasted homemade, but generally speaking I found their pho to be less filling and less satisfying than the pho I had earlier in the week.
The bill was an affordable $14.45 for two orders, but once again, I believe that this was quite comparable to the prices charged at Doan's for the same thing.
Overall, if you are downtown in Chinatown and have a craving for pho, Huong Que is a decent place to go for some homemade goodness. However, if you're closer to the southside or have a few extra minutes to spare, I would advise driving down to Doan's for their pho instead. For nearly the same price, you get a lot more meat and certainly a safer environment (Doan's is located beside a police station), and it's quieter there, too - that is, unless you *want* to watch that Canto-dubbed-Vietnamese serial.
Rating: 7 / 10
Anyway, our choices were to order a la carte from the menu, or go with their all-you-can-eat special (which I think they do nightly). Of course, at $24/person, we opted for AYCE. The list they brought us allowed for unlimited portions (and a fair variety) of sushi, cones, maki, hot food (gyoza, tempura, edamame, baked oysters, green onion cakes, miso soup, teriyaki beef and chicken, etc.), and a limited amount of sashimi as well. Although each portion was not huge, it wasn't miniscule either, so we were happy with what we got for our money.
ordered three separate rounds of grub. The servers were patient with us while we were waiting for StevieC, and they were also very good about bringing us plate after plate of food. They were polite and we were impressed with the service.
