Zen Japanese Cuisine

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sreinhardt

Joined 6 years ago

Hidden Gem. While traveling on business in the Mechanicsburg area, I stumbled across Zen in the shopping plaza across the street from where I was working. When I walked in I was greeted enthusiastically in both English and Japanese. The restaurant appears smaller from the outside; once inside it is much larger than it appears and the staff help to make it FEEL much larger than it is. I sat at the sushi bar and had a wonderful conversation with the sushi chef (also the owner) and my hostess. I had the veggie tempura, and miso soup to start. The miso was the best I have ever had and the veggie tempura with its mix of squash, sweet potato, broccoli, etc, was the perfect start to my meal. For my entree I ordered the California Roll and the Spicy Tuna roll (I much prefer rolls to sashimi due to the complexity of the flavors). The Spicy Tuna roll was different than what I am used to: instead of the spice being added to the tuna inside the roll, a dollop of a chili sauce was placed on top of the each piece. I really enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed it so much that I went back for dinner the next night and take out a third night! On one of these subsequent visits I tried a Tempura Scallop roll (with egg, avocado on top) which was wonderful! The Sushi Chef this evening was a Junior in high school who has been working at the restaurant for a 1.5 years and was taught everything he knows by the owner (his sushi was wonderful as well). I can't say enough about how great this experience was and how much I WISH I could go back and take my boyfriend (I live in Atlanta). Please try Zen, you will not regret it.