Zento Japanese Restaurant

After coming here countless times in the last 2 years, I’ve changed my mind and I will say that Zento is the best sushi I’ve had in the district at a very affordable price, and an amazing happy hour.
Update: best sushi I’ve had ever in my life to date so far!!!

Best tuna poke salad – essential lunch food. The ingredients are incredibly fresh and are the perfect medley of crunchy, sweet, salty, and spicy.

This place was very nice! The atmosphere was superb and the service was outstanding.
We had 2 spicy crunch tuna rolls (aka Mexican roll), 1 spicy crunchy Salmon roll (aka Alaskan roll), and one salmon avocado roll, and one Japanese bagel roll (which was a deep fried roll consisting of salmon, avocado, cream cheese, and spicy mayo). The fish was fresh and the rolls were good. No complaints here.
For dessert we had fried ice cream and it was heavenly. on par with the best fried ice cream I’ve had before coming to Zento.
Located just outside of Old Town Alexandria near a Trader Joe’s, Harris Teeter, and Starbucks makes this restaurant very convenient.
I would give it a 4 stars but it gets docked 1 star for forgetting our complimentary salad at the beginning of the meal.

I was so excited when my friend brought me to this little gem! We had some of the best sushi I’ve had in the area. The fish is really fresh and all the rolls are creative and super tasty! Try the Fantasy Rainbow Roll — they take the nasty crab stick out of the roll and add shrimp tempura. Gives it a great crunch! Another standout was the Atlantic Roll which is basically a double salmon avocado roll. What can be better than 2 layers of salmon and avocado?! I’ve never had a cucumber wrapped roll so we tried the Old Town. The cucumber gives it a refreshing crunch and it’s nice to have a break from all the rice. My only complaint is that the roll is a little too big for 1 bite. Can’t wait to go back!

Came in for happy hour sushi with a friend. The food is served pretty fast and not too expensive (though not too cheap). We ordered the happy hour sushi, takoyaki (octopus ball), teriyaki salmon. The entrée is normal, but the sushi rolls and octopus balls are very tasty.
Overall, it’s a satisfying experience.

3.75 to be exact.
Zento provides a great atmosphere, service, and I would say good food as well!
My friends and I were in the area and we were lucky to stumble upon this establishment to have our dinner. I like the ambiance in here, as it has a faint Japanese feel with a combination of a modernized layout. The Japanese feel was not over the top, and just right for the food that is served here.
For an appetizer, we shared the gyoza and sushi pizza. The gyoza was solid and yes I know the sushi pizza is kind of gimmicky, but I feel this place does a good job with the dish.
I decided to go with the chirashi deluxe dish, the assorted sashimi with sushi rice. I wanted to gauge the freshness of the fish and this platter was delicious. The quality of the rice was good and I had no complaints. I was pretty hungry at the time and destroyed this dish.
If I was in the area again, I would not mind coming back here!

Good little sushi/​Japanese food restaurant on the north end of Old Town. This place gets packed as in waiting line packed in the evenings. Maybe they’ll take over the Teaism spot on North Saint Asaph now that they’ve closed — maybe and hopefully.
I’ve not tried everything on their menu, but I will review the items I have had.
The rolls that are available on happy hour special, the ones listed in the roll combo special and maki sushi on their menu are a cheap way for them to make a quick profit. They’re good, but in general, rolls are substantially more rice than nigiri sushi and I would honestly avoid these items unless you want to fill up fast on rice. Out of that entire list, I feel that the Spider Roll is the only one I really enjoy for the price. Avoid the Futo Maki and in my section of, ‘things they can improve upon,” you’ll find out why.
Most of the starters are very good as well, you just wish some, like the gyoza and the shu mai, were a bit more substantial. Again, the cheaper items on the menu seem to be a sure fire way for them to turn a quick profit. Add to that the ones that are added to the list of happy hour items and you feel like you’re getting a great deal when in fact you might be saving a dollar or two just to get more ‘stuffing’.
Where Zento excels is with some of their larger specialty rolls and their meals. I’ve tried most of the ones that regularly rotate on their board and whereas they are more expensive than the rolls previously listed, there are also far more ingredients. In addition, dishes like the katsu don and tonkatsu are not only really good, but you get a lot of food for the price, to include a side salad and miso soup.
Eventually I will explore a little more into the non-​sushi part of the menu to see if there is anything else that I would recommend.
Some of the things I think they can improve upon:
Using more sushi ingredients: shitake, kampyo, daikon. These are fairly basic and common sushi ingredients that you can find at almost EVERY other sushi restaurant. They don’t use any of them at Zento. :-(
As mentioned before, they add a side salad and bowl of miso soup when you place an order for a don buri or tonkatsu meal and depending upon the time of day you’re only spending a maximum of $ 15 for any of those. Well when someone orders about $ 30 worth of carryout sushi, it would be nice if they included a free side salad and bowl of miso soup as well.
Overall I would recommend this place. The staff is very warm and attentive. The atmosphere is very inviting when the restaurant is partially empty, but can be a little overwhelming when they get packed — old Teasim space anyone?

As far as sushi restaurants in Old Town Alexandria go, I must say that Zento has become my recent favorite. Always fresh fish and friendly service. I am a big fan of their tuna poke salad, which comes with a heaping mountain of tuna poke, half a sliced avocado and salad. It’s a bit pricey at $ 14, but IMO well worth it. In fact, the serving is so large you could consider it an entrée for smaller eaters.
As far as the nigiri goes, the hamachi and salmon are always good. They occasionally offer uni, but the results have been mixed when I’ve opted for the uni. Yes, yes, I suppose I am an uni snob and only want ultra fresh Central California uni, but at $ 13 – 14 for two pieces, I do expect it to be high quality.
Zento also offers a vast assortment of rolls galore, and while sushi purists like myself avoid the abomination of mixing cream cheese, teriyaki sauce, and tempura flakes in with the simple beauty and elegance of raw fish, I have tasted a number of their specialty rolls and they’re not bad! On Wednesdays the Godzilla roll (tuna, salmon, avocado, shrimp, & crunch) is half price all night, so I occasionally break down and order one.
The other thing I like about Zento is the fact that they have some affordable sakes available. My fav is the Momokawa Diamond, which for $ 12 for a 375 ml bottle is quite good. But PLEASE DO NOT order this sake hot. One time I forgot to tell the server that a good sake like Momokawa Diamond absolutely must be drank cold, but I guess he assumed I wanted it hot and he heated it up without asking me. When I saw him carrying over the sake in a hot carafe, I CRINGED! He destroyed this delicious sake. Oh well, minus one star! Sorry guys!
I do like the fact that they have parking available in the garage, which is also convenient.
For a local sushi spot in Old Town Zento is probably the best (along with Momo’s). Just make sure your server doesn’t heat up the good sake when you go!

I went to Zento last night for sushi. The place is really charming and has great service. The free miso soup was some of the best I have ever had and the sushi was good. They need to be less stingy with the ginger though!

Came in for Saturday night dinner and got seated right away. The workers here are very swift and checked up on us a lot and asked us how our meal was. We got complimentary miso soup which was pretty basic. We ordered the Japanese Firecracker and the Salmon Candy Roll. Both were very good and very well presented. The Salmon Candy Roll was sweet but not overwhelming. The Japanese Candy Roll’s taste was very unexpected but it was delicious. I would come back again but it’s kind of a far drive from where I live.

Delicious! Amazing food with attentive staff and stellar service! When we arrived we received complimentary soup. They said it was on the house. I believe it was likely due to the chilly weather and exudes their excellent customer service.
We ordered the calamari which was so light and delicate and the sauce was perfect with a fairly mild heat at the end that rolled over my palate.
Next was the Bento Box for my partner in crime and sashimi and a couple rolls for me. The bento box was a hit w/​the beef so flavorful and the shrimp/​veggie tempura so good as was the rest per my friend.
I ordered the Zenti roll which had shrimp tempura inside/​salmon on outside and guacamole on top. It was good but the guac had no real flavor. It needed salt at least. I liked it but didn’t wow me. The other roll was the philly bagel and it was Amazing! Smoked salmon and cream cheese and I added masago. DEE LISH OUS! The sashimi was the 7 piece sampler. I got 5 salmon, 2 tuna, and 1 white fish. All were fresh and I’d order again in a skippy minute.
End result? GO! You won’t be disappointed! (SEE MY PHOTOS for visual details! Warning — may make you drool)

The all-​day Monday happy hour is a great deal. We both had the two rolls special, they were great, and we barely were able to finish them. I really liked the seaweed salad, and the miso soup was also good.
Add to this $ 5 glasses of wine, and you got yourself a winner. We’re coming back.

*** Restaurant Week Review***
I wrapped up Restaurant Week in Alexandria with a visit to Zento Japanese Restaurant. My sister and I picked it because of the deal: three course dinner for two for $ 39.95, which is a fantastic deal. It comes with two bowls of miso soup, one appetizer, two entrees, and dessert. We made reservations, which I encourage because this place is small and stayed busy the whole time we were there.
After looking at the menu, this is what we ordered: Spicy Salmon Garden Roll, Restaurant Week Bento Box (sister’s entrée) 3 Roll Combo (my entrée), and green tea moshi. Zento was great, they were willing to substitute one of the rolls in the 3 roll combo because of my shrimp allergy. I ended up getting the Alaskan Roll, Sweet Potato and Avocado Roll, and Mexican Roll.
Our meal was delicious from start to finish. the Spicy Salmon Garden Roll was surprisingly fresh. My 3 Roll Combo was so good. It was great way to try three different kinds of rolls and I enjoyed all three. My sister and I were surprised with how much food came in the bento box. It’s a lot. If my picture didn’t do it justice, you need to order it yourself. We were both stuffed but managed to finish our dessert.
Service was really good throughout our meal. Everyone was friendly and attentive. I think I found my new sushi spot in Old Town. Yum!

Is this the best Japanese or the best sushi place I have ever been to? No. But it was a decent, drama free experience, with decent food and service. We arrived at 7pm on Halloween night and got the last remaining table. Service was reasonably quick, and we didn’t have trouble getting attention of service staff at any point, although we only stayed for about 30 minutes. We ordered:
— Zen baked roll: great topping of mixed seafood, and unusual base filling of shrimp tempura and cream cheese.
— Rainbow fantasy roll: good, but I would have liked a more generous portion of fresh fish even if it cost more. I’ve had better, but it was decent.
— Fried calamari appetiser: great spicy & creamy sauce and crispy chunk style tempura on a bed of mixed leaf salad. Would get this again!
We also loved free customer parking so close by, so wouldn’t mind going back.

Great place for sushi! Upon entering the restaurant is smelt very clean and was very inviting. We were seated promptly and the service was very good.
We ordered the miso soup which hit the spot on a chilly evening, as well as the shrimp shumai appetizer and three rolls, spicy tuna, California, and our new favorite roll ever, the Mexican roll. All were very delicious!

Domo arigato!
Holy cats, Batman! This sushi place is on fleek! Zento just might be my new favorite Sushi place in Old Town. If you are looking for fresh sushi, real sticky rice and an awesome roll that will have you on your toes you need to make a stop at Zento.
My coworker and I stopped at Zento for lunch today without knowing it was Restaurant Week. Their RW deal is on fire, so we partook. For $ 15 you get an appetizer and your choice of entrée along with a beverage. If you have the opportunity check out the combo roll: Mexican roll, Spicy Tuna and Salmon Avocado. The Mexican roll was amazing. If you are looking for spicy and something different check this out: avocado, shrimp and jalapeño! My coworker opted for the Assorted Sashimi and steamed rice which came with, Tuna, Salmon, White fish, White Tuna and a Chef’s selections.
With such an awesome lunch, attentive staff and great selection I cannot wait to come back for happy hour and dinner! They have happy hour all night on Mondays which is called Monday Funday! What’s there not to like about that?

Excellent all around. Prompt service, manageable portions, very fresh, clean, and typical sushi joint décor.
Perfect local go-​to sushi joint
If I had to critique, I would say that in general, if you are used to more traditional Japanese sushi over the more Americanized sushi, you may find this to have too many strong flavors. I happen to be okay with it but I know some might be put off.

A good happy hour special with good food and service. I ordered a chirashi bowl. There were two options for the chirashi bowl– depending on how many pieces of fish you wanted in your bowl the prices varied. and I opted for the cheaper version. It was still pretty good. Wish it had more things in the bowl though. The chirashi came with a salad and miso soup.
I didn’t really enjoy their ramen. The noodles were overcooked, but I liked the broth.
If you come during happy hour stick to the rolls. You get six huge pieces for a decent price.
Lastly, great bento boxes. I loved their tempura vegetables. They were perfectly crispy and melted-​in-​your-​mouth.
Great place, but like any other sushi place, it is pretty pricy.

I ordered the pork ramen and Fuji Apple cold sake for myself. My brother ordered a bento box with the salmon teriyaki along with a side of spicy salmon and the Alaskan roll. My sister ordered a sushi bento box.
As far the ramen, I did not particularly love it. The broth was miso based. However, I felt that I had better ramen.
The Fiji Apple cold sake is a must. It’s perfect for two people to share. I got at least 5 shots from one order of sake. It’s 5 $ per a order during happy hour. Their happy hour is from 5 to 7pm. This sake is my ultimate favorite sake now. It was on the sweeter end and had a strong apple flavor. It tasted like Apple candy in the form of cold sake liquid.
The salmon teriyaki was sweet and had a more traditional teriyaki sauce. The sauce is not sticky like the fake teriyaki sauce you find these days. The sauce is light and subtly sweet, like good teriyaki sauce should be.
The tempura has a light batter. The batter makes the tempura taste like butter. They make a great batter!

Mmm, I always love finding a good sushi place that’s not too far from where I live! Zento’s is quite the find if you like good happy hour deals on appetizers and drinks and if you’d like to visit a sushi restaurant that isn’t too high-​end.
I ordered the Sashimi bowl (came with 9 pieces) and it was very fresh and delicious. The presentation was excellent! It came with miso soup and a house salad with ginger dressing. My fiancé ordered a dinner bento box with chicken teriyaki and tempura. He wasn’t a huge fan of the chicken and he said it tasted rubbery, but he liked the rest of his meal.
We also took advantage of the happy hour specials and ordered crispy calimari (came with a delicious spicy sauce) and a beer and plum wine. Delish!
I also ordered strawberry mochi ice cream — very tasty and a generous portion.
Overall, I thought the food deserves 5 stars — generous portions, delicious and fresh. But I’m docking 1 star for service. The restaurant got crowded quite quickly and the servers seemed to only be serving one table (a party of 10). The rest of the patrons were sitting without food for a while. We didn’t get our order until 45 minutes after we ordered.
Overall, though, I enjoyed the food and atmosphere. And there’s free parking in the same complex as the restaurant!