Zen

Returning to Northampton 3 years later, got the chance to return to this great Asian Fusion and had an excellent late lunch/​early supper. I had a sashimi salad which was large and delicious with a lot of very fresh fish and lovely greens with radish and seaweed salad mixed in. I ordered a salmon skin roll, which had a tasty sauce drizzled. My husband has serious food allergies, and the server worked with him to create a safe, delicious meal. Kitchen was accommodating and talented, creating a seafood stir fried rice absent allergens but still making a tasty sauce for it. Asked for iced green tea, which they don’t offer, but server made a sensational one with small rosebuds infusing it. So good.
This is a great place for groups, couples, families — everyone will find something to love from sushi to Thai dishes to Chinese and other Asian dishes all very well prepared and beautifully presented.

Pretty much middle of the road Asian. They try to gourmet it up a bit but don’t really succeed. The food is tasty enough but just uninspired. Had the sushi lunch box recently and it was ok. Boy oh boy can Northampton use a good Chinese restaurant or what? The Great Wall in Florence is great but let’s have something excellent downtown too!

Quaint little spot in the heart of downtown Northampton, MA. First time in this area and was in the mood for Asian cuisine. This place was amazing and the service was pretty exquisite. I ordered the lunchbox teriyaki chicken that came Miso soup as my appetizer, chicken dumplings, California rolls, and white rice. The wine I ordered was outstanding as well. It was called Shine Reisling from Germany Yum Yum…
Pros: Location, Energy, Food, Price, Wine List
Cons: None

Good food. Friendly staff. Just a bit pricey, but I think in most cases that can be overlooked by the quality of their food and excellent service.

expensive, but GREAT food. The presentation of the dumplings at other tables looked so fantastic, and our food (bibimbap & kalbi) was great too. would recommend!

Hands down best sushi in the area. The crab wontons appetizer are literally heaven sent. I call them bundles of heaven. They come with a passion fruit dip… OMG. Service can be iffy, but really the food makes up for it.

Just had the empress chicken lunch box special. It comes with rice, 4 pieces of a California roll, 2 dumplings and choice of soup or salad. For $ 10 it’s a great deal and was very yummy.
It took a couple minutes for someone to help me at take out because it was pretty busy during lunch. Would definitely recommend for takeout lunch.

Zen came highly recommended to my mother and me. We arrived at around 6:30 and waited a little over half an hour for a table for two.
We ordered Zen Pura for the appetizer, jumbo shrimp wrapped in potato and then fried. The shrimp was fine, but the potato was oily, flavorless and hard, making the dish practically inedible. For the main course, we split a sashimi combination and two sushi rolls, which were both ok, but later I got sick and had an upset stomach. I can not recommend Zen’s raw fish dishes.
Our waiter, upon bringing us our drinks, did not return for our order for over 15 minutes and only came back when we had waved him down, and even then was inattentive. Overall, I would not return; the appetizer was too pricy and the sushi and sashimi I could not keep down. Very disappointed, considering the hype this restaurant received.

Num Num! This place is awesome! I walked in the day after New Years and the decorations they had up made me excited about the New Year! We were immediately seated after checked in with the host, we made reservations. She sat us by the bar, which is great for me, because I love people watching… LOL, I am creeper.
We had this appetizer plate, I think it was the Zen plate Sampler. It had two of each of the following: steamed vegetable dumplings, fried chicken dumplings, shrimp shumai, curry fries w/​a wonton basket of Asian slaw. Man, was it delicious! I totally recommend it! Perfect start to an astounding dinner! I was getting anxious, how incredible will the rolls to come be?
Between the four of us, we decided to order one roll each and split it. We got the Sunrise, Firecracker, Kalbi beef and Italian rolls. Not sure if those are the exact names of the specialty rolls, but who cares, they were mouth watering good! I was really impressed with the rolls. This is going to be go to place when it comes to sushi. We paired our meals with two different flavored Saki, the first was blueberry and the second was white peach. They were both scrumptious!
The waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable on the menu. He made sure we were happy the whole time! It was a great experience! I totally recommend all those who seek awesomeness to come here!

Come here for the sushi! Expensive but they give huge portions of fish on a small bed of rice. Very worth the price! Some of the fish isn’t for me, but the salmon is the best I’ve ever had.
They also offer a reasonably priced bento box for lunch.

I have given Zen four good, honest, hopeful tries. I am done.
My first visit to Zen, for lunch, was excellent. I had a delightful soup and main dish, and both were memorable and tasty. Service was good. Our table by the window was fun. I was a fan, and vowed to be back.
Since that first first, I have returned to Zen three times, once for lunch and twice for dinner. Unfortunately, my first visit was the best, and it has been downhill from there. I have found this restaurant to be inconsistent, and my most recent visit will likely be my last visit.
Dinner last night bordered on awful. Service was slow for our party of five. My appetizer bordered on inedible — the spring roll was under-​cooked, gummy, and nondescript. My main dish was a bland and most uninteresting coconut pad thai. It looked like a bowl of pasty noodles covered with a flat pinkish sauce and topped with thin slices of chicken, under-​cooked and poorly (if at all) seasoned. There were two paper-​thin tomato slices sitting along the side of the noodles, and two (really — two) thin red pepper slices. This dish was uninteresting, flavorless, disappointing, and most went back to the kitchen.
My dinner partners seemed happier. They had a mix of soup and sushi, and their entrees at least LOOKED tasty. My dish neither looked nor tasted tasty, and as much as I would like to like Zen, I give up.
Something positive — their holiday decorations was tasteful and cheery with nice lights and greens. The eye candy will have to hold me over until my next meal, as the food certainly didn’t do it for me.

I’m sad about this. The Décor is beautiful the staff is friendly it’s a cute place but the sushi isn’t good. It’s not high quality the rolls fall apart. This is not what I expected for the price. A let down for sure. 40 bucks I’m still hungry! :(wanted to order more but figured I may be better off eating elsewhere.

The décor is sophisticated; the food presentation is attractive and original; and the food varied and delicious.

I was able to sit right next to the window with my GF and enjoy a peaceful meal while we people watched (some characters came out this past Labor Day weekend so it was quite enjoyable) The meal started with chai tea, very delicious and given in a large glass full to the brim, already sweetened and full of cream. I went with the special, a Pyramid roll, along with many other specialty rolls and some sort of taco that had tempura chicken in it. The meal as a whole was very excellent with my only criticism including the amount of fried food present. It may have been the quality of the oil that altered the taste of the rolls/​taco, but it was to the point of over powering all other flavors and I could no longer tolerate the meal. It’s for this reason that I gave ³⁄₅ stars. I would highly recommend, with avoidance of fried goods.

Our group of 6 found this on a rainy Sunday night in June. We were seated upstairs, which was perfect for us to converse and get to know each other.
The menu is an eclectic mix of Asian cuisines. I chose the tom yum soup and the mango curry. The soup was warm and flavorful, relying on the aromatics for the flavor. The mango curry was good, though the rice was a bit overdone and the whole thing was a little on the sticky side.
Service was attentive and easily split our checks when requested.

Yum! Came in here last week for lunch with a friend. We were walking by trying to decide which restaurant we should stop for a bite to eat– so. many-​choices! In looking in the window, we say a few dishes (looked like veggie lo mein) that caught our eye. We were able to pick any seat that we wanted and were able to score a table near the window– great people watching. The little garden outside was also a gem to look at during our meal.
We both opted for the lunch box– friend had chicken and broccoli with won ton soup and I had beef and broccoli with a side salad. Both were $ 9.50 and came with ½ of a California roll. The salad could have used a little work– wasnt a fan of the iceberg lettuce and there were only a few veggies but the ginger carrot dressing was phenomenal.
Lunch box: broccoli was cooked to PERFECTION. I absolutely loved the beef sauce, too. Great portion of rice to mix in with the beef/​broccoli mixture. And the best for last — — probably the BEST California roll I have ever had! I almost ordered another one but I was already filled up from the large portions.
Service was attentive– plates were picked up as we finished and we didnt have to track anyone down to get/​pay for the check.
Yum. My next trip there will include 2 California rolls for sure. [still thinking about that veggie lo mein that originally caught my eye, too]

Came here with the husband a few weeks ago. We were craving good sushi and wanted a departure from our usual spot. I have been to Zen before but he hadn’t so I decided we would go together. Fairly empty for a late brunch and we were seated immediately. I wasn’t thrilled to be sitting literally next to the door and hostess stand, nor did I enjoy the sun blazing into my eyes from the tall windows. But it was nice out so there wasn’t cold air rushing in every time the door opened and the sun eventually got out of my way. I normally do enjoy the natural light the windows provide, just not directly into my retina. It took a few moments before a waiter came by to take our drink orders. We were recovering from the night before so just soft drinks for us. We settled on about 8 rolls and a few pieces of sushi. The waiter quickly reiterated our choices and within 20 mins we had our meal served on a platter almost too big for the table. The standard rolls (salmon, avocado, cucumber and tuna, avo, cuke) were basic but good. I really liked the firecracker roll and the spicy sauce that accompanied it. The biggest disappointment was the mango roll. We expected it to have a much sweeter taste to it but unfortunately, it was very bitter. The rest of the rolls were big but messy. They kept falling apart like they weren’t rolled tight enough. Overall good but we are still loyalists to our favorite sushi place. Zen is nice for a date with prices indicative of a special occasion. I’d go back but probably just stick to the basics.

Nice atmosphere for sure in a very nice location. I think the food can be improved, except for the sushi which was good and that’s why the 4 stars instead of 3. Something must be done about too much grease in the food making it loose the freshness. My family and I ordered several items including the veggie sampler and a Pad Thai dish… Presentation on point but lacks freshness.
This place has potential but the average rating is exactly where it should be. I may try again but not likely as there are many other options in the area.

My family and I stopped by Zen for dinner tonight. The meal started off on a sour note when one of our party discovered that the beer they were serving was more than a year old.
The food and atmosphere saved the day though as the food was absolutely delicious and the atmosphere was peaceful with a nice view of downtown Northampton. The mini raviolis were definitely the highlight of the night and I highly recommend them to anyone who stops by!
The sushi was fresh and tasteful, though they did fall apart easily. The lettuce wraps were great, but a little difficult to eat and very messy.
I have to say I loved the calamari, I only wish that we hadn’t had to send the dish back due to the fried hairs that accompanied it.
All and all the food was tasty, the service was good, and the atmosphere was great! If only there hadn’t been so many little mistakes…
Until next time…

Stopped in for dinner with the Smithie for her birthday dinner.
Ordered the ribs and curry fries as appetizers. The ribs were very good, tender and served with a delicious dipping sauce.
The curry fries were wrapped in phyllo and lightly fried. They were filled with curried potatoes, peas and carrots and also came with a zesty sauce.
She had the udon noodles which were tasty and I had a couple of rolls. The volcano roll was good but was nearly impossible to eat with chop sticks as it completely fell apart with each bite. It was prepared slightly different than others I have had as it was completely cooked with scallops, tuna and salmon and topped with spicy sauce.
The firecracker was even better in flavor with a zippy sauce on the side. The fish was fresh and it was garnished with micro radish greens which gave it a nice peppery flavor.
Service was nice and attentive while the décor was contemporary and hip. Worth coming to if you like asian fusion.