While I will recommend this place, the quality of the roll, as in how well they seal the goodies inside, has been inconsistent. We typically get the big rolls and they're all delicious! We got the rainbow roll, salmon roll, tuna rolls for the giant rolls! This was a requested post delivery food and they delivered (pun intended) on the quality of the rolls read more

Went to this place on a Friday night with a party six and you would have thought we asked them to sacrifice their first born. Absolutely awful customer service and they were extremely rude when we questioned the added "gratuity"charge on our bill. The ramen was the worst ramen I had ever tasted. 99¢ ramen has more of a flavor profile than what they serve. I will give them two stars for the tofu appetizer and tasty cocktails. Wouldn't recommend if your party is larger than two. read more

Now and Zen - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

I love that my friend and I can eat here, even with his allergy to a food. They took it seriously and there is never any issue. read more

Now and Zen - Volcano Roll with cream cheese, no avocado. - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Great service and lovely staff. The sashimi was fresh and interior decor is kept minimal. Only caveat was that ginger had to be asked for and the chopsticks are disposable. Prices are decent, definitely would highly recommend for dinner. read more

Now and Zen - Appetizer Sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

I wish I could adjust the rating scale because I'd give high marks to food and to the gentleman server. HOWEVER, the hostess needs to get a different job away from customers. She is incredibly rude! Whoever is in charge needs to do something about this exceptionally impolite hostess. Cville restaurants are extremely competitive and a bad apple at the front of the house can do you in. (We've been customers of Now and Zen for years and adored Toshi, who we were told has retired but he still has a hand in, just not in the kitchen). read more

I'm sad I have to leave this review because I had been here once or twice before and the food was decent (not great, but serviceable). Last night was atrocious. They've consistently had minor issues with their food but last night just kinda confirmed to me that I will not be eating here again. We ordered takeout so no comments on the service or ambiance. The pork gyoza was actually the worst I've ever had. The dumplings were filled with water, almost like they were supposed to be soup dumplings but literally just hot water inside a way too thick dumpling wrapper. The ground pork inside was swimming in the water and disgusting almost no flavor. We threw the entire thing out it was so bad. My friend ordered peanut noodles and these came hot which he felt was weird. He said the peanut sauce was boring and the noodles weren't good. This got trashed. My boyfriend ordered the chicken katsu. This was not the same as it was previously. The breading was so thick over the thinnest driest piece of meat. There was virtually no curry sauce on the dish at all. The katsu itself was completely unseasoned and also tasted of oil. Disgusting. He fried the rice up and threw the katsu itself out. Now for the rolls: massive disappointment. Now and Zen does not know how to correctly roll sushi - I've noticed every time that the portion of rice is too much. IE I literally have to scrape half of the rice off the roll. Last night was the worst it's ever been. Virtually no filling in any of the rolls we ordered and an obscene amount of rice. All of the rolls had this issue, some had other problems. The sweet potato tempura roll with cream cheese, other than the rice issue, was fine. I'd probably eat it again. The eel cucumber roll was disgusting. The eel was not done well at all. I was so disappointed because eel is usually my favorite sushi protein. This got trashed :( There was a Hawaiian roll that was quite large - the rice was way too much. The fresh tuna on top was actually good and this was one of the only things that was edible. The "spicy tuna" inside the roll though was laughable - the tiniest portion of tuna with just sriracha sauce. For $20 for the roll you'd think they'd put some kewpie Mayo sesame oil literally any kind of effort into the spicy tuna. This roll we literally ate the tuna off the top and threw away the rest. The seaweed tasted off. The last roll was the rainbow roll and it had the same combo of good fish on top bad seaweed inside. We did the same thing as the Hawaiian roll and ate the sashimi off the top and threw the roll away. There was hardly any filling AGAIN so we hardly threw anything other than rice away... $130 went almost entirely into the trash. EVERY single one of our items save the sweet potato roll had some major error that made some portion if not the whole dish inedible. I am sad that i need to stop recommending this place but this was absolutely atrocious. I wouldn't ever be back. read more

This place had excellent food and very generous portion sizes. I had the miso marinated black cod, which was excellent. My eating partner had vegetarian miso soup followed by a giant dragon roll, which was very good. They are good with food preferences gluten intolerance, and vegetarian options. The menu is very large lots of choices. The waiter was very helpful. Kitchen staff seemed friendly as we walked by. Tables were comfortable. This was an overall very positive experience with food left over at the end to take home. read more

Now and Zen - Giant dragon? Roll. Vegetarian - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Food was really just bad and disappointing, the peanut sauce was definitely store bought, the hostess was rude, would not recommend.

I've been to now and zen several times now, and it has never disappointed. The sushi and apps have always been delicious. The portion sizes are large. You really get the best bang for your buck here. 10/10 would recommend !!! read more

Now and Zen - Crunch Roll - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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First off food is excellent that's not my complaint. Wanted to indulge and order delivery. Was told in their massive missive to there customers that there is no difference between dine in and delivery in regards to the 20% SUGGESTED tip. I don't understand why I'm supposed to tip for a service that's not provided. read more

I've only eaten in restaurant many years ago, but I have had take out multiple times recently and they have all been stellar. Love the jumbo sized sushi, my favorite is the Green Giant. I'm normally not much into cream cheese in my sushi, but the rolls here are where I make an exception. All excellent, fresh fish, and flavorful, delicious rolls. The sashimi salads are also excellent with lots of flying fish roe and sweet micro greens. My only comment was the Tuna Carpaccio salad that I got recently had a bit too much wasabi in the dressing, but aside from that it was excellent. Highly recommend for fresh, delicious sushi. Go all in with the jumbo sized rolls here, you won't regret it. I can't speak to the service since it has been a while since I've eaten in-restaurant, but I recall the interior having a lot of dark furniture. read more

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I was hoping this would be good but the food was terrible. Sushi and non-sushi items were underwhelming. The dumplings were ATROCIOUS. Vomit-inducing. read more

Always super crowded - come early or get an order takeout. My favorite thing on the menu is the Green Giant, a huge vegetarian sushi roll stuffed with cream cheese, scallions, sweet potato, tempura bits, and more. Always is delicious, however last time we got it there was a hair in our food so cutting two stars for hygiene, otherwise def recommend! read more

Yummy!!! Our server John (I think that was his name) was great! We ordered the Agedashi tofu to start; it was excellent, very flavorful! Then we ordered two large rolls- the New Orleans and the Salmon Melt Roll. They were delicious. Nice service. It was busy! read more

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Worst dining experience ever. Waiter was very nice but food was very low quality and it might have been the worst "leache martini" I've ever had. Would not recommend Now & Zen to anybody ever. read more

The sushi is delicious, but the udon is somewhat salty and the noodles are too soft. It also contains eggplants, which is a bit unusual. The crab cake is enjoyable for those who love creamy dishes. Unfortunately, the service made us uncomfortable. My friends used bowls while eating sushi, so when the udon was served last, they didn't have any clean bowls left. When they asked for two more clean bowls, the waiter told them they should use dishes for sushi and bowls for soup. It felt like he was teaching us how to eat and judging us. I don't understand why, as people should be able to eat in the way they feel most comfortable. Just like you don't have to use chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant. Besides, he gave us the bowls at the beginning, not when the udon was served. If they are reluctant to provide bowls because of a shortage, they should feel sorry because of not meeting customer needs and increase the number of bowls. Such service definitely does not deserve the 20% tip they demand. read more

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The food is consistently good. I wish they had more space. It can get overwhelming when it's crowded which it often is because it's so good. The Green Giant and the eggplant curry are my go to's every time!!! read more

All excellent, one of our favorities places in Cville Va, the food amazing, same for the service, but go at 5 , otherwise is a line to get a table read more

I really wanted to like this spot! But as a tourist I did not do my due diligence in researching that your meals do not come out at the same time. It was pretty busy when we arrived but were sat quickly. We order a couple of rolls which were delicious. The rice bowl my hubby ordered sat because he thought our dumplings and my beef bowl would be right out, but it wasn't. 25 minutes of waiting and then we asked for our food and the waiter only mentioned that the dumplings were on their way, which meant they forgot my beef bowl. I was trying to break the tension and stress by taking my toddler to the bathroom for breaks. Did I mention this place is not kid friendly? Not this trendy restaurant's fault, though. My partner was over the place by the time our dumplings arrived followed by my bowl. We had to leave. I'm certain this place is super popular and awesome for people sans children or people who have not been restaurant manager previously. It was a bad night for them- I could see the staff was stressed and over it, too. We left and saw many people waiting to enter. read more

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TL:DR: cute space, attentive workers, yummy food I've noticed a lot of people have complained about the service here, but from beginning to end, our service was awesome. Never had an empty glass, always checking to make sure our food is good, etc. But I guess every place has it's off days. Food: Aburi salmon: So good. It's like a tower of rice and salmon, that has some type of soy glaze on it, and then the fish is lightly singed with a blow torch. Fell apart a little bit, but still worth getting Shake roll: for all you salmon lovers out there. salmon inside, salmon on top. A lot of people mention how thick their cuts of fish are on their rolls, but I am not complaining lol Crab miso: very good! But it's definitely messy to eat if you want to get the most out of your crab. Sashimi dinner: Beautiful presentation (I love flowers), and a decent amount/cuts of fish. Will always make a stop here when in Charlottesville read more

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The sushi is good, I would say I won't go back for 2 reasons, one is that there is no bar to sit by yourself, so they sit you at a table for 2 or 4. And the second reason is the sushi pieces are very big, you literally have to open your mouth like you are at the dentist or cut it smaller which means messing up the sushi piece. The big guy on the other table asked for a knife to cut his sushi in smaller pieces. Ha read more

This is probably one of the worst sushi restaurants I have been to. Food was very underwhelming and the service was not any better. Will not be returning. read more

As a vegetarian, it's often extremely difficult to find quality sushi places (I want more than the standard avocado or cucumber roles!). Now and Zen 100% delivers with their Green Giant! Made up of a sweet potato tempura, cream cheese, avocado, cucumber, spicy mayonnaise, vegan eel sauce, tempura flakes, and scallions, the Green Giant creates an amalgamation of flavors unlike any other. Paired with wasabi, ginger, and their house spicy mayonnaise, each bite packs a punch! I highly recommend Now and Zen (specifically the Green Giant) to both sushi newbies and enthusiasts alike! read more

Now and Zen - Green Giant (vegan) - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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The decor and ambiance inside Now & Zen is very cozy. We showed up right around when they opened and were seated immediately, though seating is definitely limited and you have to ask people to scoot their tables and chairs when you try to get up to leave because they're so close together. We ordered a hot tea, and they brought out an entire tea pot which is great for the price. There was only one server, so as more customers were seated the service noticeably slowed down. I got the Roll Combination (3 rolls for $18) though it's important to pay attention because for some rolls, it would be cheaper to get three rolls individually than with the combo pricing. The rolls were more rice than fish, but the presentation was lovely and the size was large enough to ask for a take home box. The edamame was perfectly steamed and salted. The bill was not well itemized, but we noticed the price seemed too high for what we ordered. Upon questioning the price, they had tried to add three additional rolls to our bill that we did not order and we received a corrected receipt. Definitely good that we paid attention before just putting a credit card down to pay! read more

Now and Zen - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

The best sushi hands down in Charlottesville! 1. Favorite is their tuna salad - huge pieces of tuna and roe and delicious vinegarette, now we each get a salad. 2. Maui sushi 3. Octopus salad Things that are not my fav: their specialty rolls are delicious but are huge and would benefit from being cut smaller. I do not like the noodle dishes. I do not like the avocado egg roll. Love getting it as takeout but will need 50 minutes from the time you ordered till ready for pick up. They are not fast but plan ahead and pick it up. There is no better sushi. read more

Generous portions, fast service, overall good experience. Yummy sushi and dumplings. House sake was delicious and paired so well with the sushi. read more

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My first time having Sushi in Charlottesville, and WOW Now and Zen was fantastic!! The rolls were large and filling. They had great combinations of flavors and a wide arrangement of selections that expanded beyond just sushi. Everything that we got was great, and I left eating WAY too much, but how can you not!!? The drinks were great, our waitress was delightful, and everything about this cute quaint spot was perfect. I will be back (sooner than I should be). If you love sushi, this has to be your next stop! read more

Now and Zen - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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I really wanted to love this place but it wasn't what i thought it would be. The service was great, and the vibes were as well, but the sushi rolls themselves were unnecessary huge. We couldn't finish ONE of our rolls - it just didn't feel right for a piece of sushi to be that big. Unless you like your sushi jumbo sized, i would avoid this place read more

Liked the menu and the many options - ordered takeout around 7:30pm and it was ready by 8:00 when many other restaurants were closing. The sushi itself was high quality and fresh but there was too much rice. It made it hard to enjoy the actual sushi . Would recommend this restaurant but make sure you ask for much less rice. read more

Food was fantastic and the staff were great with recommendations. Great Sushi and just off the main strip in the downtown mall.

Super delicious! Got 4 rolls to split with a friend, ordered online and was super easy to pick up, they even walked out to my car to give it to me! All the rolls were tasty and seemed like they use quality meats. Also these were the biggest pieces of sushi I think I've ever had, they were huge!! read more

Now and Zen - Top left: avocado mango veggie roll Top right: California roll Bottom left: salmon Bottom right: shrimp tempura - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Warm fish in our sushi The rolls we received were already falling apart when we received them Rolls are 85% rice Out of half their items I wish we would have just taken these red flags to not eat the food and find somewhere else to eat but we didn't and now I'm suffering the consequences as I've been sick all day since eating there last night. Do NOT eat the sushi here - they can't even roll them well enough to have them stay together long enough to serve them to you... read more

I've been meaning to come here since I've been craving sushi for months. The place doesn't take reservations for parties of less than 4, but it was only a ten minute wait for a busy Friday evening for 2! The aesthetic is lowkey, subtle, hole-in-the-wall restaurant. The food took awhile to come, and as for the food itself, the sushi was a bit rice-heavy, but other than that, it was delicious. I had an amazing night, and honestly the long wait time wasn't too bad since it allowed me to talk and enjoy the company. The sushi wasn't the best I've ever had, but it was enjoyable and good. read more

Now and Zen - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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This place is quite good when it comes to rolls! It's fair and filling and the quality of the roll is something that is above average. Quite honestly, this is going to be my new-go to place to get a light bite to eat in that it's an adequately priced sushi roll that doesn't break the bank or make it feel like you've eaten a horse. The other things on the menu can be variable so be safe and stick with the rolls. Granted some rolls are significantly smaller than others so be careful. read more

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I guess since my old fav sushi place in town (Kokoro) is gone this place will have to do when I'm craving. In the past, I didn't love it because their specialty rolls were too big and not super tasty. Taking multiple bites from your sushi just does not seem proper. I do like all their regular sushi rolls, though. The spicy yellowtail with avocado is my favorite. The beef noodle entrees and the beef skewers are also very good. The fried spring rolls are interesting but I probably wouldn't try it again. The shrimp one had too much sauce on it and, while I did like the mango, all these overpowered the shrimp. The other spring roll was way too sweet, but had more of a traditional egg roll flavor going on. My party definitely agreed that we didn't like the popcorn chicken as it was a bit dry. Since this is the better of the current sushi places in town I would definitely come back especially to try the sashimi. Do not come after 7 pm on a weekday. This place is way slow at those times... the wait staff do try to be friendly but we were here for an hour longer than we wanted to be. read more

Now and Zen - Black cod small plate - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

This is an odd sushi place with great service and very weirdly cut chanclas of fish and rolls made with tons of rice. My sashimi platter ($40) had tons of five types of fish but they were giant chunks and had to be cut (with difficulty because I did not have a decent knife). On top of the fish were a stack of flowers! Apps were also pretty heavy handed on the size and oil. Tempura cauliflower was heavy and doused with a sweet sauce. Crab croquettes were HUGE and had good flavor just should have been bite sized. Not sure what is going on in this venerable place but the owner should stop by.... read more

Now and Zen - Sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Decent Japanese food. Now and Zen features limited seating and little separation from your neighbors unless you get one of the few choice tables. I tried the fried oysters, crunchy spicy salmon, electric eel roll, and crab cream croquettes. The oysters were larger than I'm used to and were served with a tasty, slightly spicy sauce. The salmon was pretty bland, did not taste particularly fresh, and was not spicy at all (definitely need the soy sauce for this one). The electric eel roll was just okay and I didn't think the eel was too fresh either. The croquettes were as good as any as I have eaten, but they are a very bland dish by nature. The accompanying sauce was sweet and provided a nice complement to the croquettes. Overall, I did not have a terrible experience at Now and Zen, but I do not think I'll be back. read more

Okay, I've procrastinated writing a worthy review of Now and Zen for long enough...This is one of my favorite restaurants in Charlottesville, and honestly some of the best sushi in--dare I say it--Virginia. Despite Charlottesville being pretty far inland, Now and Zen manages to find some insanely fresh fish to serve to their avid customers! It's very small and maybe a little understaffed, so expect to spend some time there, both waiting for a table and waiting for your food. My boyfriend and I love to get the panko-fried oysters with some kind of creamy remoulade sauce served on a yummy slaw as an appetizer to keep our hunger at bay while we wait for the main event: the chirashi bowl (a steal at $19)! The fish on top of the chirashi bowl (and honestly on top of many of the ENORMOUS rolls) is thiccc (yes, with 3 c's). The chirashi bowl is so delicious, and we are never disappointed with the quality of the fish, served on top of warm sushi rice. Sometimes they also have seasonal ramen offerings, which are also great! But we always come because we're craving their chirashi. It's too good. If you have a couple hours to spare and feel like eating a whole pile of the freshest raw fish in Charlottesville, do yourself a favor and order a chirashi bowl at Now and Zen. read more

The miso soup and the the spicy dumplings were so good. The peppers in the spicy dumplings were so spicy but so good. The spicy tuna rolls were okay. I'd try something else next time. Probably would want a hand roll or specialty roll. The specialty rolls everyone got were very large. The sake was good and the service was good as well! The Dragon roll is so cute! I enjoyed the seaweed but you should expect it to full taste like seaweed, it's not overpowered with something else. read more

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I love how many vegetarian options and unique rolls Now and Zen has! My friend and I have tried their Eggplant with Sweet Soy, Green Curry Eggplant, Asparagus, Sundried Tomato, Pine Nut, and Cream Cheese Roll, Galapagos Roll (with avocado, mango, cilantro, and jalapeno), and Green Giant Roll (with sweet potato tempura, avocado, cucumber, cream cheese, tempura flakes, green onions, "eel" sauce, and spicy mayonnaise). The standouts were the Green Giant Roll, which turned out to be the most massive roll of sushi we've ever had, and the Eggplant with Sweet Soy, which was tender and soaked in a delicious sauce. So, so good. read more

Now and Zen - Green Giant Roll and Eggplant with Sweet Soy, highlights of the menu! - Japanese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia