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    Zen Zen Dojo

    4.5 (25 reviews)

    Zen Zen Dojo Photos

    ZEN ZEN DOJO ATMOSPHERE

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    My to Graduates. Love ya!
    Samuel O.

    Kids enjoyed lunch here @zenzendojo food was very delicious and the drinks from next door @himekocafe were on point

    $51 receipt
    Eric K.

    Trashy restaurant. 6 tables. The "bar" was full of junk and unusable. Very slow service. The only girl working out front sat at the register looking at her phone. Weird menu choices. Wanted the katsu but I hate curry. Nothing but weird dishes. The street noodles were bland stir fried spaghetti and small chunks of fried chicken. The bento came with no stir fried vegetables. My wife loved the curry fried tofu bento. The tofu is super fresh with delicious batter. I ordered spring rolls but I had to remind the waitress to bring them after 10 minutes. They came out with the broccoli I should have got with the bento. The steamed broccoli was good as were the shrimp spring rolls. The grape green tea with lime my wife said was delicious. I had the orange tropical oolong. Both were medium sized that would be small drinks anywhere else. Definately not worth $51 with 15% tip. A pass from me. Gave it 3 stars because my wife liked it.

    Thai Tea Boba and Lime Squeezling

    We went in for lunch today for the first time. We both got bento boxes. The food was delicious and flavorful. We will absolutely be back. We also got a thai tea and lime drink. The worker was friendly and helpful with the menu. The decor was an anime theme. Top bento box: sixth blind moon fried rice as main entree (spicy but delicious flavor with fried egg on top) with pot stickers, vegetable spring roll and croquette(deep fried mashed potatoe with breading, delicious). Bottom bento box: meat fiesta fried rice (3 meats with delicious flavor) with pot stickers, croquette, and cucumber salad (garlicky and refreshing).

    Scramble tomato egg rice & sea salt matcha

    This is a newly opened Chinese restaurant near ASU. It's neighbors with Himeko Cafe, a boba tea store, and you can order drinks from Himeko Cafe at Zen Zen Dojo. Since it's so new the place isn't busy at all and has plenty of seating. The restaurant concept is Chinese fusion so expect to see classic Chinese, pan-Asian, and western fusion dishes. I checked out the restaurant twice! First time I ordered the scramble tomato egg rice and a sea salt matcha drink. The scramble tomato egg rice is a classic Chinese home dish and it tastes just like how my parents used to make them. It's light, fresh, and filling. It also comes in a cute bento style box. The sea salt matcha is refreshing and not incredibly sweet or salty. Second time we ordered the cumin lamb skewers, mapo tofu lasagna, strawberry yogurt, and sea salt matcha. Cumin lamb skewers are not often found in Chinese restaurants in the US so I was excited to try them. The meat was good quality and did not have any fatty parts. The cumin really kicks it up a notch! Mapo tofu lasagna sounded so unique I had to order it! It took a while because they bake it in the kitchen from scratch. A little unwieldy to eat because the lasagna immediately falls apart due to how slippery the tofu is. It feels like eating strips of lasagna with some mapo tofu on top so your mileage may vary. The drinks are always good and helps with the spiciness of the dishes. In terms of service the waiters are always courteous and polite and even walk over to the cafe next door in order to bring the drink to your table. Only complaint is that the kitchen may be slow at times even with a low number of customers. Since Zen Zen Dojo is experimenting with the Chinese fusion concept, which is very new compared to other fusion cuisines, it's definitely a place worth checking out and supporting!

    himeko chicken sandwich

    super yummy food and great staff! i love their bento boxes and chicken sandwiches! Also check out their cafe drinks they are so good I always get the sea salt matcha.

    Stir-fried Street Noodles

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    2 years ago

    Loved their bento box! I got the Katsu and it was so delicious. Also, you have to get their boba too!

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    2 years ago

    The food was so bomb, I'm coming back tomorrow and maybe the next day. Trust me on this!

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    Shimogamo - Chandler

    Shimogamo - Chandler

    4.3(904 reviews)
    7.1 mi
    $$

    We had a wonderful experience celebrating a friend. Jonah…read morewas a great server, knowledgeable and attentive to details. Will definitely come back.

    I'm writing this review more as feedback for the owner because I'd hate to see a restaurant with so…read moremuch potential decline in quality and service. My boyfriend and I came to Shimogamo for Mother's Day and ordered the five-course meal. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing compared to our previous visit. The biggest issue was the service. Our waitress, an older woman, came across as dismissive and unnecessarily rude throughout the evening. When we were seated, she offered complimentary rosé. I accepted a glass, but my boyfriend does not drink alcohol, so he politely asked if he could order a mocktail instead. Before he could even finish, she abruptly responded, "No, you can wait to place an order for that," as if he was trying to substitute the complimentary drink, which he was not. He was simply trying to order a beverage. Later, when the braised beef course was served, my boyfriend politely asked if he could have a spoon or fork. The waitress loudly repeated "A SPOON?" in a mocking tone in front of nearby guests, which made the interaction uncomfortable and embarrassing. As for the food, the five-course menu was average at best and far below what we expected from Shimogamo. The salmon tartare and sushi course were both excellent and showed the quality we remembered from our first visit. However, the remaining courses fell flat. The fried branzino was dry and seemed poorly prepared, despite the promising flavors of capers and cream sauce. The braised short rib felt completely out of place on the menu and lacked refinement it was dry, heavy, and more reminiscent of a chain steakhouse meal than an upscale dining experience. The entire dinner also felt rushed, with little attention to pacing or hospitality. What makes this especially disappointing is that we dined here back in November on a double date and had an incredible experience. We spent over $600 that evening, and the service and food were exceptional. Our waitress at that time was knowledgeable, attentive, and genuinely enthusiastic about the menu. She guided us through recommendations, and every dish impressed us. That's why this visit was so surprising. Shimogamo clearly has the ability to provide an outstanding dining experience, which makes the decline in both service and execution even more concerning. I sincerely hope management takes this feedback seriously because this restaurant was once one of our favorites.

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    Shimogamo - Chandler - Inside

    Inside

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    Zu Izakaya

    Zu Izakaya

    4.5(1.9k reviews)
    2.0 mi
    $$

    Popped into this place for our last meal before leaving AZ and it did not disappoint! We were the…read morefirst people in. When we walked in it had a very fishy smell, so it kind of made us second guess our choice. But we went for it anyhow. The greeter/server was very pleasant and sat us. It was very clean inside with ample space between seat. We browsed through the menu and started with our usual edamame and pot stickers. The edamame was salted well throughout where a lot of places just put the salt on top only. We ordered a couple varieties of sake which were both good. Out of all of the things we ordered the karange skewer was just a little more oily than were use to, but still good. The spicy salmon roll had really great flavor and the lollipop roll was probably one of the better versions that we have had. The musubi was giant to say the least, it was good, but offered a bit too much rice. Overall the food and service was great and we were very happy that we ended up here!

    On a Sunday evening, after checking out the Desert Botanical Garden, I was looking for some food in…read morethe area. I came across Zu Izakaya and it's great reviews as one of the options. I love Japanese food so my decision was made. I drove over and parked in their complimentary lot. Ambiance (3.5/5): I've been to Japan and there are plenty of izakayas there. Think of them as small bars which often serve solid food. Zu fits that bit. It's a relatively small restaurant, probably seats about 30 people. and it's pretty no frills for a Japanese spot. I was seated at a booth in the corner of the restaurant. They have free WiFi which is always a good touch. Service (3/5): Service was friendly, though a bit inconsistent. My waitress wasn't as attentive as I would have liked. The type of service where you have to flag them down to get what you want and to close out. Drinks (4/5): Zu has a nice menu of Japanese and Korean beverages, including sake, soju, Japanese beer, and more. With that being said, I just had an iced green tea. Food (4/5): I got a nice variety. I went with the Japanese sausage off of the grill menu, the OBI mayo roll off of the sushi menu, and the cheese corn off of the appetizer menu. Let's start with the sausage. It's a small item, two small sausages, but absolutely delicious. The sausage was bursting with flavor and basted in a sweet sauce. Minus the portion size, perfection. The cheese corn also hit the spot, but the execution was off. The corn is served on a hot platter, and unfortunately some of the corn on the edges was badly burnt. The type of situation where they should start over. Which they didn't. Lastly, the OBI mayo roll is essentially a California roll with marinated warm shrimp on top in a mayo sauce. I didn't love the hot and cold combo (shrimp and sushi), but outside of the temperature, it was a delicious roll. All in all, a very food meal. My only gripe with Japanese food is that it can get expensive quick. Given that Zu is in Tempe, I was hoping that prices would be a little cheaper. With that being said, they do have a solid happy hour (and reverse happy hour) with both food and drink specials. Next time I stop by, I'd like to check out some of their Korean options. I focused on the Japanese stuff this time (which makes the majority of the menu). Next time around, the bulgogi is calling my name!

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    Zu Izakaya - Lots of inside seating options

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    JJAMBBONG POT

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    Daruma - spicy tuna roll

    Daruma

    4.6(663 reviews)
    4.0 mi
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    I came to this restaurant after spending all day at the hospital across the street for my daughter…read moreso I was hungry and emotionally drained. When I walked in, I was promptly directed to where I should go so I could place a takeout order. The genuine courtesy of the staff here was just what I needed after a long day. Lots of great options for sushi but ramen sounded amazing on a chilly winter day. I ordered a couple options and requested for the toppings to be separated so my picky eater could pick out what she didn't like. The food was out promptly and packaged with such care. Once I got it back to my daughter's hospital room, we were able to feast on the best meal we had all day. I will definitely be coming back to this place again and I am grateful for their kindness just when I needed it. Highly recommend!

    I have to be honest here. I only recently started trying Ramen. I don't know why, but I always told…read moremyself that I didn't like it. Anyway, this was only the second time I've ever eaten restaurant Ramen. The first time was so-so. And I was eager to see how much better it could be. So my wife started to do a little research and found that Daruma had really good reviews. So we gave it a shot. I have to say that I was very impressed with my Ramen. It was galaxy's better than the first one I tried. I can't wait to try a different one next time. Aside from the wonderful food. The staff there was really nice. They greeted us right away and quickly got us seated. Our server was also very friendly and attentive. The dining area was pretty clean and inviting too!

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    Zen Zen Dojo - asianfusion - Updated May 2026

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