My omakase experience at Zen was out of this world!!
Read on to see what I had (well, you can see the collage above, but...still).
Zen Japanese Restaurant opened back in 2000, but recently moved to a new location in Markham. I haven't been to the old location when it was in Scarborough, but the design of this spot.
With a couple tables in the main room and a separate room at the back, there are also 12 spots at the sushi bar. I decided to come to Zen after hearing many great things about their omkase.
Omakase is a meal where you leave the selection of what you eat to the chef. You don't necessarily get to choose what fish you get or how it is prepared. Specifically for omakase at sushi spots, you are given pieces of fish with specially selected toppings or garnishes in whatever order the chef wants.
If you are sitting at a table, and not at the sushi bar, the sushi chef prepares every piece and puts it on a big platter for you to enjoy. Although you get the same pieces of fish, it is not the same experience if you are not sitting at the sushi bar!
So of course I had to make sure I reserved a spot at the sushi bar! I highly recommend calling in advance to book your spot. We decided to try out the most basic omakase priced at $65 per person.
We started off with some hot sake (and when I say we, I meant just my dad haha).
And then we were ready for the omakase experience!! I tried my best to get the names of each piece of fish I had but failed... Sorry! But I mean, pictures are worth at thousand words...right?! :P
This was the first omakase experience for my family and we really enjoyed it. It was so much fun watching the sushi chef prepare all the fish right in front of us. We weren't too used to is as we would get a piece of sushi and eat it within seconds. The beginning was a little tough as we were hungry but I think we got used to it at the end and finally enjoyed the experience.
I highly recommend coming to Zen for their omakase, but only by the sushi bar (for the reasons I said above). The fish was fresh and everything was delicious. As for the price point, I've been doing research and I think that this is quite fairly priced for what you get. It seems quite expensive but you really are paying for the experience and the freshness of the fish you eat. I won't be back for regular dinners but for special occasions, for sure!
