Zen Zero

6 Reviews on “Zen Zero”

• William

  Had a very nice meal while passing through Lawrence. Have the special ginger chicken stir fry with a very pleasant strong Ginger flavor. I expected to save half for later but it was so good I ate it all.

  August 24, 2017, 4:09 am

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• Marti Collantes

  Zero but Certainly LeastAfter a long time of trying to decide where to eat with a friend we finally decided to eat at Zen Zero on Mass street here in Lawrence. Ive never eaten there before and neither had my friend before our visit, but from some of my peers who have eaten there, I have heard nothing but good things so I was very excited to finally get a chance to try it.While we were walking up the to the restaurant there were several people filing out since they just got done with their dinner. When we got inside I couldnt help but sense the smell of cleanliness and Asian food. I was very hungry at the time so I was super antsy to eat. Instead of a person being at the front desk to seat us there was a sign that said please wait to be seated so we sat down at a little wooden bench beside the sign waiting for someone to come seat us. It took no longer than five minutes of being there the manager I assume came up to us and asked if it was just the two of us, and then walked us to our table. The walk was very short around these bamboo wooden blinds that separated the walk way into the restaurant from our table to give us a little more privacy. When we finally got sat at our table I couldnt help but notice the beautiful ceramic vase holding several pairs of chopsticks for those who sit at the table. Next to the chopsticks there were two little white square plates for the little appetizer they would put on your table while your server brings water. Also on the table there was a container of hot sauce and soy sauce for those who chose to add more flavor to whatever dish they order. When we got sat it didnt take long for our server to come over and ask for our drink orders. She brought us waters to start off with along with these shrimp chips that I thought were very interesting and different. Usually at any other Asian restaurant Ive never gotten shrimp chips before although Ive had them before from the store. They were served in a little green basket with about seven chips inside which I thought was just enough to tie me over until dinner. Going back to our drink order, something that surprised me and my friend was that our server asked both of us if we wanted wine. This was a big shocker since we are both under aged. It made me wonder if we said yes if she would actually give us a glass without checking ID, but we both just settled for water. Then our server left for a while to give us some time to look over our menus. I personally thought the menus seemed a little messy because a lot of it seemed like the same size of font. Although the headers for each section were a little bigger size, it was still hard to easily pin point where each section began. The sections were also on different sides of the pages so it was easy to get lost on what you wanted and was confusing with which dish was in what section. Other than that I thought the color selection on the menu really fit in with the theme of the restaurant as a whole. The walls were a dirty yellow kind of color and the tables were wooden as well so it gives the place a little more casual feel to it. The lighting in the building was very original I thought because I honestly havent seen lighting like it before. It was pretty dim I would say for a restaurant like Zen Zero. Although the lighting fixtures were pretty interesting because they have some lanterns by where my friend and I were sitting, but then in other areas of the restaurant they have lights that looked kind of like black satellite dishes so it gave it more of the Asian feel to the restaurant.After sitting down for a while we finally decided on what we were going to get as our main course. I got these noodles with pork while my friend got this ramen soup. It didnt take any longer than your average time it would take to get your food at a restaurant as busy as they were. Also with our server coming back every once in a while to refill our water was nice because usually at some other places you have to track down your server. Luckily that wasnt the case in this situation. Once we got our food I was shocked with how big of a bowl my noodles came in because you really get a lot for the amount of money you are spending on it. My dish came in a big white bowl the noodles looked plain although they were mixed with some sweet sauce, pork, and scallions. My dish was very so filling although a little sweet for me after eating it for a while, but then again ever since I was little I really never liked sweeter things so what I thought was sweet could have been a very good normal dish to them. Overall, I really have no complaints over my dish other than just being a little on the sweet side. Comparing my friends meal to mine, his was a lot smaller since he got a small bowl of Ramen. It looked very green from all the vegetables that were in it. I tried some of the soup and the broth tasted so good. Just like if you mixed chicken broth mixed with miso. I would have to say I would eat that all the time if I could. The soup also came with these glassy looking noodles that tasted very gooey in my opinion. My friend also added pork into his soup which was very good since I had it in my noodles Although it was very hard to get the pork out because the noodles were engulfing it, and it was hard to separate the pork from the noodles.What made our experience to Zen Zero a lot better than expected was our server because she was very interested our opinion of our dishes. She asked what we thought of it and her opinion on it which was really nice we could have conversations with her over it. After we finally finished our dishes we then decided to order desert to see what they had and I had my friend pick and he chose these desert spring rolls with ice cream. I was all for it but we asked our server what was inside them and she said bananas, peanuts, and some chocolate sauce inside with ice cream on the side drizzled in a caramel sauce. Im always for trying new things so I said lets get it. Then we were waiting while our server went to put our order in. It didnt take long for our order to come out to our table. The dish was served on a circular white plate with two desert spring rolls and a scoop of ice cream all drizzled in caramel sauce. I was very excited to try it since Ive never heard of these before, but unfortunately I wasnt as impressed as I thought. The texture of the banana and the spring roll just didnt hit the spot so I just ended up eating the vanilla ice cream. After we finished it didnt take long for our server to come back over to bring us the check. She was very sweet and I would definitely go back even though I didnt have the best experience Im sure I could have a better one if I go back and try something else.Overall looking back at my experience I would recommend this restaurant for anyone who loves more authentic tasting restaurants or any Asian restaurants.Asian | ** | $$ | 811 Massachusetts St | (785) – 832 -0001

  July 20, 2017, 8:25 am

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• Chelsea

  We have never had a bad meal here! Exceptional service and exceptional food. We have had Hannah as our waitress a few times and she is the best!

  May 15, 2016, 6:09 am

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• Amanda Beeson

  Great menu with lots of noodle options. Very large servings. Definitely visit again!

  February 7, 2015, 8:03 pm

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• Facebook User

  Cashew Chicken. Amazing!! Huge cashews!! Great flavor!!

  February 4, 2015, 3:43 am

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• Funnykate11

  Pretty awful. Atmosphere is good. Service is OK at best. Food is bad. Everything just tastes sweet. No actual flavor.

  May 1, 2014, 12:23 am

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