Zen Garden

The prices for the dinner combinations are excellent - you get a bento box with salad, rice, a spring roll, soy nuggets and your entree as well as soup, tea and dessert for only $16. I almost always get the lappa when I go, and my friend loves the kung pao soy chicken - the other combos I've tried have been hit or miss. The dessert it comes with is a tiny, light piece of cake, which is a perfect way to finish off the meal. The soy fritters were absolutely amazing and reminiscent of popcorn chicken. I've always received great service but I've been there enough times to learn the customs in this restaurant. They will not bring you your bill unless you ask for it, even if you're sitting with empty cups and plates. My friend and I were lucky enough to go on the restaurant's 5th anniversary and we were given a $10 gift certificate for a future meal. It made me feel like they go out of their way to please the customer.

Tasty meal

Adequately priced and tasty alternative meal. Wished they had more options that were not deep fried, however. Was looking for a veggie (aka. 'healthy') meal but found many choices were deep fried. There is a lot of immitation meat on the menu and this may turn some people off. The selection of teas and beverages was a treat. I would go back, it was a nice change and everything was flavourful and well prepared.

Zen Gardens presents a bit of a conundrum. The food can be quite good and you certainly won't find anything quite like it anywhere else in London, but the management is terrible. It is obvious to me that the servers and (in the long run) the customers aren't treated very well by the owner/proprietor(s)--which is made evident by the regrettable turnover in staff. (Some of their best servers have apparently left on bad terms.) The menu is tricky because the descriptions are sometimes inaccurate and often times don't paint a very good picture of the food itself. Hence, a knowledgeable and candid server is essential--all of which seem to have gone elsewhere. I can't say I would recommend Zen Gardens to anyone who isn't willing to sift through the menu to find some of the really unique flavours and textures concealed therein...but it is possible. Sidenote--for my recommendation on what to get, see my order below.

I've been to Zen Garden's a few times and have...

I've been to Zen Garden's a few times and have only been impressed by the soy fritters. Everything else I have had has been adequate or below average.

Mediocre - has something changed?

I have frequented this restaurant several times, as I work in the vicinity, and was dismayed at the service and the food that I received on my lunch today. The dish was poorly mixed, with clumps of curry in the vermicelli. My friends meal was burnt and didn't taste anything like my meal (we ordered the same meal). When we asked if another dish could be made, the server said, it looked gross when I brought it out to you. I don't know if it's just me, but that doesn't seem like the most appropriate thing to say to a paying customer. Overall, the dish I had was mediocre at best, very dull and not very tasty or spicy. My friends dish was pitiful. I am wondering if management has changed or the cooks have changed because the atmosphere and the meal was so different from before. I don't know if I will return back, but if I do it won't be for a long while.