Sushi-Zen For Dinner

Let's see... How long was it since we  go out for a Japanese meal? I think the last one for us together, was in Japan in September 2009!

We went to Sushi-Zen on Friday night thinking of trying their omu-raisu but I guess it was a weekday promotion because for Friday and weekends, Sushi-Zen has another promotion, which is the Sushi-Zen Bento Set:

A closer look at what the set offers:

Salad, udon, chawan mushi, sushi, tempura.... I particularly like the texture of tofu coupled with salmon and topped with chuka iidako. That was very nice.

Zaini and I shared this unaju. I like the sushi bento set, but this unaju was a complete letdown for me. The eel was OK but the rice.... I wish they'd use at least short or medium grain rice, if not true Japanese rice for this dish instead of the long grain variety. It is no fun eating Japanese food with crumbly rice, you know. Serving it with long grain rice makes the taste equivalent to one eating rice with sweet soy sauce at home!

Raimie, having been deprived of eating Japanese food for so long, ate so much that night!

Overall, food and service were so-so. We last ate at Sushi-Zen pre-renovation, which was way back in late 2008 or early 2009. This outlet used to have only counter-top table circling the kitchen area for diners to sit, but had since added tables for diners' convenience. I actually prefer seating at those counter but judging from what I saw that night, Malaysian diners prefer to be seated at the table. Almost all were willing to queue and wait instead of being seated at the counter.

Sushi-Zen, although is managed by the same company that managed Sushi Zanmai and Pastai Zanmai chains, used to have different, less frill selection of Japanese food than Sushi Zanmai. At this visit, I can't help noticing that the menu are turning very similar. What's the point of having two different outlet if you are to offer similar food option, I wonder.