Zento Restaurant - Japanese Kitchen & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Munich

Pricing is fine, but it would be nice to be able to get a pitcher of water without additional cost like in most countries. (Instead of bottled water)

I ordered medium cooked but it was almost rare (maybe the scale in Germany isn't the same as France) I consider the cost of 30€ for a dish with salad/potatoes and a steak to mostly be the steak price. The steak itself was fine but not 30€ fine or sized (the size matched the 250g mentioned on the menu so no issue there). I could get a similar dish in Paris for about half the price. For 20€ in the US I've gotten much larger, better cooked steak, with no crunch or ligaments (I'm not sure what the very tough white strands are). The meat was pretty chewy which not everyone likes (especially if you aren't there to get jaw muscles, but probably also because it wasn't medium cooked) and the sides (salad and potatoes) are pretty compact in size.

For me the dish was less interesting and its quality was less than that of many 15€ restaurant, nothing peculiar. Maybe the 15€ premium is because of the location and cost in the City, but Paris or Hawaï isn't cheap either and the price and quality is higher. You also don't pay for the water over there.

Maybe the sushi is more worth it at...

tl;dr: more modern than traditional indeed. Fresh, tasty food

The place: nicely decorated with some Japanese style art. Chairs are a bit weird with back support. Internal space is plentiful and they also have some tables outside (this was the beginning of June and weather was nice). You can get a glimpse of the kitchen from some of the tables.

The food: they are pretty creative with some of tl their offerings, and not everything is exactly traditional. You have your tuna and salmon nigiri, sashimi and all that, but also some Japanese fusion stuff like fried pieces (which are still quite good). Their gioza was pretty good, and the sushi felt fresh. Dessert was surprisingly good, with delicious mochi selections in a variety of flavors. All of them tasted pretty good, but mango felt extra refreshing in the warmer evening.

The service: not exceptional, but did its job and got us our stuff in reasonable times. This is IMO much better than over the top style service you find in places like the US.

We would definitely return to try more...

I was quite disappointed with my visit to this restaurant. The experience started on a negative note when we were informed at the entrance that our time inside would be limited — not the kind of welcome you expect when dining out.

The tables were placed very close to each other, making it uncomfortable to move around. There was no place to hang coats, and no one from the staff offered to help with them, so most guests ended up keeping their outerwear at the table, which didn’t feel pleasant.

The service was polite but a bit too persistent — waiters came by about every 15 minutes to ask if everything was okay. It became slightly distracting and made it difficult to relax and enjoy the evening.

As for the food, the rolls were falling apart, which made them hard to eat, though the octopus was well-cooked and delicious.

Overall, the restaurant has potential, but the atmosphere and service need improvement to make the experience truly enjoyable. I honestly expected something quite different from a...