Zen Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Borneo

Confused as I was actually looking for Fuduba restaurant and turns out the name displayed is Zen Japanese. Anyway, the restaurant had an indoor seating with air conditioning and Japanese seating while the other side was an open bar area mainly for drinking.

The menu had quite a variety of ramen and sushi as well as some western cuisine. The restaurant was empty during the lunch service. The service was quick and staff was helpful.

Heres what we ordered: DEVILS RAMEN. It comes in three spicy levels. I chose medium spicy and it was still really really spicy, similar to samyang buldak. It has a generous serving of bamboo shoots, three slices of grilled chasiu, half a ramen egg, one piece of nori and so much scallions. The broth was very spicy, thick and creamy. The grilled chasiu was tasty, smokey and slightly chewy. The ramen egg was soft and runny. However, the noodles were soggy and wasn’t ramen noodles, kinda like samyang noodles. So from this, I was actually wondering if they used Samyang as the base. Also too many scallions on the broth, I would prefer it as a light garnish. Overall, it was still delicious but definitely a fusion and not authentic Japanese ramen.

HOKKAIDO BUTANIKU BLACK MISO RAMEN. The description said creamy but it looks and tastes more like light and clear shoyu broth. However ignoring that, it actually tastes quite good. The broth was light, mostly taste of soy sauce and a hint of miso. It has a generous serving of bamboo shoots, a portion of thin grilled pork belly, half a ramen egg, one piece of nori and so much scallions. Again, noodles were overcooked and soggy. Overall, okay for a light broth of ramen.

HOKKAIDO BUTANIKU DON. A small bowl of thinly sliced pork belly on a bed of rice topped with half a ramen egg. For the price, it’s really small and disappointing. Some of the pork slices were burnt and unpleasant. Those that aren’t burnt are a bit chewy, some crunchy and tastes like teriyaki sauce but on the sweeter side. However, the rice and ramen egg were cooked well. Overall, pricey for the amount and quality.

SUSHI TACO. A deep fried seaweed taco with some sushi rice, vegetables and topping of choice (ours was tempura prawn). The fried seaweed was actually really delicious, light and crispy. It didn’t retain any oil. The rice was sweetened and went well with the tempura prawn. However, a very expensive dish priced at RM12 for 1 of RM20 for 2. The portion was very small with very little rice and toppings.

KARAAGE CHICKEN. Fried breaded chicken. Not traditional karage as its supposed to be battered. It wasn’t crispy and tasted very basic. However, it was soft but not juicy. Overall, not recommended if you want to try Japanese karage.

Overall, food was average with some positive and negative aspects in each dish but it is...

This is a review coming from a Bruneian. The first draw had to be the pork dishes because we just cannot get non-halal Japanese in Brunei. Our selections revolved around the non halal pork dishes.

I ordered the butadon while my wife ordered black miso ramen. I enjoyed the butadon as the portion was generous. Lots of pork and literally covered the rice. I had to dig in to find the rice. I enjoyed it and left as a satisfied diner. My wife said though the ramen was good. It was a bit too salty for her liking.

As for drinks, I felt a simple hot green tea was way overpriced at RM6.00 and the price put me off. Should have been half the price and unlimited refill. I instead ordered hot lemon tea to relieve my nasty cough and hot sake. Both were satisfying. I just felt they should had more selection of sake. They only had one choice. The wife ordered Sakura Cocktail. Almost as good as the one we had in a Michelin Star Japanese restaurant in Bangkok.

Overall, I enjoyed my dinner here despite some of the shortcomings. I would definitely come back here and recommend others...

Everything else was mediocre, but the aglio olio was the best dish I had there. It says its a Japanese restaurant, but the Japanese dish did not taste authentic, and the vibe of it was lacking. I thought it was a mixed/fusion restaurant until I saw the bill and the name of the establishment on it. A cosy atmosphere for a dine out with alcohol...