Zen by Zasshi — Restaurant in Sinaloa

Zen by Zasshi is a wonderful little Japanese sushi restaurant hidden gem in Mazatlán. The place is not large nor fancy, but they take great attention to detail and the quality of their sashimi. It's comprised of a sushi bar and a hand full of tables. No take out is allowed nor can you bring any of your leftovers home. Something I don't like as I usually order quite a bit to get a taste of all my favorites and sometimes would prefer to bring the left overs home and also becuase of how expensive the place is, why just throw away the left over sushi 🤔. Notwithstanding that aspect, another negative is the menu is only in Spanish, so if you are not well versed and have only a basic vocabulary, it's hard to make out the menu. A third negative is that it is quite expensive for the experience you get and the quality of the sushi overall. I'm from New York, and for that price you get much better food and experience. I ultimately rellied on the pictures found on Google online and some of my picks based on the pictures were a hit and others a huge miss. I thought I was ordering an eel roll and ended up with some sort of crunch roll with eel and avavado on top. The second roll I ordered was good, but not crazy good. I also ordered two pieces of uni which were OK at best. It appears uni here isn't the freshest, not just at Zen, but every sushi restaurant in Mazatlan. Now the star of the dinner was the sampler. I got a small sized one, but it had amazing sashimi, especially the tuna and the eel and the hamachi. The roll it came with was also the best one of the night despite being small, but that isn't really a compliment as the other two were only ok. The oyster with the fish roe was to die for, but if I'm being truthful, not to die for, only gry good. When it comes to drinks, they didn't have Sapporo in stock so I got an Asahi which was ok. I ordered a cold Saki which was smooth, by the hot Saki they had in stock was excellent. The ambiance is nice, but like I said, not fancy, a little hot to be honest and for the price of the dinner it is sub par at best. The restaurant is actually a busy crowd so you need a reservation. The servers were all very accommodating and attentive, refilling my beer glass and Saki glass regularly without being over intrusive. The sushi chefs were great and fun to watch, and the head chef made me a special dish when I asked about a fish he was cutting that was unfamiliar to me. Overall, I recommend Zen sushi if you stick to the sampler and the sashimi, the rolls were just ok, but better than the usual cream cheese filled sushi rolls found in Mexico and many other places. I give them a weak 3 stars if you really like sashimi but I would recommend Yoko in the marina area for the more main street...

Oh where to begin..... Zen by Zasshi, translates to heaven on earth I believe. (if I remember my Japanese) I’ve been eating sushi for over 20+ years, I have a personal friend who owns the best sushi restaurant in Vancouver Canada, I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in North America, and I have NEVER had an experience like this before, Zen by Zasshi is without a doubt not just the best restaurant I’ve eaten at in Mexico, but is my new favorite restaurant of all time. The chefs are meticulous, they don’t just make a meal they create a work of art. The fish is beyond top quality. The waitress was tentative.

To put in retrospect, both my wife and I were about to give up on mexican sushi entirely. We travelled down the coast as far as manzanillo ate in countless sushi restaurants from Cabo to Puerto Vallarta and were always disappointed. This restaurant was my last chance, the last opportunity, I was willing to give México when it comes to sushi. (To be clear I love México dearly but you guys have different tastes when it comes to sushi, lots of philly cheese cream rolls etc. that doesn’t exist where I’m from but to each their own)

For someone such as myself to have this kind of experience this late in the game, I just don’t even know what to say other than, Thank you! to the creator, and all the chefs/waiters of this wonderful restaurant.

If you want the best traditional sushi experience Then it has to be zen.

(This review is for the sushi Bar part of the restaurant, not the bistro, however it is 5 star as well but a completely...

Ayer fui con mi familia sin querer. Vimos en Instagram un comercial de TOBA (un restaurante del mismo chef) y como estábamos cerca decidimos caminar. Cuando vi Zasshi en el título del restaurante dije -Ahh ya llegamos y me metí.

Tal vez hubiera tenido oportunidad de rectificar, pero es que desde que puse el pie en la puerta me recibieron con excelente actitud (eso a mí me enamora) y difícilmente pude decir que no a un ambiente súper fresco, gente llena de buena actitud y en general un primer buen acercamiento.

Nos sentamos, 3 adultos, 3 niños. Un poco sudorosos por la caminata (de un hotel a 500 m de ese lugar) entramos al baño a asearnos… pff que nivel de limpieza.

Ordenamosbebidas, entre los niños la ganadora fue limonada de frutos rojos, los adultos pedimos una con limonada con jengibre y una copa de vino blanco a temperatura perfecta.

Entradas los nunca infaltables edamames (al vapor y otro spicy), giozas riquísimas y una almeja chocolate preparada de forma espectacular (no recuerdo el nombre oficial) todo excelente.

De platos fuertes dos shoyu ramen y un tonkotzu ramen y una sopa miso. La base de ese caldo debe llevar hirviendo días o semanas. Por mucho, el mejor ramen que he probado (y he probado bastantes creo yo). La sopa miso muy bien equilibrada y rica pero nada memorable a lado del caldo de ese ramen.

Pedimos también un yakisoba, como no sabíamos aqui nuestro comensal tuvo problemas con los adornos del plato. Una polvo de alga que terminó quitando y lo que parecía katsuobushi (una escamas de pez seco que parecen moverse). Quitando esto del plato, la pasta, la salsa, la carne y cocción perfecta eran deliciosas.

Y por último, al que deberían de darle la estrella, un monumento o deberían de destacar con alguna foto en la carta, un inolvidable y exquisito Temaki (cono) de wagyu A5 con foie gras. Flameado perfectamente y se deshace en la boca. De verdad la mordida de este saber me hizo casi llorar.

En total pagué 3mil pesos de 6 personas, todos comieron súper y repitieron bebidas. Olvidé tomar fotos y solo rescaté estas dos (justo la de la ostra que no recuerdo el...