Zen Sushi & Sake — Restaurant in Lexington

Food Fun Adventure Weekend concluded with a trip to Zen Sake & Sushi in Lexington. A small restaurant with very friendly staff. I encourage getting a reservation before going as they were fairly busy.

I ordered a Woodford Old fashion and the drink they brought me was essentially all bourbon as that is all I could taste.

We started with the Pan Fried Dumplings. I love dumplings and these were wonderful with a great sear. The pork and chicken were cooked and seasoned well and the dipping sauce was sweet and tangy. The only knock was the dumplings were a little chewy.

The first roll we tried was the Zander. The salmon was nicely seared. The tuna was good as well. It had a really spicy hot taste on the back end. The asparagus was not really present, but I did find it a little salty.

Next was the Naruto. This roll was really fresh tasting, but the cucumber was almost all you could taste. It was light but not a favorite.

We next tried the Krispy Krunch roll, tempura fried roll that was warm and savory but not super crunchy. The tuna was great in this dish and the Spicy Aioli was superb. The one knock of this dish was the wasabi was smashed under the sauce container making it harder to get to and not as eye pleasing.

We also ordered the Ozeki Sake served hot, it was light with a slight plum fragrance to it. We enjoyed it a lot.

Next on the menu was the Volcano. It comes plated looking a lot like a volcano. The spicy crab on top was good but slightly over sauced. The spicy tuna and pickled jalapeño and cream cheese all melted together underneath the tempura fried crust. It was a tasty roll.

The last roll that we tried was the Incredible. This was made with tempura fried shrimp with avocado roll with spicy crab on top. There is also a lot of Ugani Tare and Yum Yum sauce on the roll. It was good but a little too much sauce for me. The crunchy tempura flake was good but made a bit of a mess.

Zen Sake and Sushi is delicious, and the service is great. We really enjoyed our experience there and will definitely be back. The prices are on par with other sushi restaurants around Lexington. The Fat Man says that Zen is definitely Fat...

Food Fun Adventure Weekend ended with a trip back to Zen Sake & Sushi in Lexington. I highly encourage a reservation.

I ordered A Single Plum cocktail. This is made with Choya Umeshu Sake, Tito's Vodka and a Japanese green plum. It was an interesting drink that was very sweet and could sneak up on someone if they have too many.

We started with the Chicken Karaage. The chicken was fried perfectly although slightly bland. The sauce though was awesome. It was slightly sweet and spicy. The flavor that this sauce packs makes this a very enjoyable dish.

I ordered a Woodford Old Fashion and the drink they brought me was essentially all bourbon again, but that is okay with me.

The only roll that we got again was the Krispy Krunch, it is tempura fried roll that was warm and savory but not super crunchy. This is one of our favorites here.

Moving forward we tried the Amazing Tuna. This is pepper tuna, Albacore tuna and spicy tuna. The tuna just melts, and the taste is fabulous. The sweet sauce over top cuts through the tuna and just makes it delicious.

The next roll we tried was the Mango Tango. This has crab and avocado wrapped in soy paper topped with Yellow fin tuna, salmon and mangos. It is a bit of a weird texture to eat edible paper, tuna and fruit but when combined it just works. This is a tasty dish.

The next stop on the sushi train was the Fancy Salmon. This combines salmon and spicy salmon in an avocado roll with spicy aioli. They mix in tempura flake to give it a crunch and texture. The aioli is not overly spicy but helps cut through the bite.

The last dish we tried was Oruhka. This is tempura soft shell crab, eel tamago, avocado soy paper and eel sauce. The crouch of the tempura and the chew of the paper plus the soft omelet like texture of the tamago and the sweet eel sauce just makes for such a great dish. This is by far my favorite.

Zen Sake & Sushi is fantastic. I can not recommend this place enough. Zen Sake & Sushi is Fat Man Approved and highly...

I made reservations for my wifes birthday and asked for the chef to make something special.

We got there and ordered. The young waitress mentioned it was my wifes birthday and said oh, we just give you a free desert when youre done. We said ok and ordered. She later on dropped a little slip of paper at the other end of the table we were sitting and walked away. I thought i was just so they knew all that we had ordered so didnt pay much attention to it.

I asked her to ask the chef to make us something of his choosing foe the occasion and she seemed bewildered but said ok. We got our food and were almoat through when I asked her if the chef was almoat done with whatever he was making. She again looked confused and said oh, i didn't know you wanted something, then said well the chef dis make this special because he put all the sushi on one plate. The she appologiclzed and said do you want to order more food, ill go tell him. I said no its fine. So she walked away.

When we were getting up to leave i glanced at the slip of paper - it was all the fresh fish they had gotten the day before AND THE REASON I CHOSE THAT PLACE! I had no idea thats what the paper was and the waitress never said anything.

This was our first time at this place and the first time my wife could have sushi in several years due to breastfeeding. While the food was good and the waitress was overly present and nice, it was highly frustrating that we werent able to order the new fish and that the girl didnt tell the chef anything. Several missed opportunities for not only upsales, but for us to get what we actually went there for.

I dont know that we will be back. It was a disappointment. Im also much more annoyed than my wife was/is, but I also make the...