Zen Asian Bistro & Sushi — Restaurant in McAllen

Ok so the five star rating is a combination of things taken into account. For the people who just want a quick “overall” cliff note review of my experience: if you can make it there during the hours of their pick as you please menu this place is worth every buck and some.

Ok the detailed narrative: Please take into mind this was the only time I’ve dined there.

(Disclaimer: Everything pretty much in this review my wife and I shared so we wouldn’t leave anything to waste

The place itself seemed pretty clean even the bathroom. Which in my book is def gonna get some points. My wife and I dined at the sushi bar instead of at a table. We had the pan fried gyozas(slightly over fried but still good), vegetable spring rolls(coulda used a tad bit more veggies but still good) and some miso (right on point and hit the spot) to start off.

Next we got a dragon roll (pretty bomb if you ask me- the unagi was fresh and the eel sauce amount they used was just right, no need to even ask for more to add to the roll).

We also got one of my made up concoctions that I devised while working at a few other local sushi restaurants back in the early 2000s. A bowl of regular steam rice (can be subbed for fried rice) with the prepped crab in mayo they have in the display case. Rice was fresh and the crab mayo mixture was great!

We also ordered the steak teriyaki (I’m a rare to med rare guy but my wife’s a med girl so I ordered it med). The stuff was pretty good and the only real thing ide change about it is maybe to add some mushroom to the veggies they use.

I ordered four pieces of nigiri: tuna, yellowtail, white tuna, and salmon. Everything except for the regular tuna was super fresh. The regular tuna was a bit too pink but I still ate it and lived to do this review so it was probably 3/5 stars. Also I could if swore I only saw massago on the menu, but they do have Ikura, and I’ll def be trying it next time I go back. Also if they had uni that would spectacular but i forgot to ask about that one.

Overall in retrospect everything in this review that I found slightly subpar were very minuscule “first world problems” kind of things so they in no way decreased from my dinning experience. I’m just a nip picky ocd kinda dude sometimes lol

The staff was very friendly and that’s hard to find and the ambiance was great.

Wanted to try more but my kids called and hr earlier than expected and needed to be picked up so I had to cut the meal short.

Will definitely be having more date nights with my wife at...

So this is based on the lunch version of their all u can eat menu. At 15 bucksa person, it's about in the range of other all you can eat and buffet style places. There appears to be a new trend at stores for all you can it. Basically, following the "Never Ending Pasta Bowl" design from Olive Garden. It's not a buffet. It's a set menu where you tell a server what you want. The kitchen prepares it fresh, and it's brought out when it's done. Now, my review is leaning positive based of course, on my personal experience, going only 1 time. However, I've seen this setup at a couple of other places I've reviewed, and there are problems. First, the positives. We went right when they opened at 11 a.m. on a Friday. Our server, May, was wonderful. She was very patient with my mother, who had trouble understanding the concept, very knowledgeable about the menu items, fixed mistakes right away (more on that in the cons), and, as far as I could tell, was one of only 2 servers present at the time, so was juggling quite a few tables on her own. The manager was also on the floor and available, which is always nice to see. The menu was a decent size, and the flavors were tasty. I was actually pretty impressed on the number of sushi rolls available to order. Be aware that there's no beef or pork options on the lunch menus for plates, rice, or noodles. Only chicken or shrimp. As for the negatives. This is personal taste, but I really didn't like the interior or the layout. It's smaller than you might think, and tables are cramped together. It's also REALLY dark inside. I assume it's mood lighting, but I call it just hard to see. While table service was excellent, the kitchen and sushi bar were having a hard time, and this is where an all you can eat setup of this type has its problems. 3 times I received the wrong order. On top of that, as the place filled up, you could tell the cook staff were being overwhelmed. Both the kitchen and sushi bar orders were taking forever to get out. We were lucky we went in so early, or this review would be much more negative, I think. However, the quality of the food itself and Ms. May's excellent service pushes it over the edge, and it's a positive recommendation overall. ...

The manager mistreats employees in this place! Stay away, don't support businesses like this. We are a party of 6: 2 ladies, 2 teenagers, and 2 kids (age 9 years old) we ordered 4 adult buffets since the kiddos are not into sushi. At the time of the check, our waiter was busy because this place only has 2 young waiters, which is ridiculous for the size of the restaurant, making the host run all around to keep the business up, for this reason, I asked the host for the check, I saw him when he printed the check and went straight to our waiter asking about the order, the host scales the situation with the manager or owner, and keep counting our table for the kid's buffet, the host comeback reprint the check adding $19 tip (by law belongs to the waiter) finally he brought the check to the table, they never dressed the situation directly to us, it was all clear the scene in front of everyone. How difficult it is just to get to the table and let us know, we don't have an issue paying what needs to be paid. But mistreats employees, attacking him is not right. They took forever to charge the debit card, so we decided to wait at the door. In the meantime, they cleaned our table, and the manager or owner continued counting the plates and kept questioning our waiter. So embarrassing. It was unprofessional, we are here to do business and take care of business, and paying a bill is not a problem when choosing to eat out. Best luck to my waiter, and hope he continues growing professionally and doesn't let this bad employer stop you on all...