Sushi Zen — Restaurant in Mill Creek

It breaks my heart to update this review to the above. I'm going to leave my original review below so you can see how things have changed. This used to be THE SPOT to get sushi for me and my family. Something has changed over the past year. I don't know if they have new ownership or something, but they're not worth the trip anymore. I used to live 5 minutes from the restaurant and me and my familiy visited twice a month. I moved about an hour away, and for the past 5 years have been driving down once every 3 months for dinner. My last trip 3 months ago I couldn't get a table, they were so packed they were reservation only. OK, good for them, they're busy, I absolutely don't fault them for that. Well, I ordered take out last night. I drove an hour home, and what I found in my bag was the saddest, most dissappointing $100 I've spent in a long time.

Here's my main issue: they have both cut their portions and raised their prices.

Everything is more epensive. All of their rolls are $2 - $3 more than they used to be. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when they started at $6 - $7 a couple of years ago that's about a 40% increase in price. Maybe their cost has gone up that much too, I don't know. In any event, I do not mind paying more today for the same thing because their costs have gone up, but they've also reduced their portions. It's insulting to charge me more for less. Raise your prices, but don't cut your portions too!

DO NOT order any of the noodle dishes or teriyaki dishes. The portions are too small for my 7 - 10 year old kids. Tempura rolls are borderline not worth it anymore either.

Best value for your money is the cali rolls.

I honestly don't know that I'll ever go back. There's no way they'll be what they used to be. Thanks for breaking a 15 year tradition with my wife and me......

OLD REVIEW FOR CONTEXT:

This is hands down the best Sushi in the state. The old man behind the counter is literally a certified 9th degree sushi Grand Master. The staff is amazing, the atmosphere is great (quaint yet authentic), and everything in the menu is good. Prices are surprising, in a good way.

My family loves the Cali rolls (you think you can't make these wrong? You're wrong) and any of the fried rolls. Their Teriyaki is average, but definitely edible. All.of their sashimi is top grade.

Forget those upscale Bellevue and Redmond sushi places. They're charging you for their location. You will not regret eating here. If the old guy behind the counter says "see you tomorrow", just come back tomorrow and eat...

This place has really good food and its fresh. I don't have any problems with the quality of food, however just recently the owner lady was very rude to me on the phone when they messed up my order. When you come there often and you order a specific thing and you order it the same way every time why would they change how they they prepare it? It was a misunderstanding that's all why make a regular customer feel bad about a order you messed up. If you are a restaurant providing this type of service no one is perfect and I get that wether it be me or them, but if you mess up a order it's your responsibility to make it right, not to make the person feel like there the problem and then to proceed to say that everyone that has waited on you has a problem with you. I tipped those girls well and I was never made to feel like I was a problem when they served me. I have not had to send my food back more than a couple of times if something wasn't right. I do not expect perfection but if I am a repeat customer obviously I like the food and there shouldn't be an issue. You as a company should fix your mistakes and move on but you don't make the customer feel like they're being singled out. I was brought to tears by the owner and very disappointed in how I was talked to and treated, basically how she handled the situation. I find this to be true with restaurants, if you complain even once it doesn't matter if they're in the wrong or not they're going to single you out because they don't want to refund your money no matter who's fault it is. I didn't ask for a refund because I knew they would take care of me next time. She refunded me anyway and made me feel as if I wasn't...

I'm a student up at EvCC, and our Japanese instructor took the whole class to Sushi Zen at the end of the summer quarter. Call it 20 students ranging from 17-50 in age. Yet the chef & waiter handled things perfectly. Orders were taking promptly even with some people wanting to wait and see what the food looked like (or snitch a bite before ordering their own) and the waiter was almost always on the floor moving between both our group and anyone else that came in.

Their sushi rolls (Tamago is extra sweet I should warn you, but I love that kind) are hand-rolled in front of you, and the bowls of Udon are nearly the size of a 5gal bucket, for less then $8.00 - I exaggerate slightly but not by much, I've never seen an Udon bowl that big before. I actually couldn't finish it and brought the left-over soup home and STILL had enough to make a full meal for myself the next 3 days straight.

Personal choice: Try the Curried Chicken Udon Soup. Its very hot/spicy, even more then most curry chicken, but the portions are excellent for the price, and it tastes wonderful. Their frozen Mochi desert (sweet rice balls with different flavored ice cream in the middle) is a bit expensive for the price to proportions, but other then that I can't honestly think of any bad at all. I will definitely be going back as soon as convienent. I will also be recommending this both to friends, family, and my...