Zaru — Restaurant in Orlando

I finally made it to Zaru! I visited on Friday for dinner. I'd say if you get here just a little before they open there's a good chance you'll be seated with the first round of people. Note that once they opened and started seating people, about 10 mins after that people came in and had to wait to be seated, so it's definitely wise to come before they open.

After we were seated, the waitress went around to every table to hand out a menu per person. You mark what you want on the menu with the quantity and write your name on it. Then the waitress took your menu to the kitchen. Note that they are still in soft opening and they don't do takeout orders yet. But if you're already dining in, you can request items to be made to go. Just put the quantity and clearly indicate which items you want to be made to go, let the waitress know, and you get late night snacks!

I started off with iced Hojicha (roasted green tea from Nara region). It was light and refreshing with a nice depth to it compare to just regular green tea. I ordered Yaki Nasu (spicy eggplants) to start, which was sweet and a little spicy. My friends ordered Chicken Chashu and Yaki Gyoza. Yaki Gyoza was very good with a nice crust on the bottom. But my favorite starter was the Chicken Chashu because I've never had anything like it before. The chicken was tender with a little of smokiness, creaminess, and spice.

For the main event, the UDON! I ordered Shrimp Tempura Udon. I first tried the broth which was light, subtle, and well balanced. Next I tried the udon, and I must say I loved it! These freshly made in-house udon are much softer than any udon you'll find in other restaurants or store bought. 100% worth the hype. Next, the tempura: 2 big pieces of shrimps and a shishito pepper. The tempura was crispy and light. If I have to critique, it can use a little less salt if eaten alone. But since the tempura was meant to accompany the udon & broth, the slight saltiness went well with the whole meal. The udon dish also comes with a small bowl of scallions, grated ginger, sesame seeds, a small bowl of kombu, and some tempura crunches for you to add texture to the udon. Overall, the main event exceeded my expectations!

For desserts, I ordered Warabi Mochi and my friend ordered Hojicha Panna Cotta to share. This was my first time trying Warabi Mochi (freshly made) and it was delicious! Don't expect the texture of the typical mochi you've eaten before. Their freshly made Warabi Mochi is softer, moister, and more giggly than your typical mochi. It's coated with soy bean powder and came with Okinawa black sugar syrup and sweet red bean. I loved their mochi! The panna cotta was also very good with unique flavors combo of Roasted Green Tea, Red Bean, and Espresso Creme. The next time I come back I'm just going to order both desserts again because I don't want to pick.

Service wise they were pretty fast and efficient considering they are still in their soft opening. There were 2 waitresses covering the whole dining room (which is pretty small like 10ish tables) and another guy who went in/out of the kitchen to help move the food and clear the tables). It took about 1.5 hours from sitting down to going through appetizer, entree, and dessert, to actually leaving the restaurant.

Even though there was a long wait time by the time we finished the meal, I appreciated that they didn't try to rush us out the door (not that we hung around after the meal because we want other people to enjoy their food too!).

The store itself has a modern design with Japanese decors so it had a nice vibe. They were also playing 90s throwback music so can't complain there.

The price was reasonable for being on Mills 50.

Parking wasn't bad when I arrived at 4:45. By the time I left around 6:30, the parking lot behind the building was full and there were a few cars circling around.

Overall, amazing experience and I'm totally coming back with more...

To start off, the service and atmosphere at Zaru are fantastic, although I really didn't care for how loud the music was, it gets a pass since I vibed with most of the music.

Onto the food, this took a little while, we got our appetizers about 20 minutes after the order was placed with the main entrees following about 10-15 minutes after, not horrible, but also not great either, the food is definitely made fresh, but also the restaurant wasn't super busy when I visited.

The highlights: The tatsuta-age, absolutely delicious seasoning and batter on the chicken, that is nice and light and very aromatic, paired with the dijon mustard, was a great mix of flavors and definitely stood our from other fried chicken I've had in the area. The chicken tempura, also just tasted like a really big McDonalds chicken nugget, which I just really appreciated, the batter was a little bit heavier but still delicious. I also really enjoyed the shrimp tempura, good quality shrimp and once again delicious batter.

The not so good moments: I don't recall the exact menu item name, but it was a Wagyu Tartare. I've had plenty of tartare before and this honestly hit on the lower side of the spectrum. It had a very overbearing umami flavor that really drowned out the flavor of the wagyu, usually tartare is an explosion of flavor in your mouth and very destinct, this was just a umami flavor overload and for nearly $20? I think I'll pass. I think serving it with something else that is also delcious on it's own, maybe like a seasoned wonton chip or something instead of just tiny nori strips would compliment the tartare a lot better, maybe throw some capers and some black pepper into the mix as well?

The Yaki Gyoza, was okay, I really appreciated that it had a small kick, but outside of that it really didn't impress me all that much, especially when across the street at Tori Tori they have a fantastic gyoza, that is creamy and exploding with flavor, for around the same price.

The shishito tempura was also disappointing, unfortunately it just tasted like a shishito pepper that was fried in the tempura and the tempura did not do much for the shishito peppers, maybe serve it with a side sauce, something with a brown butter base and soy tare? It would really add a nice acidic punch and that sauce would be delicious in the Udon, which leads me to the final thing I had, the Udon.

The Udon, by default was very disappointing. The noodles had a good bite, but the broth and the meat, even with the crushed up toasted sesame seeds and green onion didn't do much. I had to doctor up the udon a bit with hot chili oil and some additional seasonings as well as dumping the sauce that came with the dumplings into the Udon to get something flavorful and only after that was the Udon really delicious.

Overall, Zaru isn't horrible, but it's not great either, it definitely does not live up to the hype that has been going around online. If this is your first foray into Japanese cuisine or you haven't tried authentic udon before, or just have a big thing for fried chicken, this place will probably be for you. If you've had authentic Japanese cuisine before, you'll probably be left wanting more, both from a flavor standpoint, but also a serving standpoint as the servings are small for the price...

I wish I had a 6th star I could give this place. Or at least go back and downgrade most of my other five stars down to four stars, because Zaru is special. It is truly one of my new favorite places in town. I went to actual Japan not even a month prior, and Zaru gave me food was better than a lot of food I had over there! Not kidding.

Ambiance was very nice. It's a tightly packed dining room with a brilliant burst of light from the massive windows. Open kitchen concept, so you can see everyone hustling and bustling back there, always appreciated. And the way you're served was accurately reminiscent of how it's done in Japan. Many little bowls of meal components all set upon a tray. They should just use the term set meals on their menu. Very cool.

Service was also spectacular. They knew every single item on the menu in detail, and were good to ask questions to narrow down the best meal for you. They kept the refills coming for the whole meal. Very nice folks.

Now for the food. They don't have a menu posted on their website. With how incredible all of their ingredients are, I assume sourcing might change day-to-day, making the menu have the potential to change from day-to-day. Which is fine. I'd rather that that somewhere knowing they're gonna be serving the same crap tilapia day after day after day.

We started off with some gyoza and and some chicken karaage for the table. Both were excellent. The warm gyoza had that Japanese crispy bottom, was bursting with flavorful filling, and was served with a nice soy sauce for a light dip. The karaage was textbook, mega crispy, a nice wedge of lemon to cut through the fattiness, and a creamy sauce for dipping. Excellent starters.

Onto the mains. For the udon itself, there's kind of a checklist build-your-own style to the main menu. So I ordered a warm udon and checked some things I wanted on the side. Bonito flakes, an egg, and some tempura. It was fun, actually.

Thick, slurpable udon noodles, nestled inside of a beautiful, delicate, deep broth. Just enough bite. Honestly better than any udon noodle I had in Japan, a Very pleasant surprise. I was in love. All the add-ons on the side make for some fun little customizable bites. Adding the bonito to the broth will intensity the flavor. Just lovely to eat this meal.

Speaking of things that were better than Japan, my goodness the tempura. Perfect. The delicate, airy battering, the full-thickness cook of the veggies and the mushrooms. Wow, just wow. If you aren't into tempura, order the tempura mushrooms, and I promise you might change your mind.

I feel like I'm rambling at this point, so I'm gonna wrap it up soon. I'll end with the best bowl of food I'd had in Orlando in two years. They had a special that was udon with no broth, an egg yolk, some salmon roe, and some uni, to be mixed all up and eaten in umami bomb bites. Honestly, better than anything I've ever had at another Asian place in town. Get this, if it's available to you.

Overall, I'm sure you get it by now, this six star restaurant is more than worth your time and money. I've found my new birthday restaurant. And if Zaru doesn't get a Michelin Star next year, I will have a sternly written...