ZENSTREET Japanese & Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Riverside

REVIEW: I've been going to Zen Street for a little over a year now and this ramen house is good if you have a craving for ramen that is not prepackaged. My best friend took me to this place and I fell in love with the rich flavors of their ramen and their dumplings. Unfortunately, the last few times I have gone to their establishment their Chile Lime ramen recipe drastically changed from when I initially had it. Even though I still enjoyed the ramen it lacked the pungent lime-flavor that I was expecting from my dish. Not only that, but their soups are more of a broth base rather than a rich, creamy base which I have had at ramen house called Yushoken Izakaya & Ramen. Aside from that, their customer service is very friendly, but depending on the amount of customers within the restaurant they do tend to forget about you. My most recent visit I was only given one refill because it seem like there was too little staff even though there were only four different parties of people. It is understandable if they are busy, but they completely forgot about my party which had never happened in the past. I will say that the restaurant is aesthetically pleasing as it infuses indoor bistro lights and minimalistic traffic decor & music decor throughout the course of the restaurant. Overall, I would recommend eating here, but not if you are expecting authentic ramen. Thank you for taking the time to...

First, the positive. The food was incredible. My husband got the Drunken Chicken and I got the Tom Yum Udon. Amazing flavors. The Mao Mao Dumplings were delicious, and the tempura vegetables were tasty, too. I would definitely go back for takeout.

Now, the negative. The staff. The wait staff here is horrible. Either they are not well trained or they don't care. When we arrived at the restaurant, there was no one at the front podium. It took several minutes for someone to discover that we were waiting in the front. After being asked for our drink orders, it took nearly 10 minutes for the drinks (water and tea) to come out and our orders to be taken. Several times we had to ask for things multiple times from multiple people because what we asked for was not taken care of (such as ordering a Thai Green Tea). There appears to be a severe lack of communication between those working here. It's not a shortage of staff - there were only a few tables of people in the restaurant, and at least eight people working and waiting tables.

I would recommend only ordering from this restaurant for takeout. The food is amazing, but if you expect to get good service and good food, this is not the...

This place is a hidden gem! The service was amazing. The gal with the long hair is the sweetest person ever. Food was quick and the wait time was minimal. The atmosphere is really unique and has a lot to look at. There are old camera and cute little puns scattered about. I will definitely be visiting again!

Now for the food. My husband got the large Thia Milk Tea. It was big and beautiful and tasted better than it looked. Not over sweet but still sweet. The chicken dumplings were fried and they had a good crunch to them without being too hard. As for the ramen...first let me say, that it doesn't compare to LA or OC ramen. But for inland empire ramen it is pretty remarkable. The spicy isn't too spicy. I got a 3 chili and I used their chili bar to add more kick to my ramen. (Oh yeah, in the middle of the restaurant they have a chili bar where you can add chili, hot sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, and other things to your ramen. They have little dishes for you to fill and take back to your table.) Overall, the ramen was good, there are add ins so you can Frankenstein a bomb ramen (if you are willing to pay $0.50 - $1.50 per add in). Can't wait to try their...