Zen Ramen & Sushi Burrito - Downtown Tacoma — Restaurant in Tacoma

We have been to this location before to do take out with friends but this is our first time dining here as my boyfriend was craving poke while I just wanting ramen. This location was the closest to us on the drive home and we knew that parking wouldn't be an issue. When we arrived in, we were greeted by the cashier who asked if we were dining in or doing take out. Once we confirmed we were going to dine in, she let us know to check out their menu and come to her to order. We knew what we wanted which was the pop rock shrimps, WA poke, and JMT ramen. She handed us water cups to fill ourselves which I thought was nice as that means you get can the refills yourselves rather than waiting for someone to get it for you.

However this is where we run across one issue: you are to pay first and leave a tip before receiving any service. Additionally, since we didn't tip (we like to leave a tip at the end after knowing what the service is), that same employee never checked in on us but checked in on other tables. I understand that it was probably due to no tip but I think it's fair for people to receive their service to then decide their tip amount is much better. Furthermore, I also get that this payment first to combat dine and dash individuals is ideal but again, I don't think it's fair to treat non-tippers in such a rude manner. I had to go up to ask for a take out container, I had to ask far in advance for napkins (had a feeling that I would never see the cashier/food deliverer after she dropped off our meal and I was correct), and I also had to refill my own drink so why would I be providing a tip?

The ambiance here is nice especially if you like or love Naruto and they play K-pop so if you're into that, then you're in luck. They do have a very fun and modern vibe throughout the restaurant and even their bathrooms. They have three little intimate booths, a high long bar table with several chairs, and a few tables with chairs too. They can definitely accommodate all party sizes.

The food was pretty good except the ramen. The pop rock shrimp was fun and zesty as it is topped with Thai sweet chili, spicy mayo, furikake flakes and sesame seeds. My boyfriend enjoyed his WA poke bowl and loved the presentation. Now for the ramen, the JMT ramen is indicated with two peppers which indicate that it is supposed to be spicy. My boyfriend was able to get several samples as I didn't know the shrimp that was coming with it would be fried and even he was confused as to what was spicy. I asked for chili oil or the little spicy flakes you see at other legit ramen places, they only reply with it being extra .50 cents. Additionally, she didn't even ask which broth base I wanted and I suppose I was given the tonkotsu. Here is the other issue, the ramen broth lacked any depth of flavor. I had the tonkatsu kamikaze before and it was not only spicy but delicious. Unfortunately, the JMT ramen had neither and also had these weird white specs floating about. I saw another photo of the JMT ramen and it had the same thing. Never in my years of having ramen at restaurants have I ever ran across this issue. Additionally, the toppings were super cold which completely threw off the dish and the ramen broth was lukewarm. The egg is also fully cooked and not the gooey ramen egg that most good ramen places have. Zen Ramen & Sushi Burrito seems to excel at all other dishes than ramen it seems. I have learned my lesson and avoid...

I spotted this restaurant while driving through Tacoma to visit a friend, and since the visit ran too late to make dinner and my partner had never had a sushi burrito before, we decided to stop in for take out.

From the outside, Zen took advantage of being in an older building to put their brand on the outside. The outside was decorated like an older restaurant in an anime. The restaurant also had realistic fake food with their names out in the front window, so without even going in you can see what they are serving. As a visual eater, I instantly knew that I wanted a poke bowl.

Inside, the restaurant is heavily anime and k-pop themed. There was k-pop playing and anime characters painted on the decor. The restaurant was also technologically modern with nice bright menu displays and TVs with music videos. The way that the dining area was designed where the benches and tables were made out of plywood with resin poured over it to make it smooth and glossy. The dining area was also very large and had many fairly private booths rather than stand alone tables.

We ordered the pop rock shrimp, the UWT sushi burrito, and the UWT poke bowl.

The pop rock shrimp was so good! I’m a huge calamari and popcorn shrimp fan, and this hit the spot! It was also topped with a minute of a sauce like a spicy mayo and sweet Thai chili sauce. We received house spicy mayo and a dressing on the side which we chose to dip the shrimp in.

The UWT sushi burrito and bowl were both amazing. Both were quite large, especially the poke bowl which was huge (and thank goodness had lettuce instead of rice in it or else it would be very dense). They both had a good amount of salmon and shrimp in comparison to the toppings and rice.

For the quality as well as the quantity in comparison to the price, I will definitely...

I thought this place was going to be a full-service restaurant. There was only one front-of-house staff member who did everything—taking orders, bussing tables, answering the phone, and serving. I wasn’t sure how many people were in the kitchen, but when I first walked in, I was a little surprised. Instead of being seated and ordering at the table, we had to place our order and pay at the cashier first before finding a seat. There weren’t many tables, and since there was only one staff member handling everything, it was clear that cleaning and resetting tables took a while. At one point, I even had to clear and wipe my own table because the staff was busy waiting to serve food and didn’t notice who had just walked out. When we arrived, I noticed a family sitting nearby and thought they were already eating. But no! they hadn’t even been served yet. After we ordered and waited quite a while, I saw their food finally arrive. Another table that ordered before us also hadn’t gotten their meal yet. At that point, I turned to my husband and whispered, “Let’s brace ourselves 🤣🤣 Looks like it’s going to be a long wait.” When the food finally came, the portions were generous so big and worth the price. However, I was a little disappointed with the taste. The broth was thick and a bit slimy. I wasn’t sure if it was because of starch from the noodles or if cornstarch had been added. Personally, I don’t enjoy soup with that kind of texture. it didn’t taste rich or flavorful, just sticky. On the bright side, the noodles were great—like wonton-style eggs noodles. But overall, the soup base itself just didn’t hit the...