Restaurant Review of Zen - Fine Japanese Dining in Southampton

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Between Southampton's ferry terminals and the city centre lies a fine-dining Japanese restaurant offering good food and tranquility.

Tucked away in an unimposing building along Southampton's High Street, chefs are busy slicing sashimi, rolling maki and frying noodles. Zen, Southampton's contemporary sushi restaurant, offers good quality Japanese food with a fine-dining atmosphere.

Zen Offers a Grown Up Japanese Dining Experience

The first thing that strikes any potential customer on entering Zen, is how grown up the atmosphere is. Diners are promptly seated amongst wooden trellises and waiting staff quietly offer to top up your green tea. Sushi from the menu is served on a banana leaf upon a frosted glass plate. Gone are the bright, Tokyo-inspired colours and busy noise of the city's other sushi restaurant - Yo Sushi, from the commercial chain - and dark, subdued colours and twinkly Japanese music takes its place.

For this reason Zen does not appear to readily appeal to families with young children, in the way that Yo Sushi does, but families that venture past the trellis are accommodated happily. The restaurant also provides a delivery service for those who prefer to eat at home.

High Quality Sushi and Delicate Food Await at Zen

Zen's menu is comparatively small, when compared to the mini-booklet given when you visit some restaurants. However, rather than demonstrating a negative, it seems that it is more a case of offering a fewer quantity of dishes, but cooked and prepared very well.

The sashimi, nigiri and maki contained just the right amount of seasoning - you could actually taste the seasoning in the rice - and the fried noodles were everything they promised to be: undulating and slightly charred in the hot pan, with crisp spring onions and beansprouts adding crunch and flavour.

On Sundays, Zen offers a Buffet, giving diners the chance to sample various Japanese curries, which vary in heat but are always fragrant. Also on offer on the buffet are noodle dishes and delicately crafted sushi. Miso soup, green tea and a range of beers and wines are available at the bar, along with soy sauce and pickled ginger to compliment the meal. Zen are open daily for lunch and dinner, closing at midnight.

The atmosphere at Zen can come across as haughty and superior, but it is more likely to be the elegance that is missing from a world where bright colours, 12-page menu booklets and robotic waiters have become the norm.

Zen can be found at 42 High Street, Below Bar, Southampton, Hampshire SO14 2NS. Telephone 02380 233399. The restaurant is situated at around a five-minute walk from the ferry terminals and approx 10-minute walk from the Bargate.