Zento

[dagordon]

We just had an excellent meal at Zento, which was reviewed about a month ago by LaBan (this is how we heard of it).

My plan was a tremendous success: due to the weather, for most of our meal we were the only people in the place, so we had the kitchen's undivided attention, and were treated to a fairly elaborate omakase meal. The chef said that they can never do omakase (let alone anything involved) on weekends, and depending on how busy they are not always even during the week.

This was easily the best sushi-style meal we've had in the city. The restaurant's description "Contemporary Japanese Cuisine" is apt; we had a fair amount of unadorned sushi and sashimi, but at least an equal amonut of sushi and sashimi with garnish or sauce of some kind, as well as several dishes from the kitchen.

From the kitchen, a highlight was pan seared scallops w/ asparagus and onion balsamic vinagerette with sea eel nigiri on the side. The eel was dusted with a yuzu and sansho powder, and the scallops were seasoned with an eight spice blend of some kind. This was awesome. A "peking duck roll" with thinly sliced cucumber serving as the wrapping and duck and foie on the inside was also damn good (though I think the cucumber, while the texture was nice, made things slighly watery).

Also, seared tuna with what was described as a wasabi crust, but was not overwhelmingly wasabi at all and had various other unidentifiable goodies in it. The crust on seared tuna can often overwhelm the fish, but this didn't in the least. The dish was very tastefully done. I usually find it hard to get excited about seared tuna, but I'd get this agian.

The sushi and sashimi was very, very good. The pieces were well-cut and well-sized. The needlefish, king salmon, uni, toro, baby hamachi, and two different kinds of snapper (can't remember specifics) were particularly memorable. This is a serious sushi chef.

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On a funny note: we asked whether the LaBan review had increased traffic a lot, and the (very sweet) waitress said that they'd been getting a fair amount of what she called -- and what it sounds like they call themselves -- "followers of Laban". (At one point she asked whether we too were followers.) She described these people as mostly older folks who don't eat out a great deal, but, when they do, will -- according to them -- not veer from LaBan's recomendations. Who knew? I wonder if there's a membership card.

[rlibkind]

On a funny note: we asked whether the LaBan review had increased traffic a lot, and the (very sweet) waitress said that they'd been getting a fair amount of what she called -- and what it sounds like they call themselves -- "followers of Laban". (At one point she asked whether we too were followers.) She described these people as mostly older folks who don't eat out a great deal, but, when they do, will -- according to them -- not veer from LaBan's recomendations. Who knew? I wonder if there's a membership card.

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Well, it makes a lot of sense. If you don't eat out a lot or hang out with folks (in person or online) who do, and you want to make sure you get good value for the buck, following his recommendations is entirely logical. Laban is clear about his likes and dislikes and direct in his guidance. Then again, one would hope that anyone rigorously following each and every epistle every week would develop some independent taste.

Edited to fix word choice

Edited March 17, 2007 by rlibkind (log)

[Vadouvan]

David

It sounds like a "Sushi of Gari" type place which is quite good.

Does the menu cover any reditions of Japanese hot fod / classics

Shabu-shabu, Hamachi kama, Nikku Jaga, tempura ect ?

[dagordon]

David

It sounds like a "Sushi of Gari" type place which is quite good.

Does the menu cover any reditions of Japanese hot fod / classics

Shabu-shabu, Hamachi kama, Nikku Jaga, tempura  ect ?

←

They've got some tempura, that's about it in that area

One thing I didn't mention is that the place is really tiny. The sushi bar seats like 4.

http://www.zentocontemporary.com

[KatieLoeb]

"followers of Laban".

Pfft! Some might call them Lemmings, as well.

I respect Mr. Laban and his writings very much, but seriously. There's too much good (and bad) food out there to wait for something to hit his radar screen, get reviewed three times, and make it into the publication rotation. And once it does you can't get a seat anyway.

[Mummer]

My name is Mummer, and I'm a follower of Laban.

Wanna see my Zorro mask?

[guzzirider]

"followers of Laban".

Pfft! Some might call them Lemmings, as well.

I respect Mr. Laban and his writings very much, but seriously. There's too much good (and bad) food out there to wait for something to hit his radar screen, get reviewed three times, and make it into the publication rotation. And once it does you can't get a seat anyway.

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LOL! I think I spotted some of these "Followers of LaBan" a number of years back at Standard Tap. Silver haired couple, *way* overdressed, sitting at the center of the bar, sipping wine and looking around nervously at the hipsters that surrounded them...

__Jason

[Buckethead]

"followers of Laban".

Pfft! Some might call them Lemmings, as well.

I respect Mr. Laban and his writings very much, but seriously. There's too much good (and bad) food out there to wait for something to hit his radar screen, get reviewed three times, and make it into the publication rotation. And once it does you can't get a seat anyway.

←

Unless I am mis-remembering, mr. Laban has said in the past that his reviews are not written for people like the ones who inhabit EG or Chowhound or whatever. They're written for people who do not go out to eat very often, for whatever reason, and who want to know in advance that their time and money will be well-spent. Not everyone has the time to check out a new restaurant every week (or even every other week), or the money to risk going out to the new trendy place of the moment, only to have it suck. For those people, I think they could do a lot worse than following Laban's ratings.

I tried out Zento last night, it was great. I don't know if it's my favorite sushi in the city, but it's definitely up there. The Zento Square roll was a real standout. My only complaint was the presence of the giant flatscreen TV directly over the head of my dining companion. Not sure why that thing is there. We also ordered the Toro tartare for an app but were served yellowtail instead. It was great, and the server did apologize, so no big deal.

Can anyone verify that they are using real wasabi and not colored horseradish? I read somewhere that they were using fresh-ground wasabi, and I did notice that the texture and flavor of it were quite different (and better) than the puke-green stuff you normally get with sushi. I've never had real wasabi though, so I wasn't sure.

[Vadouvan]

If a sushi bar was using real wasabi you would know.

Real wasabi is grated to order on a papanese grater similar to the one used for ginger.

There is no reason to pregrate fresh wasabi.

[dagordon]

If a sushi bar was using real wasabi you would know.

Real wasabi is grated to order on a papanese grater similar to the one used for ginger.

There is no reason to pregrate fresh wasabi.

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They could be using real wasabi, even if it's not fresh real wasabi. Real wasabi is significantly better than the colored horseradish stuff, even if it's not as good as freshly grated.

I had good luck with the wasabi powder at www.realwasabi.com a while ago, but the 2nd container of the stuff that I got was vile.

So I got the frozen real wasabi paste from www.freshwasabi.com, which has been very good.

[TarteTatin]

Lunch today was okay.

We had two lunch specials. Mr. Tarte Tatin had a sashimi/roll mix.

I had a tuna/california roll mix.

Both started with miso soup.

The miso was delicious.

The green tea tasted like fish (that's happened before; it's not just smoky-do they add fish taste to the tea? Really! I'm seriously asking!).

Our rolls were okay, although they didn't seem like they were that well done. We know nothing about this type of food, to be completely honest. But the rolls seemed loose, and yet, not cut right, and maybe we had the lunch guy doing our rolls? Not tight..., the tuna had a spicy mayonnaise (I asked) that was interesting....good, though.

$38 for lunch, no booze.

[dagordon]

Lunch today was okay.

We had two lunch specials. Mr. Tarte Tatin had a sashimi/roll mix.

I had a tuna/california roll mix.

Both started with miso soup.

The miso was delicious.

The green tea tasted like fish (that's happened before; it's not just smoky-do they add fish taste to the tea? Really! I'm seriously asking!).

Our rolls were okay, although they didn't seem like they were that well done. We know nothing about this type of food, to be completely honest. But the rolls seemed loose, and yet, not cut right, and maybe we had the lunch guy doing our rolls? Not tight..., the tuna had a spicy mayonnaise (I asked) that was interesting....good, though.

$38 for lunch, no booze.

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Hmm. I wonder how much of the goodness of our dinner there last Friday was due to the fact that we were the only ones there, and they could take their time with us...

[Andrew Fenton]

Like TarteTatin, I had a disappointing experience at Zento. We just had sushi: the nigiri was fine, though oddly small. But the rolls were really just terrible: sloppy, poorly cut and mushed on the ends. The wife loves spicy tuna rolls, so we had an order of those, which featured almost no tuna, and a huge glob of mayonnaise on each. Sort of gross, actually.

They definitely weren't over-busy: we were there early (5:30 or so), and nobody else was in the restaurant yet. I dunno; maybe the sushi chef hadn't arrived yet?

[dagordon]

You guys who had disappointing meals at Zento -- did you sit at the bar?

It's an unfortunate fact that at many sushi places the quality of food at the bar is significantly better than the food at tables; at some places (the old Fuji comes to mind) the difference can be dramatic.

I'm not at all defending this practice. But fact is, if you sit down at the sushi bar and convey to the chef that you're serious about sushi (ask what he recommends that day, or ideally just order omakase) you'll have a much better chance of seeing what the place is capable of.

Certain aspects of the meals you describe are inexcusable; but it may be that most of the sushi going public in Philly wouldn't mind these things, and as a result places can get by serving sloppy food most of the time.

Oh, and I actually liked the size of the Zento nigiri: it's a welcome contrast to the super-sized American-style nigiri found almost everywhere around here. This stuff is supposed to be eaten in one bite, after all. If the nigiri is properly sized for this that's at least one sign that the place knows what it's doing.

[Andrew Fenton]

I didn't sit at the bar, and that could have made a difference. (When I ate at Fuji back in June, I had a great meal, perhaps because we sat at the bar). That might be worth trying, I guess.

Interesting point about the nigiri. It's true that the smaller pieces are more bite-sized. Still, when they're the same price as you'd get elsewhere, and not noticeably better quality, it doesn't fill me with happiness...

[lfabio2007]

Well, it appears that they can only sit two to three at the bar and there's going to be four of us tonight, so we'll brave a table. Report to follow.

[lfabio2007]

Here is the report.

We were there at 20,40, after two very large parties. Starting off, we had the two special appetizers, kobe beef and scallop carpaccio. These were excellent, perhaps the high point of the meal, with a citrus-soy marinade for the kobe (which therefore was not quite carpaccio, but I digress) and a soy-only for the scallops. The one thing that shone, throughout the meal, was the quality of the ingredients, even moreso than the preparation.

We then had an assortment of sushi and sashimi, including but not limited to their signature 'square' roll and 'american dream' rolls - which were both excellent if a little busy. Unfortunately they had no toro last night, which was unfortunate - I happen to like it a lot and it reveals a lot about the quality of the fish the chef is using.

I chose the 'mixed sashimi' platter and was midly disappointed: the fish was excellent, but it was shoved on a banana leaf and left to fend on its own. It also was a very 'safe' selection: yellowtail, tuna, white tuna, striped bass, salmon (smoked, no less). Given all the other more interesting choices on the menu, I would've thought that the chef would have wanted to showcase the more unusual selections, so I left him a free hand. This, sadly, was not to be.

In any case, the meal was very good, with, again, an excellent attention to the quality of the ingredients and was by a very large margin the best I've had stateside outside of NYC. If, by patronising the place on a regular basis, we can get the sushi chef to pay equal attention to selection and presentation we'll really be onto something. Until then, neither Nobu nor Sushi Ichi need fear about competition, but I think we found a local favourite. Thanks, Vadouvan and dagordon.

[Tim Dolan]

It's been almost two years since I first tried sushi (recounted here) and I was randomly feeling the urge to give it another shot, so after much research we decided to hit up Zento. We didn't sit at the bar because our tactic was to order things that we knew we liked, as well as ordering a few individual pieces of sushi to see how things went. This tactic worked out very well.

First off, I have to mention that our server was great. When we told her that we knew next to nothing about sushi, she was borderline excited that she was going to be able to take us to school on the subject. She made us feel very comfortable asking anything we wanted. We started off the the new-style sashi appetizer, which was a few slices of whitefish drizzled with a ginger yuzu sauce. I figured it would be a good way to ease into the meal. This was killer. The yuzu provided a nice citrusy kick yet didn't overwhelm the fish. More importantly, my girlfriend might've liked it better than I did. It was definitely an eye opening experience and also laid the foundation for the rest of the meal: I had eaten (mostly) raw fish and very much enjoyed it.

I also played it safe and got the Kobe beef entree, which I though was good but not great. It was accomplanied by a nice, spicy sauce that I enjoyed. Not much else to say about it. GF ordered a crab roll, which is really the only sushi related item that she has been a fan of for a while.

I was definitely only dipping my toes in the water, but I got a piece of maguro and a piece of o-toro. This time, there were no alarms ringing in my head and I was actually excited to try what was in front of me. And this time, I honestly liked it. I didn't love it, and it was still a somewhat strange experience, bu the important thing is that it got me excited to try even more things. It's not like I flipped a switch and suddenly love sushi, but it definitely made me more curious to see what else I can get into. I can say that after having the o-toro I have a much better idea of what all the hype is about. It was a beautiful slice of fish that had a silky texture to it. They also had a special that evening, an Australian whitefish (name began with an H, the rest I forget) that my GF ordered and said was very good. This is the same person who couldn't even get down what she tried on our first excursion.

All in all, it was a very satisfying trip. We didn't try very much, but we are definitely over our inital fears. As dagordon had mentioned, the fact that it was cut smaller than what other place offer definitely contributed to us enjoying our meal more. It wasn't small and we didn't feel ripped off, but there wasn't more than what we could fit into our mouths in one comfortable bite. Next time, less normal food, more sushi. And uni. I wanted to pull the trigger on that but I wanted something to look forward to for next time. We're taking baby steps towards sitting at the bar.

[Tim Dolan]

This is probably another thread altogether, but I'm heading to Zento tonight and got to thinking; what does one usually drink with sushi? Let me state my usual sushi preface by saying that I know hardly anything about the subject, but it seems to me like beer would be a good choice, preferrably a light, crisp hefeweisse-type brew? I'm thinking anything too hoppy would linger and create some off-flavors. I'm gonna go with the Sly Fox hefe (which rocks) and see what happens.

So what do you like to drink with sushi? Does wine pair well with it? Does the sushi purist simply prefer water? Clearly these are some burning questions...

[Rich Pawlak]

This is probably another thread altogether, but I'm heading to Zento tonight and got to thinking; what does one usually drink with sushi?  Let me state my usual sushi preface by saying that I know hardly anything about the subject, but it seems to me like beer would be a good choice, preferrably a light, crisp hefeweisse-type brew? I'm thinking anything too hoppy would linger and create some off-flavors. I'm gonna go with the Sly Fox hefe (which rocks) and see what happens.

So what do you like to drink with sushi? Does wine pair well with it? Does the sushi purist simply prefer water? Clearly these are some burning questions...

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Hefes are great with sushi. So are lagers, such as Yuengling, Victory Brandywine, & Blue Point Toasted Lager. So far, I have found that Flying Fish Farmhouse Ale, Yards Saison and Philadelphia BC Kenziger to be the best matches for sushi. You may also be surprised how well Yards Brawler and Sly Fox Dunkel pair with sushi, too.

[Andrew Fenton]

Beer is good, yeah. So is sparkling wine. And you wouldn't go wrong with a dry riesling or a sauvignon blanc, I think.

[KatieLoeb]

Since the beer enthusiasts have all weighed in, I'll provide the other perspectives.

Sake is the no brainer pairing. It's hard to find decent sake in PA. Get thee to Moore Bros. or Wine Legend in NJ for an excellent sake selection.

German or Alsace white wines that possess a hint of sweetness with good acidity are a natural with sushi. Riesling, gewurztraminer, scheurebe, sylvaner or a fat and fruity Oregon Pinot Blanc might all be excellent choices. Sparkling wines/Champagne is also delicious with sushi, as long as it isn't bone dry. The best of both worlds would be 2005 Ratzenberger Bacharacher Kloster Furstental Riesling Brut Sekt available at Moore Brothers. This is hands down my favorite sushi wine to be had in the general vicinity.

And of course if you wanted a cocktail, something citrusy and bracing like an Aviation or even a margarita might not be a bad match either...

Edited May 30, 2009 by KatieLoeb (log)

[Tim Dolan]

Thanks for the responses. Ironically we didn't drink because we decided that ew simply hop right on over to Eulogy when we were done. We went Friday night around 7:30 and it was great. I can't believe that the place was never more than half full considering that it sits about 20 people.

We started with the new style sashimi and yellowtail sashimi as an app, then worked through a trio of nigiri, sashimi and maki rolls. I can't remember exactly everthing that we but but for sashimi I know we had salmon, red snapper, live scallop, and 2 other things. Nigiri was tuna, yellowtail, striped bass and fluke. The roll was a Center City roll, which seemed to have a little bit too much going on but was good nonetheless. Our server was very nice and attentive, although it must not have been difficult seeing as the place was mostly empty. I really like this place. It's a small, reliable, what-you-see-is-what you get kind of joint. Although we sat at a table, I think I'm now confident enough to sit at the bar and let the chef do his best. Fuji is now on deck.