Zen Chinese Bistro is a great place to host a large lunch party. I arranged a team lunch with 23 people. They have a nice upstairs large room that looks like it could accommodate up to 40 or so. Tina, one of the owners, was so helpful in planning the menu, making sure there was a nice variety of dishes to please everyone...vegetarian, chicken, pork, some noodles, some rice. She made it so easy. All the food was so fresh, high quality ingredients. The food was served family style, the service was friendly, and efficient. Everyone loved it! This is a family owned local business I'm happy to support. I would definitely go back and do another lunch event here again. read more

Our usual and yearly order when my friend, Conrad, comes in for the holidays. Lo mein, sesame chicken, veggie spring rolls, pork steamed dumplings.... Probably two or three other things... Always top notch! Appreciation for consistency year after year!!! read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Steamed pork dumplings and lo mein. - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

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Mmmm food food food!! Excellent tasting Chinese food and well prepared, even for take out! We were greeted by friendly staff and chatted us up while we waited for our food to be packed up. Off we went to Biddeford to our local bar spot while we ate our take out dinner and played a couple rounds of cribbage. If you are GF, most of their food is celiac safe. Sauces are home made and safe as well!! One of our new favorite spots for Chinese food and all around fun. read more

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Great service and the best mojitios ever! Found this place last Christmas time and it was wonderful. Stopped in for some take away and had to have the mojitio. Great food and service read more

There are a couple of things to say about this establishment. The food is on point and the service is even better. I have ordered all three of the types of dinner here at this place, take-out, delivery and eat-in and not one single time was I disappointed. They are always super friendly and they food is always timely and fresh no matter how busy they may be. The prices are a little high but that is what I have come to expect for restaurants and establishments in downtown Portland. But, I will say that this is one of the places that I really don't mind paying more for because of the quality that I have experienced here with this place. If you are looking for delicious Asian fare, let this be one of the places that you try. I am super impressed and will be back multiple times again. Items to call out for massive deliciousness: Beef and green beans and the wings and their salad is a good one to add to it for some healthy fare as well. read more

Zen is a classic Chinese restaurant with a downstairs bar and balcony-style upstairs seating. They have classic dishes, fun cocktails, and a warm and welcoming owner and staff. Very authentic, very delicious, and great for groups who want an introduction to traditional Chinese food in Maine. Great for takeout, too! read more

Staff is welcoming and handled our large party with grace and friendliness. They also opened the upstairs so we could have a round table. The tables are well spaced and the dining area was clean. The portions were HUGE. The cup of hot and sour soup was suitable for a meal and the bowl was suitable for a swim :). Everything tasted fresh. The seasoning was a bit bland on some dishes, but was typical of US chinese restaurants. The sesame chicken flavors were very good, although I would have loved some vegetables, so get a side dish. And prepare to take food home with you! My only negative is that the men's room was not particularly clean. read more

I just don't get it. A month ago I got their garlic broccoli for $19, which seemed outrageous, but I really wanted garlic broccoli so I did it. It was just fine. Nothing special, no huge portions or anything like that. It's now $22. FOR BROCCOLI! It doesn't add up. Sorry guys. Nah. read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Broccoli with garlic sauce, $19. - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

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I was intending to go to yosaku, but it looked busy. So into zen I went. Always interesting (to me) where I'm intending to go vs where I actually end up lol. The waitstaff was super friendly and efficient, very professional. Initially they directed me to sit at the bar but I asked to sit at an open booth instead and they obliged. I ordered a bloody mary and pan fried noodles with pork. My drink was good, though nothing really special. Spicy, tall, with giant olives. The noodles were excellent. Similar to the drink, I enjoyed them because they were exactly what I was hoping for, nothing unexpected. Fresh veggies, tender pork in abundance, and noodles, just the right ratio of crispy and fried to soaked in sauce and softened to delicious perfection. The prices feel somewhat high, but actually not much higher than other area sitdown Chinese places like golden lotus and szechuan kitchen. Nevertheless, I'm an adventurous eater, so unless I want something extremely familiar, I'll be skipping zen. read more

If you are gluten free (or dairy free) this restaurant is a must try in Portland, ME! The food is delicious and the servers were very attentive. Tina (one of the owners) is incredibly kind and was so helpful with my allergies. She made me feel comfortable eating here and enjoying delicious food without having to worry about allergies. Also the drinks were so yummy!!! I recommend the coconut lemonade cocktail! read more

Excellent American Chinese food! Yes, Empire & Sichuan Kitchen are fantastic, and have their place, but when you want a pupu platter & mai tais, you come here. read more

Ordered delivery service. From when I pressed the button to order till being delivered it's only 20 mnts. Mala shrimp and scallop. Not to spicy for my taste but again I like super duper spicy and usually that's not the style here in portland. Taste great, totally love it. Size is big with white rice on the side. Totally recommended read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Mala Mala Shrimp and Scallops - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

I love this restaurant truly. The only reason I deducted a star is price. This isn't a quick, spur of the moment drop in restaurant. You need to be prepared to spend a little dough, but if you do, I promise it is worth it. I'd recommend the Crispy Rice & Chicken Soup for 2, the Udon noodles with chicken, the kung pao chicken, and the chicken with Chinese bok choy. There are still definitely many menu items I want to try but haven't had a chance yet. This would definitely be a perfect date night restaurant. read more

Stopped in this afternoon for a late lunch with my daughter. They were not doing dine in service so we got take out. Pork fried rice and lo mein with chicken. This was some of the best Chinese I've ever had with the freshest ingredients! My daughter also got a coconut lemonade which was delicious and refreshing. Staff was incredibly friendly. Highly recommend and can't wait to go back! read more

Honestly I love this restaurant for many reasons. Chinese food is not as rampant around the Portland area as where I grew up in Connecticut, so it's a nice Portland touch. But it's also ALWAYS dead inside. I like this because it's quiet and intimate. On a Friday night when it's impossible to get a seat at a restaurant or make reservations, I can always count on coming here and still having a great meal. It's a beautifully decorated atmosphere and a great place to take people who you actually want to hear talk. The service is also super quick. Our food came out in under 10 minutes both recent times I ate here. The food is all excellent, and the service is always good too. Very attentive waitstaff. My favorite dishes are broccoli and garlic with tofu and their house-made fried rice. Their vegetarian dumplings are super yummy too. I've tried lots of different dishes and appreciate that the veggies are always fresh. Honestly, most people just order takeout from here, but I like the experience of sitting and eating. Their drink menu is great too. There is a ginger cocktail that is to die for. They also have Japanese sodas, and if you've never tried one, you've gotta have a strawberry one. Good luck opening it on your first try :P The oneeeeee thing I dislike is their prices. It's a little expensive for Chinese. That being said, the portions are pretty large so I always have leftovers, and the food definitely is a level up from other greasier and lesser Chinese food establishments. Overall a hidden gem--even a little tough to spot walking by (not that you'd be walking by because it's randomly located on a side street), but I highly recommend a visit. read more

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Way to pricey for tasteless food. small portions. Probably the worst chinese food I have ever had read more

Good food!!! Everything arrived hot and all my extra requests were honored. I'd totally order from this place in the future! read more

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Week of 9/26, I decided to try this new restaurant. Placed a take out order. Couldn't believe they charged $9 for an eggroll and expected something exceptional. It was greasy and tasteless. Ordered vegetable broth and mushrooms. Mushroom were not cooked. Main dish had noodles that were stuck together that could not be separated. Expected exceptional food for the price, but it wasn't. I paid $36 for one person and three items. read more

I ordered takeout and while the food was good, am sorry to say that the prices will probably keep me from eating here often, if at all, in the future. The only reason I ordered from here to begin with was because they serve walnut shrimp, which is one of my favorites and that I haven't found offered in many places around here. I also ordered the veggie lo mein and orange chicken, which came with a side of white rice. The veggie lo mein was good, but nothing to rave about. The orange chicken was most likely the best part of the order- with orange slices and peel in the sauce. The walnut shrimp was a bit disappointing- while there was plenty of jumbo shrimp and walnuts, which I appreciated, the sauce they were in was way too thick and sweeter than necessary. Definitely not worth the $20 they charge for that dish alone. While the food was good, it certainly was not worth the $73.22 I paid. Full disclosure this includes a $5 delivery fee and tip, but even without that it was $60 for three orders. That is outrageous for Chinese food that is not really all that much better than the competition. I will most likely continue going to Empire for my walnut shrimp and other upscale Asian food. read more

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Don't be fooled by the new age moniker. It's old school bad. Ordered a scallion ginger dish and mapo-tofu. Neither tasted like they should have, both used the same sickly sweet brown sauce. Not a whiff of to-ban chili in the mapo-tofu nor fresh ginger in the pork scallion. Not sure why they charge a premium, it's worse than some of the cheaper "chop suey" joints in town. I rarely crit restos on Yelp, but was compelled by the negative experience. read more

Great food! Fast and friendly service! Highly recommend Zen Bistro for dine in or take out!

My quest for Portland's best Chinese food came back in action today with a quick lunchtime meal at Zen. After circling the block a few times, I finally found parking. There were no menus posted outside so I wandered in... where was everyone?? There were two gentlemen eating together, but besides that, the place was empty. I scanned the menu, kind of conflicted about whether I should stay or go. Now when I say the place was empty, I mean there was no hostess, waitress, server, or bartender in sight. I was seriously considering leaving when out of nowhere, THREE employees magically appeared! I was promptly seated and the service was great from there on out. We (surprise I wasn't dining alone!) ordered the broccoli beef lunch (came with choice of soup and rice--we got hot & sour soup with fried rice) and the mixed greens with avocado (no soup/rice for noodles or salad lunch deals; also... What part of that besides the dressing is Chinese?). I thought the broccoli beef ($9) tasted great, but I expected a bit more out of the salad ($8). The ginger dressing was different, but not quite outstanding; and the avocado was ripe but still... I don't see how my salad could have cost more than $4. A soup and rice would've been nice! Maybe Wednesday lunches are just a dull time, but I thought that there would be more customers. The service (while prompt) was slightly off, and the pricing was a bit high before the Yelp deal ($6 for $10; but my receipt said -$9.26??). I'll probably slowly check out the remainder of the Chinese restaurants in town before coming back, even if this is one of the fancier looking places. Final note: Our server overheard my comment about my dirty knife and replaced it super fast, so yay? read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Broccoli beef with fried rice - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

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Loved this place. I ordered a Bento Box for $25 and it was delicious! It came with teriyaki chicken, vegetables, white rice, pieces of California roll, and shrimp tempora. The service was pleasant and they practiced social distancing. read more

While the prices have gone through the roof, in excess of inflation rate, the food is good. Portland has many other options but if you don't mind taking out a small loan and have the craving for some tasty Chinese, it shouldn't disappoint. Their hours are weird too, especially around holidays so plan and order early. read more

Delivery arrived quickly. I ordered chicken fingers ($10) and teriyaki beef ($14), delivery ($5), tax ($2.32) with 15% tip ($4.69) for a total of $36.01. Chicken fingers were thin pieces of meat with lots and lots of breading - not the thicker piece of chicken and thin breading. I peeled most of them as it was more like a donut with a little bit of chicken inside. The beef was on sticks and was thinly sliced and really tasty. It came with nothing else - no rice, etc. Wouldn't recommend. read more

We love Chinese and have missed having plenty of it near us since moving to Maine. This place is a very nice surprise, and we recommend it highly. First, walking in the door I couldn't believe the decor and size, which is classier and larger than it looks from the outside. We ate upstairs where we could see down to the lower level over a railing. It was cool, although the lights from down there were bright in our eyes. We just set our menus against the rail to block them. ;) The only disappointment was the eggrolls, which I thought were bland. Wings appetizer: these were scrumptious. Perfectly fried and crispy, and a flavor of ... what ... rosemary? I had never tasted that in wings, though I have long loved rosemary fried chicken. Jumbo shrimp with garlic sauce and veggies was a huge portion ($22 is a lot, yes, but so is the portion). The shrimp are tender and just cooked. Veggies are fresh and expertly cooked. The flavor of the garlic sauce is sweet, which I don't prefer, but it was yummy. The tastiest dish was Moo Shi, and we chose pork. This is seriously the best moo shi pork I've had. That extra umph that carries it to the next level from your every-day run-of-the-mill moo shi pork. Wow. We will definitely go back and recommend it to friends and family. read more

So glad this place was open on Christmas Eve, its a sort of tradition for us to get Chinese food for sure! We ordered many dishes to share family style, we were eating Vegan with our extended family and safe to say this place had many vegan options. We ordered veggie lo mein, crispy tofu, spicy tofu in sauce, fried rice, fried spring rolls, veggie dumplings, and veggie stir fries. Everything was well prepared, some dishes lacked seasoning, but overall solid Chinese food. read more

This seems to be the most expensive Chinese restaurant in Portland, with the entrees being $20+, and the food doesn't match the pricing. We got sweet and sour chicken and orange chicken and both had muted flavor. Will probably not be back. read more

The best. Friendly staff. Great food. Atmosphere was on point. Awesome mixed drinks. I could go on and on. A plus service. A must try.

Great food. Also, I love that they have so many dishes that are gluten free. The prices are higher than most Chinese restaurants, but also the quality and taste is totally worth it. Their lunch menu is great and has a wide variety of options to choose from, at a more affordable price- yet, still good portions! read more

Prices are utterly ridiculous, but it's the only Chinese food restaurant that made my favorite dish into a gluten free option. It's typically very challenging for me to find gluten free Chinese food that's tasty. read more

We went here a few weeks ago for takeout for my husband and I. I can't figure out why my pictures didn't post. For Christmas Eve however, my dad and I went for our annual tradition, Peking Duck. The restaurant apparently has two levels including seating upstairs. The waitress was quick and polite. The prices are a little steep, but the portions are reasonably generous and very respectable quality, so I didn't mind that much. We each started with a cup of soup, his was hot and sour and mine was wonton. Hot and sour soup is my dad's barometer for a restaurant. He was very happy with his and said it bode well for the rest of the meal. My wonton soup, had three wontons in these small cup serving, and a tad more cabbage than I would have preferred, but certainly tasty. We shared an appetizer of shrimp shumai which we both enjoyed enough that I decided to get an order to bring home to my husband who stayed with the kids. Juicy shrimp and crispy rapper. Delectable! The star of the meal, which we called an hour in advance to order as the restaurant suggested, was indeed tasty. It came with plum sauce, pancakes, scallion, cucumber, and the entire duck pre-sliced. The one and only issue my dad and I had with the duck was the same. How come the skin was so soft and fatty? Every other year, we had gone to a different restaurant, but the duck skin was always exceptionally crisp and that was our favorite part! Not a huge detraction, but worth mentioning since crispy skin is a key flavor component for a lot of people, including us. I had a Mai Tai which was tasty but small in my opinion. My dad was very pleased because the restaurant serves Pepsi-Cola products, which is his preferred brand. Altogether I believe the meal ran around $60 is plus tax tip and the Order of shumai to go. Considering the amount of food and that it said two people, I would definitely go again. I would point out that the floor plan is not the best for children old enough to be inclined to run around, such as my toddler and 11 month old. read more

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Great service and good food. Lunch portions are great. Take out is perfect. Love the Beef Teriayaki and House Fried rice. Chow Foon is a new choice for me delicious. And Ginger and Scallions with Chicken or Beef is also recommendation. read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Cocktail while waiting for takeout - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

Zen Chinese bistro is one of the BEST fine dine-in Chinese restaurant available in Portland Maine. The food is prepared by very experienced chefs. The food service including delivery, take out and dine-in is always timely. They have a great bar and the drinks are made by owner Kemal who is an excellent restaurant owner and a bar tender for over 30 years. Zen Chinese Bistro also offers gluten-free and vegan menu which is hard to find. Zen Chinese bistro is located on 45 Danforth St. Portland Maine which has been awarded for "Best of Portland" for was year since 2012. By the way portions are really big. I highly recommend it. read more

Who doesn't love Chinese food? Zen did a good job of accommodating a group of 12 of us for dinner last night. We ordered three lo meins for the table (1 beef, 1 chicken, and 1 veggie). Huge portions! It was not dry at all, which is sometimes a complaint I'll have with a lo mein. It was so juicy and flavorful I could order one of these and make that my meal no problem (and probably have leftovers). I will say out of the three, the beef lo mein was just okay. I would not order it again. After my friend ordered a ginger lemon drop cocktail, I decided I had to have one too. I've been on such a ginger kick lately. I'm so glad I did, it was delicious. Probably the highlight of my meal. If it wasn't so pricey ($10), I would have ordered 2 or 3 of them! I decided on the chicken fried rice ($10) for my entrée, and what I received was a gigantic mound of food! I didn't even put a dent in it. Definitely enough for another meal, maybe two! Great value! However, besides the fried rice and lo mein dishes, I felt like the majority of the appetizers and entrée items were pretty overpriced. Their are many other cheaper Asian options in this area (hence the reason for only 4 stars). I would totally come back. I would order a ginger lemon drop and the chicken lo mein dish as my entrée :) Or maybe the scorpion bowl if I was on a hot date ;) read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Chicken fried rice - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

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Okay, I really didn't expect this place to be so good. I came here with my family hoping to satisfy my mom's Chinese food craving and we were more than surprised. The atmosphere is very pleasant and clean and the service is very friendly and attentive. The prices for the dishes are more than reasonable as well. Hot and sour soup: Perfect balance of sourness to this soup, some hot and sour soups put too much in but this was just right. Not too thick either. Crispy rice and chicken soup: This soup really hit the spot, very refreshing and very food flavor. Perfect to share with 4 people also. Szechuan string beans: Wow the flavor used with this was amazing. The string beans were cooked to perfection with bits of garlic and scallion. The sauce also goes amazing with a bowl of rice! Lobster with garlic sauce: So Maine is known for their lobster, and i honestly thought that the way they cooked their lobster was the best. The garlic flavor is soooo good and each piece of lobster is a little fried so its even more delicious!! All in all, when I got back to Maine and I'm craving lobster or Chinese food in general, I'm definitely coming here first. read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - String beans - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

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Had a nice, quick dinner here recently and, while I'm not actively seeking out scorpion bowls most days, I would certainly return or order take-out in the future. The atmosphere is fairly upscale, with a bar area downstairs and a quieter dining room upstairs, and service was efficient and pleasant. Prices are a bit higher than one would expect for this area for Chinese, but I believe that is because the quality of meat is higher than normal. Both my husband and I went for meat-and-vegetable style dishes, so this was appreciated. If I were in the mood for something fried, I'd likely seek out a cheaper option. read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Fancy scorpion bowl. - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

Personally I think that Zen has the best classic American style Chinese food in Portland. Now is the food better than Empire? No, but I think it sticks more closely to the classics: General Taos, Lo Mein, Kung Pow Chicken and Pork Fried Rice are all as they should be. Why not a 5 Star review? It's simply too expensive... frustratingly so and getting worse. First the Main Menu. Everything is just $2-4 more than it should be. Especially things like fried rice. If you want two meals, pork fired rice and some soup your looking at a $60 meal. Well lunch used to be answer, you would get an appetizer, dumpling soup, pork fried rice and an entree for like 10$-12$. That was too good to be true so they took away the appetizer, but even without the dumplings or the crab Rangoons it was still a pretty good deal. Now they have done away with the dumpling soup. I think this place doesn't do well despite having great food, because they just haven figured out how to price their menu. I would seat there more often and order take out if it was just a little be more affordable. read more

Zen checked off all of the boxes. The location is near all of the nightlife in Portland. The restaurant is very clean and up to date. The food was great, with very large portions. read more

I love this place. The wings are the best I've ever had, and they serve a salad that I am OBSESSED with! It's half an avocado over organic greens with a creamy ginger carrot dressing. It's also delicious topped with chicken or duck breast, but I usually opt for the avocado. My other half loves these items as well, along with the chicken fried rice, the sesame chicken, and the chicken with ginger and bok choy. Kemal, the owner, is gracious and accommodating, and the servers are friendly. The menu has several gluten free options, and they make a delicious volcano bowl. read more

Zen Chinese Bistro - Avocado salad with duck - Bars Near Me - Portland, Maine

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