REVIEW FOR SUNDAY BRUNCH: As far as the buffet goes, the variety was impressive. There were about 7 or 8 different sushi rolls from which to choose including spicy tuna, California roll, veggie roll, tempura shrimp roll, and a few other specialty rolls. They also had tuna, salmon and shrimp sushi, all fresh and made insitu. In addition to the sushi, there was a little salad bar with assorted veggies, a hot food area with standard asian dishes (i.e. beef and broccoli, lo mein-ish selections, and even pekin duck!) Also a dessert area with little cake bites and pastries. The banana fritter is awesome here. Zen has filled the sushi gap since Yo Sushi continues to let down in quality. Wait staff has been consitently attentive and the restaurant was is clean. Sunday Brunch here is Southampton's best kept secret. read more

Great to find a real Japanese restaurant in Hampshire. Sushi is excellent, particularly the soft-shelled crab maki and the chicken katsu curry is on par with the best I have had elsewhere. Family also recommends the King Prawn Katsu Curry and the King Prawn Teriyaki. They also offer a good lunch deal and a Sunday brunch but haven't tried either. On-line booking works great read more

Any initial complaints would be that it's quite expensive. I paid the same here for a meal as I would in London. It was the first sushi/Japanese restaurant I went to after returning from a long stint in Asia around 2006 and was a constant for birthdays and nights out until I moved away. I've had the buffet before, both on a weekend and on a week day evening and it's certainly value for money. I had one friend who couldn't even make it up the stairs at home and had to sleep on the bathroom floor after eating there because he'd consumed too much and was so full. So, yes, the buffets are definitely value for money! The food is awesome, perfect starters, not too greasy, ample amounts of Kewpie and the fish is fresh and tasty. The decor is beautiful, the staff are very friendly and the ladies toilets are kind of like padded cells. I'm not sure what the design idea was behind them, but they are cute, none the less. I think there is a karaoke room there now as well. BONUS! I'm so pleased to see that it is still around and doing well and will probably always try to go back whenever I have the misfortune of being in Southampton. read more

Not bad. Had the cha shu ramen, which had a lot of Chinese influence. Tasted more like egg soup noodles you get a Chinese restaurant. Still tasted delicious. Service was very attentive. Buffet looked good, but I didn't try it. Still craving japanese ramen though :/ read more

On the basis of a first impression, the restaurant looks like a nice comfortable restaurant suited for both groups of families and friends. There is a good variety of food to choose from, from sushi to typical oriental dishes on their menus. I would recommend not to go to the restaurant during the lunch buffet for 10 pounds that they offer. The reason for this is that the food served during the buffet is both limited in selection, and not at all as fresh as it would be if made on order. With one exception, the staff at the restaurant were not very pleasant, and tried to stress us to finish and leave. In our case we went there slightly later in the afternoon as it was not possible for us earlier, and the reason we chose Zen is because they told us that they were open to a certain time, and when we were actually there, and waiting for more food, they said no more is coming because they were closing down before dinner. This made us very annoyed as we only had to choose food from the buffet for roughly an hour, and fresh top-ups were few and far between. Perhaps the best advice is to go there in the evening when its slightly more expensive and there is no time limit for your meal other than the closing time of the restaurant. I would recommend Tangs over Zen and they are not far from each other with regards to location read more

Japanese Resturant whose menu also includes Sushi. I have been here a few times and the food has always been good although a little pricey. Some of the best Sushi in Southampton with a great variety. As well as Sushi items they have other main dish items like teriaki chicken and tempura. They also have a fully stocked bar and a fair dessert menu. The coconut Tart is nice. At the weekend they have a buffet which is apparantly quite nice however i have not been to this. Since an incident earlier this year in which a staff member was extremely rude to myself, my partner and my brother i have not been back which is a shame, but this one incident has really put me off. However the this does not change the quality of the food! read more

Great service, food hot and tasty. Had the 2 course lunch special, Chicken Dumplings and Teriyaki Chicken noodles very good. Will be back read more

This really is a great restaurant!! So glad I found this as I have travelled far and wide and not found anywhere quite as authentic as this place. read more

Coming from Vancouver with a gazillion competing Asian restos, it may be a bit pompous for me to expect too much. However, I must say that the food is horrendous and they should be penalized for advertising it as a Japanese eatery. It was bland, pricey, and an overall letdown. If you want to have a better experience, you'll hafta travel to Brighton and check out Moshi Moshi. read more

Overpriced, extremely poor quality, paid £72 for perhaps the worse sushi ive ever had in the uk. One piece of advice, avoid.

This place can confidently boast having the best sushi in Southampton - unfortunately that isn't saying much. The sushi is okay, but what is disappointing is how definitely overpriced it is, as remarked by other reviewers. One thing to avoid is the ramen - this is NOT ramen and nowhere near authentic, which again, is particularly disappointing when you look at the price. read more

Pricey, average. Seems like a Chinese restaurant masquerading as Japanese. The sushi are ok but probably pre-made & brought in. I had a noodle dish which tasted no better than a packet mix that had hot water added. V loud disco music playing. Not my experience of other Japanese places. Service was ok - but in a disinterested kind of way. read more

Good food if you choose from the menu rather than buffet. Nice quality of sushi - much better than the likes you get at your sushi chains. The reason for the average rating is that some items are amazing whilst other dishes were somewhat a miss read more

Superb food and friendly staff. Hands down, best sushi place in Southampton!

My boyfriend and I went here to meet his friend and his friend's girlfriend. I thought it was a good night out, nothing to complain about. The server(s) were not that bothersome and came whenever we might want something else. As for sushi, I cannot say if it was the worst/best for anyone reading because what I like differentiates from another individual's. For example, I have thought that most of the sushi's that I have eaten in the UK does not live up to a certain sushi that I have tasted in the US which is the best sushi I have ever had. This particular sushi is a teriyaki roll, which beats any other sushi roll that I have tasted. I haven't found a sushi place who sells teriyaki rolls which I could then compare to the US. Other than that, it was better than some other places that I have went to. read more

I love this restaurant. Before I went to the restaurant, I google it, but unfortunately, the feedback are dramatically disagree each other. I don't know why. But for me, I like the food there. And service is also good. The manager is a good guy, quite generous and humorous. read more

its should be a wonderful night if we didnt go into ZEN food is really bad! i usually go to Japanese restaurant and i love sushi, but this is the worst i've ever have i decided to take night buffet which cost 15.95 per each person without drink and 10% service charge. so lets think, if each person take one bottle of soft drink, which cost 1.6-1.9 quit, then the total cost would be 19.6 quit, that's the hidden cost which has not been shown on the menu. especially the waiter always come and ask you if you wanna more drinks, even i still have half bottle left. the drink is also the smallest bottle i've ever seen with half bottle of ice. food sucks!!!! when i finish my starter i even think i should leave immediately without main course! like i said before, i usually have Japan or Chinese food but this is none of them, taste is sooooo fuxxking bad! i don't even wanna remember them! something you should notice on the menu is the tiny word hidden at the bottom, said you will be charge extra full menu cost if you can not finish your meal. but how can i finish a meal which is really not what i want!! it really sucks! the waiter can not even explain well about their buffet menu. what i noticed the worst disgusting thing is, same order may got different food on different tables!!! my friend on the other table next to me with the same order and we got totally diffent starters! thats horrorable!!! i'll never ever be there again and i strongly dont recommend ZEN! read more