28892 Marguerite Pkwy # 190
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
(949) 347-0844
http://www.zenkosushi.com
We didn't plan anything for Valentine's Day. We had to take Teddy & Twinkle to their puppy kindergarten (they graduated that day! woohoo~~~~). I thought I would just cook something at http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com after puppy school. But Dr. P said he would take me out to eat, anything I want. I was so hungry and wanted all you can eat. There's all you can eat salad & soup at Souplantation. There's all you can eat Korean BBQ. There's all you can eat sushi. Dr. P immediately picked all you can eat sushi among the choices.
I found Zenko Sushi on Yelp with 4 star reviews. We tried to call to make a reservation, but they don't take reservation. It's first come first serve. The guy on the phone told us it would be about one hour wait when we called at 7pm.
For 4 stars all you can eat sushi, I wouldn't mind waiting. We actually only waited for about 30 minutes for a table. Not too bad.
There were a few sushi chefs working behind the sushi bar. There was even a female sushi chef. You don't see too many female sushi chefs around. I noticed this was a Korean owned restaurant. Seems like all the all you can eat sushi joints are owned by Koreans around here.
Sake ($6.95)
Dr. P was in the mood for some cold sake. I've always liked Hakutsuru draft sake.
Miso Soup
We started the meal with miso soup, two bowls for each of us.
Sesame Chicken
Sesame Chicken wasn't exactly the kind of sesame chicken we get from Japanese restaurant. This was just some fried chicken sprinkled with sesame and some sweet and spicy sauce.
Baked Green Mussels
Baked Green Mussels was really really good. Mussels were fresh, and I love the baked mayo sauce on top. We ordered two plates of those mussels.
Hero Albacore Roll ($10.50) / Golden Tiger Roll ($10.50) / Lobster Roll ($11.95) / Jalapeno ($6.95 x 2)
So many different rolls I want to order from the menu. But there were only two of us so we started with 3 rolls. Hero Albacore Roll (albacore on spicy tuna roll) was delicious! Golden Tiger Roll (shrimp, cream cheese & spicy crab deep fried) sounded good on the menu, but I didn't like it at all. The sushi rice was very mushy, kinda like those mushy sushi you can get at Costco. Lobster Roll (baked lobster on California roll) was tasty. Lots of big chunks of lobster meat. I thought Jalapeno (deep fried jalapeno, spicy tuna, crab & cream cheese) would be like a jalapeno popper, like the kind from Jack in the Box. But it wasn't. It wasn't bad, but not exactly good, either.
Salmon Egg Sushi ($4.50) / Scallop Sushi ($3.75) / Yellow Tail Sushi ($4.50) / Surf Clam Sushi ($3.75) / Salmon Sushi ($4.25) / Red Snapper Sushi ($3.75)
A plate of sushi. Salmon egg, scallop, yellow tail, surf clam, salmon, and red snapper. Everything was fresh and tasty. They give you big pieces of fish and not too much rice. After tasting this plate, we both thought their nigeri sushi is much better than their rolls.
Albacore Sushi ($3.95) / Seared Tuna Sushi ($4.25) / Yellow Tail Sushi ($4.25) / Fresh Water Eel Sushi ($3.95)
Second round of nigeri sushi. We got albacore, seared tuna, yellow tail, and eel. Again, everything was delicious.
Salmon Egg Sushi ($4.50)
Then we got a salmon egg sushi looking like this! What happened? Our waiter brought this plate over, looked at the sushi, and said, "uh, you don't have to eat that if you don't want to. I don't know what happened, but they don't look good to me." At least he was honest about it. He came back a few minutes later and told us that the sushi chef said they ran out of salmon egg so that was the last of everything. The sushi looked so bad. If I was the sushi chef, I wouldn't even let the waiter take that out. Unfortunately, this bad salmon egg sushi was the not so good ending for our Valentine's Day dinner.
Zenko Sushi was alright. Their nigeri sushi was pretty good. Rolls are better for bigger group. Three rolls was a bit too much for the two of us. I still like Midori Sushi in Studio City the most for AYCE sushi.
Those were Dr. P's Valentine's Day presents from me. Not very romantic, I know. haha.... But practical is more important, no? (Especially now when we're already married haha....)
Dr. P likes to watch UFC and surfing contest on his laptop. It doesn't have good sound so he watches with a headphone. I got him USB speakers so he can watch those programs with better sound. And I picked USB ones so he doesn't have to worry about finding an outlet. I also got him a mouse. I like USB wired mouse better than those battery wireless ones. You never have to worry about replacing battery. Just my personal reference. It's not fancy gifts, but I put some thoughts into it. :-)
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Agreed! Practical presents are better :)
ReplyDeleteThose mussels do look delicious though!
I like practical presents better, too.
I mean, I do like flowers. But they end up in the trash in a week.
But a practical item, I can use for a very very long time.
There was a local tv news story last week about a man who is suing an "All You Can Eat" sushi place because he says that it wasn't fair that he was required to eat all of the rice that came with the sushi (he claimed to be allergic to rice) before he was served more sushi. The owner said that he would go broke if he only served sushi. What a shame that the customer got a lawyer and is suing for LOTS of money.
ReplyDeleteI read about that news, too.
I think it was a man who claims to have diabetes and cannot eat rice?
Rules are rules. If there's a rule saying you have to finish the rice for AYCE sushi,
and you don't like the rule, then don't get all you can eat sushi.
Just order sashimi! Restaurants also have the right to refuse service, right?
interesting about the ayce lawsuit. the restaurant has rules and policies and provided reasonable accommodations so it will unlikely hold.
ReplyDeletefunny thing is if you tried to order a steak well done in a high end french restaurant, they would kick you out with no remorse!!
Remember that sushi nazi place where you'll get kicked out if you order California roll?
That AYCE sushi restaurant owner should just kick this customer out.
If you want to try an AMAZING AYCE sushi restaurant, you NEED to go to Sushi Asahi in Riverside. It is so fresh and delicious. They barely put any rice on the roll but the sashimi is huge. Check it out!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the recommendation.
We haven't visit Riverside area. But if we do, definitely will try this restaurant. :-)