Zen Toro

We were up here in Davis Ca attending some good friends wedding, we decided to eat here after checking a few restaurants in the area. As we enter we were warmly greeted and led to our table, they were about to close at 2:00pm from lunch and they open back up for dinner at 5:30pm This place is kinda small and cozy hidden from the street you have to walk down a few steps or a ramp to get to this place inside a courtyard. The décor. is your typical Japanese style, there is a lot to choose from appetizers, combinations, and the sushi bar we ordered the Aloha style deep fried panko breaded chicken thigh served with tonkats sauce, it was really good… just saying and the Tempura shrimp roll, Asian coleslaw, and white which was a tat dry. Our waitress yes we had all three pretty ladies since they were close now all was super friendly and very attentive to our needed great customer service. The place was clean, our food was delicious, will definitely eat here again when back up here for sure.

This place to put it simply is amazing! The atmosphere, service, staff and of course the food is incredible!!!

Excellent sushi in Davis and warm customer service from the owner. The nigiri specials are especially good and very fresh. Highly recommend.
As to 6÷4÷16 review of Michelle N — when you show up at 5 minutes to close with a large group and threaten negative Unilocal reviews if not seated, followed by walking out without eating — that makes for a very unreliable review. (Yes, I was there as a customer).

Tasteless, clearly over wrapped fish… If your closed at 9:30 then tell your customers that… Don’t market 10! Cheaper restaurants with better customer service a dime a dozen in Davis…

I love the udon here! Recently tried the tan zaru cold udon and it’s super satisfying and refreshing for those really hot summer days in Davis. They have really good deals for their lunch and dinner combinations and a seasonal menu as well. Staff is also super friendly and they do their best to accommodate you.

COCKROACH. I will never eat here again.
1. There was a cockroach hiding out in the sleeve of the chopsticks they gave me. ALIVE. Who knows where else the cockroaches are?! I should’ve left then but I didn’t. Dumb me.
2. Lunch special portion of beef teriyaki was literally two bites. Im talking 2tbsp of meat. That’s it. I asked the server is this was really the portion size for my $ 10 meal and he said he’d get me a little more (meaning yes, this is the portion size but since you had a cockroach on your chopsticks I’ll get you more).
3. Oh, and the «roll» you get with the lunch special is four small pieces of a very bad tasting spicy tuna maki roll.
4. Food was just not good in general either best thing I had there was the miso soup.
5. Service was SLOW. You’d think that finding a bug in your stuff, they might try and make it up to you. But no, two lunch specials took nearly 40 minutes to come out. We really should have walked out at this point.
6. Split check has to be over $ 15 for them to process it. Insert rolling eyes here.
7. For all the trouble they still charged me full price for my cockroach lunch but tried to appease me with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I will never eat here again. Disgusting!

Came here on a Monday night, expecting service to be fast since it’s a weekday. However, service was extremely slow. It took almost 20 minutes for a server to come wait on us and when I tried to catch the attention of one of the waiters, she just kept repeating «your server will be with you shortly» despite her saying that the first few times and her tone of voice was very disrespectful. The food took even longer to arrive and the portion was extremely small for the price. I don’t recommend this place and definitely won’t come here again.

Greatest sushi I have ever had. Perfect service and great quality food. Definitely always going to be my first choice.

The best place for authentic Japanese food in Davis. Owned by Japanese and the waiters speak Japanese. I’ve been coming her for over five years. The atmosphere is great. The quality of the food went down a little bit since the owner retired. But it’s still the best Japanese food in Davis. The prices are reasonable.

Simply the best in Davis.
Lovely atmosphere. Fantastic menu. Excellent range of sake. Wonderful service.

My go-​to restaurant in Davis from day one and always will be! I seriously don’t understand the 3.5 stars they have. I can only guess it’s because people come here expecting a sushi restaurant instead of a Japanese restaurant. It’s probably the only authentic Japanese restaurant in Davis (the chefs are Japanese and I’m pretty sure you need to be able to somewhat communicate in Japanese to work here. Also, Yakitori is a questionable whether it’s authentic or not.) Even if you don’t care about authenticity, I’m sure you still care about the delicious food. I never order sushi rolls here. I’ve had the chirashi and I do like it, but what I love most is the their cooked fish dishes. A personal favorite and one that makes me request the dinner menu during lunch is the pan fried izumi tai fish filet ($ 15). The soy butter, caper, and baby spinach salad combo seriously hit the spot! The fish is always well seasoned and is very fatty (but not as much as salmon). I usually get that dish and share an agedashi tofu (tofu with crunchy fried skin swimming in dashi and soy sauce). Sometimes, to change it up, I will consider the sake kasu butter fish ($ 17). Now this one is totally rich in flavors and in the buttery taste.
I also introduced a lot of friends to Japanese ramen at Zen Toro. For some reasons, their tonkotsu (pork) flavored ramen has always been a successful gateway to a ramen addiction for many of my friends. Not sure if it’s because they give you a ladle instead of a spoon or because they brought it out on a separate wooden tray haha. Other dishes people enjoy are their Hawaiian poke (very well marinated in sesame oil sauce instead of creamy sauce like other Chipotle-​style poke joints), beef/​chicken curry, and tempura udon. Oh but never ever order nabeyaki udon. It’s actually repulsive. Please don’t order that no matter how cool it sounds.
Every time I visit Davis, I always try to stop by Zen Toro. I love the small homey space and even the fact that I carry the smell of soy sauce and fish when I walk out. There’s a shop called Ho Ho where they sell Asian snacks here now so I like making a stop there too to get hazelnut kit kat from Japan. Plus, it has Mishka’s and Avid Reader bookstore nearby to spend a restful day after food coma ensues. In general, I gotta to love this restaurant for having amazing food and for being in my favorite area in Davis.

I love this small sushi place! They have a variety of appetizers, sushi rolls, and dishes. I LOVE their poke salad in the appetizer section and their shake, it is so delicious and the portion is just about right. We also ordered the ZT crunch roll and it was so good! The size of the roll isn’t huge, but that makes the pieces easier to eat :). They have a wine and beer selection, Their zinfandel was great!
Service is great! Like any sushi place the rolls take a little more time to come out, however, servers are attentive and making sure you are satisfied.
This place is in a nice hidden location in a courtyard! They don’t take AMERICAN EXPRESS.

One of the higher quality Japanese options in Downtown Davis, Zen Toro is a quiet but classy Davis institution. It seems hidden as it is in a basement area, but it has a very relaxing «zen» like ambiance that serves a variety of good Japanese cuisine. I heard that one of the chefs used to be renown in San Francisco but moved to Davis for the small town environment.
I recommend coming here for lunch, as the options are pretty much the same as dinner except cheaper. I’ve had the poke, sukiyaki hotpot, chicken udon with sashimi, and everything was good! The poke had good flavor but was nice and refreshing, pairing with their well-​cooked sushi rice. I had a hotpot at dinner which came with an assortment of meat and vegetables and it was savory and soul-​warming. The udon combos at lunch are a good deal and come with a lot of food that is very satisfying.

This was the first and shall be the last time I come here for Japanese food. The restaurant is located downstairs underneath Hometown and next to the new Ho Ho market, across the street from Thai Canteen! It’s a pretty small place, can probs hold less than 25 people.
The food honestly sucked. I ordered the beef soba because it was dark and gloomy outside so I figured hot soup would be great! The soba noodles broke apart in my bowl, the broth is bland and no amount of soy sauce can save it. The prices are meh and I seen some of the sushi they had, also meh.
I wouldn’t come back and probs would head over to Hometown for something soupy instead.

Came here for the ramen since my friend said it was the best in Davis.
Ordered the Tan Tan Men and it was such a bust for me. It’s $ 9.50 for noodles, a few pieces of Chinese broccoli (unusual for ramen), and bits of tiny pieces of meat at the bottom (they looked like crumbs). Everything else costs extra to add. I added a boiled egg and that was pretty good along with the broth but I was hoping for more «wow» overall.
I’ll probably come back and try something else since everyone has good things to say about this place. The décor and service are ⁵⁄₅ though!

One word comes to mind when I hear the name Zen Toro… Exceptional!
It was always a special occasion and treat to dine at this wonderful restaurant located at the corner of 15^th and I Streets in Downtown Sacramento. This was before 2006, when this amazing gem of a Japanese restaurant moved to Davis. The restaurant that currently stands in this location is no comparison to Zen Toro in any aspect. You’ve been warned…
As a self-​proclaimed foodie and 6-​year Unilocal Elite member, I’ll travel far and wide for a great meal, especially one from memory almost a decade ago. This Downtown Davis location is in a courtyard where all of the businesses face each other at different levels. Zen Toro sits away from the street below street level. You may take one of 2 staircases or the ramp that leads to the restaurants level. This L-​shaped restaurant is larger than its previous location and definitely seats more. The «back» dining room should accommodate your party of maybe 36 guests.
The real star of Zen Toro is a combination of being Japanese owned and operated, as well as serving several menu items not available at other Japanese restaurants. With less than a handful of Japanese owned Japanese restaurants in Sacramento and the surrounding areas, this elite group carries tradition, culture and authenticity in highest regard. Zen Toro is at the top of this group with its offerings of:
Salmon Skin Salad: Crisp toasted salted salmon skin with greens, kaiware and cucumber with spiced ponzu sauce.
Sake Kasu Butter Fish: Black cod fish fillet marinated in sake kasu, miso and sweet wine, broiled to perfection served with kimpira burdock and lotus roots.
Pan Fried Izumi Tai Fish Fillet: Caper brown soy butter over baby spinach and mushroom salad.
Japanese Style Curry Over Rice: Beef, Sesame Chicken, Katsu or Croquette.
Panko Breaded Deep Fried Oysters: Harvested off the coast of Washington, these fresh oysters are coated in panko and deep fried to perfection.
Seigo’s Menchi Katsu /​Hamburger Croquette: Hamburger steak coated in panko and deep fried to perfection. You will enjoy this limited dinner menu item as an alternative to your Japanese norm. Served two different ways: with curry or without.
Sesame Chicken /​Karaage: Crispy fried chicken pieces with teriyaki sauce, topped with sesame seeds and a side of spicy mayonnaise dipping sauce.
Disclaimer: I didn’t try every one of these delectable entrees, but I did have the Black Cod, Fried Oysters and Sesame Chicken. I’m sure your saying, «Other Japanese restaurants serve fried oysters and all serve sesame chicken.» That may be true, but Zen Toro hand breads their fresh oysters in panko, while others restaurants I know purchase already breaded and frozen oysters. If you like oysters, you’ll know what I mean. Now on to the Sesame Chicken. Zen Toro lightly breads their chicken in some sort of flour (maybe rice flour), then accompanies it with a side sauce that resembles spicy mayonnaise. One of the best Sesame Chickens I’ve ever tasted.
All in all, you can’t go wrong with anything from this wonderful Japanese eatery. Most people review their sushi. Nothing but good things being said. This review is for what comes out of their kitchen… Simply Wonderful!!!

Being in Davis so so many years, I finally tried Zentoro. I’ve heard this was the best sushi restaurant in town from my friends, seeing how most places are sushi buffets. Zentoro is a small little place underneath the hometown restaurant little plaza. You won’t miss it if you drive past E St.
It was packed when we arrived, but we were seated in 5 minutes. Seeing it was busy definitely was a plus. I ordered the bento box with chicken teriyaki, and a salmon sashimi platter. The chicken teriyaki was delicious! One of the better ones I’ve had. The sashimi tasted fresh, which is tough to find in Davis in my opinion nowadays. The food was great, and it did live up to it’s hype.
Everyone know’s, good sushi isn’t cheap. The prices here a little steeper, but it’s worth it. The service was great. Definitely looking forward to coming back here again someday!

I thoroughly enjoyed this smaller sushi restaurant. From the street, it’s hidden… almost underground. As it is, to get there, one must descend a ramp or a few stairs.
Inside, there was a sushi bar which was vacant. This could be one of the more authentic sushi places, but I’ve never been to Japan so I don’t really know.
In my book, the sushi was great, but I do want to return for their ramen. Might be tricky trying to order ramen having already had the sushi though…
…and my SSC roll did not have too much rice in it.
Menu link:

Even though this place is in the heart of downtown Davis, Zen Toro might be a bit hard to find as it is tucked away under a building complex. I came here on a weekend night but I didn’t have to wait too long to be seated. This place is a little small, but it’s not crazy cramped.
Right away I saw that their menu varied from appetizers to sushi rolls to dinner combinations; they had quite a lot to choose from. Service was alright, not great, not bad. It was acceptable.
Food wise, I have came here on several other occasions and from what I remembered, their curry was really good. This time, I got the dinner combo (don + noodle $ 16.50 combination). I got the unagi don with the tempura soba. The unagi don was good quality, but there was only 4 slices. The tempura soba, on the other hand, was more satisfying as the broth was rich and flavorful.
My only complaint about was this place was that it I didn’t quite think the food that I got (taste and portion wise) was worth $ 16.50. I regretted getting the dinner combination when I saw other people’s entrée (with the same amount of food) that was cheaper and looked better. Had the price been cheaper or the food been a little bit better/​in bigger portion, I would give this place a 4 star.
Maybe I’ll come back again, but next time I will most likely not get the combination.

Everyone kept telling me I needed to go to Zen Toro’s and last night, I finally did! :D
– FOOD –
SSC Roll (refer to photo):
– I picked this roll because it was the most popular on the trusty Unilocal,lolol! The roll was extremely flavorful and has a slight crunch to the roll. I didn’t even utilize the drizzled sauces on the side of the plate because each piece of the roll was awesome alone.
– SERVICE –
The place is owned by a cute Japanese family! The service was decent, they checked up on us once, but didn’t refill our waters until our meals were already done.
Everything else seemed average, from the tempura appetizers to their bento boxes that the rest of my party ordered. They have $ 5 beers and ramen! Everyone raves about the ramen here, perhaps I will return to try their ramen, but I would definitely come back for the SSC Roll!