Zensen Sushi Express

Man I have to admire how were they able to slice the fish for the sushi, that is the thinnest sushi I’ve ever seen.
Yes it is only $ 1.75 but you are mostly eating rice.
Selection is very limited for regular sushi, mostly cheap ones, however there are some pretty good exotic ones too, like the whole scallops like dish. Sashimi is a huge joke, sliced so thin that you will need 10 dishes to barely have small lunch quantity. Only good for quick and small sushi eats.
I come mostly wanted daughter to have experience with revolving sushi (and she liked it), rest in the family had experienced much better — rotating sushi in a tiny place in Tokyo, best I’ve ever had with sushi.

This place is OK. Just A-​OK.
Came here with my Dad for Father’s Day. We got here a little after opening, so there was plenty of seating.
For $ 1.75 a plate, you can eat as much or as little as you want. All you need to do is grab a plate, put the lid back and go to town on the food. There are options from nigiri to specialty rolls to appetizers such as edamame or seaweed salad as well. They have a menu, so if there’s something that you want that isn’t there, a server will get it ordered and delivered to you.
Why am I giving this a 3? The quality is meeeeeh at most. The cuts of salmon and tuna I had that day was ok. Some pieces were strangely warm… or warmer than I would have liked. Others did not taste fresh; they might have just taken the leftovers from the night before.
Eh this place is worth a shot if you never tried a revolving sushi place before. I honestly think its a little overpriced for the quality of food. $ 1.50 might be better.

Zensen Sushi Express Newark is well… definitely worth the trip. So the price pre plate has sky rocketed a hole $.25 «note the sarcasm» from when I first ate here at $ 1.50 a plate. To now $ 1.75. But it still beats Safeway or some of the sushi restaurants sushi I have tried in some city’s around Bay Area. If you are looking for some real exotic rolls then this is not the place for you. But if you are in need of a quick sushi fix stop on by! I have eaten here several times and besides the miso soup (due to the fish in it YUCK, They should really consider going with traditional miso soup) I have yet to try a bad item.
Contrary to other reviews, I have never been here and restaurant was dirty. Even the bathroom is very clean. Or has been when I visit.
The conveyor belt is really cool but depending on where you sit, other people may get the good stuff before you. You can also place an order for what you like as well, the server will bring your selection right to you. All and all this is a good place for quick sushi fix!
Ambiance ⁴⁄₅
Food ⁴⁄₅
Drink N/​A (There is hot water for tea or you can get a soda of various sorts)
Service ³⁄₅
Overall Experience 3.5÷5
Till next time Drink, Eat, and Enjoy this life you live — Groux

1.75 a plate of sushi. Not bad not great. Kids enjoyed it and grabbing food off the conveyor belt. Miso soup different but pretty good and the kids ate the fish in the soup, always a plus when they do that. Plates vary in terms of pieces, some had one, others had 3 or the Kappa roll had six pieces. Some were better than others, cheese and shrimp… No. The fried oyster taco… YES!!! The raw shrimp wasn’t bad, til you eat the head… that was nasty!!! The dessert were pretty good, the mochi was very soft, especially for conveyor belt items, as you don’t know how long it’s been revolving around. Plenty of parking, service non existent but does not require tipping. Will come back with the kids and hit that craving for sushi.

This is the second rotating sushi restaurant that I went to and by far my favorite one. The sushi is really fresh and the service is great! We had to order few items off the menu cause we didn’t see it on the conveyor belt, but they brought it out in no time. Will definitely come back!

Went here Sunday on a whim, and didn’t regret it at all. My hubs & I are new to the area so we’re searching for some go to spots and glad we went here.
Overall, this isn’t like the most amazing sushi place you could ever go too, but it’s not the worst. PLUS you can’t beat the price at all! I can lay it down with the sushi, that’s for sure… so I’m not a cheap date with Japanese food at all b/​c I can pack it for sure. lol, so my husband likes it here b/​c I can manage to eat everything that I want without ordering 3 different orders at a regular restaurant just for me.
We went a little before they opened and a line already started for form. The concept is $ 1.75/plate & they charge you per plate. The menu is pretty diverse and if you don’t see what you want on the belt, you can ask for it. I like the variety that they offer, from better quality to the pretty cheap choices. The miso soup is different, but good — it had salmon in it. We tried the matcha cheesecake, that was a slight disappointment b/​c it just tasted like cheesecake and had green food coloring in it. I loved the self serve tea! It was nice b/​c my husband drinks not sure how many cups, but its a lot — so here he can just chug what he wants without waiting for a server to help him & I can have my own tea with out him finishing mine.
The concept is cool, but I LOVE that they have covers over their sushi plates, I can’t stand some customers who cough on food at places like these. SO that’s a star for me. Also, the rice was actually pretty good (not amazing), but great for $ 1.75! The fish quality was ehhh, but again, you get your fix :)
The best thing is that it’s a quick meal for us. My husband & I are always on the go, so as long as the line isn’t crazy, we can get seated, choose what we want to eat, scarf it down, and we’re out! Love it!
We are definitely returning customers!

They increased the prices :(
Plates are now $ 1.75 instead of $ 1.25 booo
Procedure is simple: grab from the conveyer nearly, eat, stack, then pay. Sushi is pretty mediocre, but you’re getting what you paid for (so choose wisely before you grab anything!!)
The best plate to get is definitely the creamy salmon because it’s comes in 3 pieces while topped with a good portion of fish.
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UPDATE: Gave this place a couple more tries and its overall, still pretty good. Although they increased the price, it’s still reasonably affordable!
+1 star for the awesome sushi chefs! If a server is on the other side of the conveyor belt, the sushi chef usually calls them over to you or you can order from them :)

I been wanting to try Zensen Sushi Express once I heard about this restaurant from my friend and my coworker. Both of them told me this place was worth trying since the sushi was good and the prices were beyond reasonable.
Also, I was quite curious about this sushi restaurant because it is not your typical «sit down, order, and wait for your food to arrive» type of restaurant. Once you get seated by the waiter, it is all self service from that point on. You can make your own hot tea by utilizing the cool hot water dispenser stationed in front you. Cups and tea bags are already provided. Chopsticks are cleverly placed in a drawer for you to use and there are even packaged toothpicks for you. Now, the best part of this restaurant is the conveyor belt in front of you where plates and plates of sushi comes moving along for you to choose. You can pick as many as you want and each dish is only $ 1.75. Granted there are only about one-​three pieces of sushi on each plate, but it is still cheaper than what you can find at any other sushi spots.
From the sushi train, I mainly picked out the nigiri sushi rather the sushi rolls. The sushi fish was fresh and tasted really good. Make sure you get the salmon and tuna sashimi– 3 pieces for $ 1.75– hell yeah! If I come here again, I’ll probably just eat all the sashimi I could get my hand on. For dessert, I picked the mango and lychee pudding and there were both delicious.
I would say this a fun little spot to bring your families, kids, and friends to eat. Doesn’t get better than a sushi train full of sushi for you to eat! Also, tipping is not required! I would definitely visit this sushi restaurant again.
FYI– Restaurant is located next to the The Dollar Tree in the plaza.

My go to spot for quick dinner.
If there is no line, dinner here can be really short. 30 mins, you will be walking out with a full stomach of delicious sushi.
The stuff on the belt is bit limited. The best one is the the shrimp with charcoal taste. (Don’t really know the name.)
They recently add a new collection of eel sushi. The spicy eel sushi is pretty good too.
There are cheese cake and jelly for desert.
Oh and the tea is the best! The good part is the hot water tap is right in front of you, you don’t have to ask and wait to get you tea refilled.
Also, no tipping needed here!!!

Today was my first Zensen experience and my second conveyor belt sushi experience (the first was so uneventful and eh I couldn’t even tell you the name of the place or what I ate… and it was only about a month and a half ago or so).
I was getting a little worried considering so many reviews of Zensen go on about how downhill it’s gone, but I still wanted to try, and I’m really happy I did! Go into Zensen with reasonable expectations — it’s $ 1.75 a plate so it ain’t no Katsuya.
It was surprisingly busy for ~3pm on a Saturday afternoon and was pretty busy until we left around 4:45pm. For most of our meal there were constantly new things coming past us on the belt and it was only toward the end that I had to wait for something I wanted (and I was being pretty darn choosy as I’d gotten quite full.
I will say, from the moment we walked in the door, I’ve never felt so confused as to how to act in a restaurant. Sadly, we really received no real clues or help from the wait staff at any point during the meal. But for $ 1.75 a plate and no tipping, I can’t really expect much more. I tried to flag someone down and after a kinda-​sorta gesture to seat ourselves, one of the staff half-​led us to a booth. After sitting for a minute, I asked for miso and if edamame was on the belt or something we ordered — I noticed it later on the belt but they brought us some. The drinks are $ 1.75 each and self-​serve as are free cups of cold water.
The miso (VERY HOT) and edamame came pretty quickly, which I was happy about since I like to start the meal with those before having any sushi. The edamame, as it’s a belt item, was cold and not very salted at all, BUT swirling each pod around in my miso warmed it up a bit and also helped cool the miso to a more tolerable temp. Also, the miso was packed with tofu and SALMON. I’ve never had salmon in my miso! I loved it!
My friend and I got to feel even more like fools wondering where the chopsticks came from. I saw where it said «Chopsticks» but neither of us could tell there was a handle and they were inside that drawer underneath the soy sauce and dishes… luckily, there were no pairs left inside so the server had to bring us two pairs anyway so we felt a little less embarrased.
Now for the sushi — I went mostly with nigiri and was, overall really happy with everything I got. I will say that I appreciated how well-​proportioned the rice and fish ratios were! I’ve definitely been more expensive places or AYCE places that give you just a giant clump of rice.
Salmon: perfectly good! I was choosy with which plate I grabbed since some had larger pieces of fish, but all were large pieces that were kinda thin, but hey you get what you pay for. The quality was good in my humble opinion and I had a few plates.
Caramel salmon: what a surprise! The caramel sauce was kind of like eel sauce in the sweetness aspect. The first bite I was unsure about but then it really grew on me.
Cheese shrimp: NOPE NOPE NOPE. I will never again combine cheese and shrimp unless it’s in an Olive Garden pasta dish. Luckily, the cheese was just in a slice that I could peel off and still eat the shrimp and rice.
Seared salmon belly: I absolutely adore salmon belly, salmon, and seared salmon nigiri, so seared salmon belly is just perfection. This seemed a little harder to chew than the other fishes, so I didn’t have as much as I was expecting to, but it was still delicious. A lot of AYCE sushi places and even regular places I’ve been to around the bay since moving here haven’t had salmon belly, raw or seared, so I really appreciate Zensen having it.
Salmon sashimi: not the most beautifully cut sashimi pieces (and I saw no tuna or tilapia — btw I’ve never seen tilapia sashimi anywhere else) but 3 sashimi bites of fresh salmon for $ 1.75? Yes, please!
I had a roll that I have no idea what it was called: It was a two-​piece california roll and over each piece was a piece of seared salmon and chili powder. I didn’t realize it was chili powder until my lips were on fire and I had to scrape most of it off but it was still yummy.
I would have liked to see some of the raw salmon belly, but I didn’t. A lot of rolls I saw going around on the belt, I couldn’t really figure out what it was. I feel like some maybe weren’t exactly the same as what’s on the menu and a lot of things on the menu I never saw. There were enough options going around though that I didn’t feel the need to specifically ask for any of the hand rolls or things I didn’t see on the belt.
I would like to try the creamy salmon roll as well as the corn mayonnaise roll (what can I say, I’m a Wisconsin girl…) and maybe some other stuff like the Lion King roll when I’m more up to eating a ton.
Basically, this is $ 1.75 conveyor belt sushi and for me, it accomplishes exactly what I could want out of that! I can’t wait to come back even though it’s a bit of an excursion, it’s by far worth it for the price!!!

I went at 8:30pm tonight and there was no crowd. I noticed the price had gone up from $ 1.50 to $ 1.75 per plate. I’ve come here a few times and my family and I loved it, but it seems that quality has gone down. Coming that late, we ordered from the chefs which was fine. Service was fine. I got salmon nigiri, ebi, tuna nigiri and a few other things. They didn’t have much taste to them. Paid ~$ 15 for 8 plates. On the plus side its still no tipping. Its unlikely I’d suggest going here again.
On another note, my friend says this was the same name as the conveyor belt sushi place that closed in Berkeley a while back, so its likely this place will end with the same fate.
I wish this place had more success and kept the quality up, but I guess food competition in the area is hard.

This is my third time updating a review for this place in the last year. It has dropped from a five star to one star sadly.
One of the workers has armpit smell, please, someone please tell him!
I asked for miso soup and salmon sashimi, the worker took the order with an attitude and the food never came!
Eventually we didn’t eat too much and just paid and walked out.

Decided to try this place out since it’s been on my bookmark list since it opened. I came w/​babe & his family. We were a group of 7. Walked in on a Sunday around 5:30pm and it was not packed at all. But let me get to the point of why I am rating this place 1 star. Mid-​meal i’m 2 plates in, babe hands me the CA roll w/​the shrimp on top. I was about to eat the shrimp but he stops me and says THERE’S A HAIR! It wasn’t mine thats for sure because the strain of hair was covered in the mayo sauce! We waved down a server to let them know there was a hair in the roll. He didn’t say anything!!! No apology, NOTHING! He simply just took the plate away, spoke to his coworker while looking at the plate then threw it away. How are you not going to apologize?
After reading other reviews it’s sad to know others have experienced poor customer service.

This place keeps going downhill…
My mood was already ruined within the first minute of being seated. I asked for water and the «server» said «You can go get it yourself.» Are you serious? I get that it’s a do it yourself restaurant but he could have phrased it differently. Word of advice to management, teach your employees how to talk to customers.
The second thing that irked me was the fact that we were seated in a section where all of the good selections was taken before it even got to us. In that case, we decided to order a few dishes from someone who seemed to be the manager. I asked for two salmon hand rolls, a tuna salad, and Alaska roll. He then said «one of each?» No… I said TWO garlic salmon hand rolls so I had to ask someone else to get it for me. I was watching this manager look around the conveyer belt for my «tuna salad» and brought me one off the belt. Wouldn’t you think if I asked to order it, I would want it to be fresh? He and another employee continued to bring things we didn’t order which annoyed me because I couldn’t even eat in peace.
The icing on the cake was when I went to use the restrooms and it was FILTHY. I seriously left so disgusted because BOTH stalls were left unflushed and tissues were all over the floor. By 6pm, they were already out of toilet paper… ANOTHER ADVICE TO MANAGEMENT: DO RESTROOM CHECKS AT LEAST EVERY 30 minutes.

A lot has changed from the last time I’ve come here:
–they raised the prices 75 cents to make it 1.75 a plate.
–the quality of the food went down a bit, although they did add some new menu items (sea urchin)
–the sushi rolls have drastically improved, pretty solid rolls.
–I’ve realized the fish is frozen (I saw them take out the frozen fish) but what can you expect from a place that serves «cheap» sushi.
–The place is just alright, I am willing to come here if I have a small appetite because although cheap, the plates do add up quickly.
–The service is basically nonexistent because there is no option to tip there, everything is self served.
With their lack of service and at best, average sushi, this place is only worth going to for their affordable prices.

There’s no more reason to go to Zensen.
Service quality and food quality has gone down but yet they raised their price to $ 1.75/plate.
If you don’t mind a little drive, go over to Kula in Cupertino for far better service and better food quality. You’ll leave with a smile.
What happened to this place?!
I used to love this place and would make a long drive just to eat here.
Food Quality
Stay away from their handrolls! I think they forgot to put the eel in our handrolls and just put the eel sauce instead. I was just eating flavored rice and cabbage wrapped in seaweed. The udon was a huge disappointment. The soup was not hot and I could make a better udon at home. Not sure if it’s due to their health inspection warning, but I saw very little salmon /​hamachi /​tuna nigiris going around. Oh right, they have a yellow inspection notice on the front which I believe means a health inspection warning given.
Service Quality
The service really doesn’t exist here other than being seated, flagging them down for miso soup, and for the check. But even that process has become difficult to do. Flagging someone down took a while.
I had an offer for a free miso soup (from Unilocal checkin) which the worker told me to show during checkout. The same girl that told me to show the offer during checkout ignored the coupon during checkout and when I reminded her, she rejected the coupon saying it’s an old promotion. She went ahead and hit «Used» on my phone.

The convenience and location of this restaurant will help it continue to be a place that I regularly go to. That and it’s on the few places grandma will actually want to go out to eat at.
All of that aside, I was a disappointed today when our party of five went to eat after the lunch rush. Many of the dishes had extremely overly mushy rice. I felt as if I was eating congee (porridge). They used to have $ 1 plate days. Then the prices went back to $ 1.50 but have very recently changed to $ 1.75. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if the food was consistently decent. But now there are off days so it’s discouraging. Lastly, they have a yellow health food sign posted on their door. This means that if they don’t improve their violations, they could be shut down.
I used to be a big fan of this place, but I’m losing my interest with each visit. Let’s hope they improve and win my hungry stomach back!

There’s no easier way to describe this place then by saying it is the Daiso of food.
All plates are $ 1.50 and you’re never gonna see yourself paying more than that per plate. Even their miso soup is $ 1.50. And all those drinks in the fridge? $ 1.50. And the best or worst thing about this place depending on how you look at it is that there’s no tipping required. You just basically pay for each plate and that’s that.
The restaurant itself is pretty big. There are booths and then single seats all around the conveyor belt although I would recommend sitting by the sushi chefs just so you can try to get the freshest cuts possible. And while it’s not on their menu, you can also order a hand roll from them. Just ask the server for options.
Some cuts are small. Some taste bland and others could be good depending on the time or day you go. It’s average at best, but for $ 1.50 you really shouldn’t expect too much.
Service is alright. It’s all mostly self serve except for the miso soup. You have to ask them to help you get that.
Overall, I’ve been here a few times. It helps fill you up a bit without breaking your wallet so I’ll be back.

I don’t want no mediocre.
Came here several times and I think it is about time I write a review of the place… it’s been long long long overdue.
I actually came here the very first week they opened… or was it a soft opening? It was sometime toward the end of the 2014. I went with my brother and sister and we stood in line for about 30 – 45 minutes before opening. We were about 3^rd in line but it just felt like people constantly cut us or people «saved spots» for other people and they just kept building up… Kind of annoying since people do not know any decency of «wait in line like the rest of us». Stop trying to cut. You will get your turn.
That same day their special promotion was $ 1 a plate only as oppose to their regular price of $ 1.50. Despite opening at 11:30, we did not even get seated until probably 15 – 20 minutes after.
Getting to the food, the way it works is quite simple. There is a conveyor belt that comes around with food and you just grab whichever plate you want. There is also chopsticks, sauce pans, soy sauce, green tea bags, cups and a hot water dispenser so you could refill your tea as your please. Water and other utensils are at the back wall. If you want miso soup, just request it and a server will bring it to you. It has fish bits in it, which is odd but does not taste too bad. They also offer a menu that has other items that are not on the belt. I think they should consider putting the menu items on the belt since it takes forever, almost 15 – 20 minutes for them to come out with the special order.
They used to offer more variety on the belt but recently there has been not much. They used to also have two pieces on the plate, for nigiri, but most of them are just one piece. Why? Sashimi are very small slices as well.
For the price of $ 1.50 a plate, the quality of the sushi is not bad, but I would only come back if the variety on the belt has improved or when I am craving cheap sushi or else I would just go to Maneki, Satomi, Mioki or even make the drive to the South Bay for ayce sushi at Kenzo.
3.5 stars for food, service is not the best. I mean it is basically self service but servers could be a little more happier, they just seem annoyed whenever my friends and I would ask questions or for a special order.

The $ 1 promotions are so fun. Took my cousins from out of town here during their Mon/​Thurs $ 1 promotion and we had tons of fun, and ate lots of sushi.
Going back to $ 1.50 per plate isn’t the end of the world, but will certainly weigh on my mind when I’m deciding to come here or not.
The lines during the promotion were really long, but I guess part of the experience was the wait and talking about what you were going to grab off the conveyor belt first.
if the owners of Zensen are reading this, consider moving to $ 1 per plate. Your margins will be lower, sure. But your turnover and volume with increase drastically.
Fun times!