Jade / Zen Garden

Reviews for Jade / Zen Garden

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  Longthroat Archives

  5 reviews

  4.5

  19 Dec 2015

  My guest and I were driving around Ikeja in search of a good restaurant for a lunch meeting, we happened to stumble on Zen Garden.

  The interior design has a very traditional Chinese decoration theme! The dining space is huge and was almost empty the day I visited. Let me put this out now, this restaurant will make a great place to pop the big question. Let me put this out now, this restaurant will make a great place to pop the big question.

  If you are observant, you’d notice that most Asian restaurants have very long menus, leaving you very confused and spoilt for choice. Zen garden was no different. The thing is, I seldom ever get to experiment at Chinese restaurants in Nigeria, to avoid stories that touch. I’d go for the traditional Chinese meals like stir fry noodles, dumplings, fried rice, etc.

  The Pineapple fried rice was a great meal. You can tell from the name that the rice was infused with pineapple which wasn’t overpowering, just perfect. The pepper sauce came in handy.

  I didn’t necessarily have a starter, I ordered pineapple Fried Rice and shredded beef with green pepper. I also had pan fried chicken dumplings. Both meals were very well made and I’d definitely recommend you try these at Zen Garden. I got a sense the cook is Asian, I might be wrong though.

  The waiters here are clueless about what’s on the menu and cannot intuitively advice you on the meals. Now let me share my experience in this regard. I pretended I didn’t know what dumplings tasted like, so I asked the waiter and he said, “Madam, this one be as e get o, e be like something wey sour, you nor go fit chop am o”. I launched into a long session of laughter but went ahead with placing my order.

  This might not be a deal breaker for some people but it kinda was for me. I observed there were too many waiters just lurking around and conversing comfortably in pidgin English! I guess they were idle given the time of the day I visited, but they should have been trained to be professional at all times.

  The taxes here come up to 20% in total, just like Metisse Lounge restaurant. Here’s a breakdown; 10% Service Charge, 5% Vat and 5% Consumption Tax.

  Yummy doesn’t even begin to describe the dumplings I had at Zen Garden. They were served in a nice little pot and the fillings tasted fresh and delectable with a flavorsome dipping sauce to go with it.
  I really liked the ambience and the thought put into providing something as uncommon as a bag carrier for female guests.

  If you plan to visit Zen Garden, budget between ₦10k-14k per person, it’s a borderline high-end restaurant. I bet it would have been more expensive if it was located on the island. The day I visited, my bill came up to ₦10K

  Side Note: This is the only restaurant I’ve visited in Lagos, that has given me a hot towel to wipe my hands with, before my meal. Quite impressive!

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