Cafe Zen

I’m surprised this place doesn’t have a higher review. It’s the only place I will eat Chinese food in Baltimore. It’s very fresh and they will make any non deep fried dish with light oil if you ask. The moo sho is the best !

Have eaten here several times, and placed orders with Orderup service. Never had an issue.
Placed an order today that came incorrectly. Upon contacting the restaurant to discuss the order I was treated rather poorly. Will not get anymore of my business.

Was suddenly in the mood for potstickers and Singapore noodles… After reading the reviews, I ordered carry out. Well… I ended up ordering shrimp Singapore noodles, scallion pancakes, and pan fried meat dumplings (confirmed they were chicken). First, the dumplings, which was my main reason for ordering, were not really good, the dough was sort of sweet and really, really doughy… I bit into one and moved on to the next dish because it was not good. The scallion pancakes, something I’ve never had but sounded interesting, they were good, sorta like a West Indian roti sautéed in oil. The Singapore noodles were really good! It was enough for lunch tomorrow too! I’m shocked there are absolutely NO pics of the food… My pics will not be great, but at least you can see some of their food. I would go back for the Singapore noodles and maybe the scallion pancakes.

This is one of the nicest places I have been in the Baltimore area. The food is delicious and the wait staff is very aware of dietary restrictions. I found several vegan dishes on the menu and had two appetizers and soup for lunch. Everything was delicious. It’s a great place to stop to eat when you’re near the Senetor Theater.

I went yesterday for lunch with my cousin and have been fantasizing about the shrimp toast since I left. It was amazing, the waitress warned that it is addictive. I ordered the Gow Bah Sizzler with chicken as my meal and it was filled with delicious veggies and thinly sliced chicken. Some Asian restaurants skimp on the protein but this one doesn’t. The portion size was enough for lunch and dinner!
I’ve lived in the area for years and never went in because from the outside it doesn’t have much of a presence, especially with Zen West next door. The lack of curb appeal will no longer stop me, I’ll be back… soon!

Totally hidden gem… More take out than anything else. Not many eat in as the atmosphere is tired but the food is good and inspired. Chicken with broccoli was great. Hunan Chicken was even better. Great won ton.

The service was great but food was just terrible…
I struggle to find good asian food here and this place really misses the mark.
Their special (some candied red pork thing) was hard and difficult to eat. Not tasty at all unless you just like eating grease and sugar.
I would rather eat at Panda Express.

Went with my daughter this afternoon, about 2 pm. We were the only people in the place. We wanted sushi, and almost decided to go elsewhere as they did not have much of a selection. We should have went with our first reaction. The crab rangoons had almost no filling. No soy sauce dishes, just round side serving dishes. The sushi was poorly rolled, falling apart. Rice was mushy, grains not nicely defined like they should be. When the bill came we were charged from .25 to .55 cents more than listed on the menu for several items. It’s not the money, it’s the point that the register should not ring up differently than what is written on the menu. When I brought it up to the waitress she said she was sorry, but the bill was not changed. I decided it was not worth my energy to ask for someone in charge, we just will not go back.

This place is a standard Chinese restaurant. I never came here because it’s always so empty, but it wasn’t that bad. I ordered Singapore rice noodles and it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Their food is just amazingly fresh and hot and generous proportions. Senator Theater is around the corner so you can turn it into a date nightYou can call in an order and pick it up too. Lots of people do this after work.

Great food! I’m a pretty big meat eater but my husband talked me into vegetable dumplings and garlic spinach and I was absolutely stuffed! Super fresh and tasty, and their portion sizes are awesome! I crave café zen at least once a week!

We get here about once a month and, without fail enjoy a delicious dinner. The entrees are fresh, plentiful, and tasty.
Tonight my husband had sesame shrimp surrounded by broccoli done just right. My tongue got a kick out of the Hunan pork with plenty of fresh vegetables. It was spicy without being burned. The brown rice was cooked just right, not chewy.
We both got enough to take home as a second meal. The meal is always finished off with a tiny tub of line sherbet and a fortune cookie.
On the walls are painted in a pastel Oriental motif, lots of fun to view.
Don’t miss out on this place.

Don’t be put off by their decidedly pan-​asian menu, this place has been open since before that was a bad sign. I’ve been going here for probably 15 years, and it’s never disappointed. They had vegetarian dishes before that was something you could really count on at a Chinese restaurant, and still have some of the best veggie options in the area.
The scallion pancakes are easily the best I’ve ever had; crispy and with a tasty dipping sauce. The Zen Curry is divine, and a really interesting fusion dish unlike anything I’ve had elsewhere. Other favorites are the Tofu with Tender Spinach (big huge chunks of tofu), Kung Pao Tofu, and Cashew Tofu. My only complaint is I wish the tofu dishes came with more veggies, so I usually get a veggie dish and mix them.

I’m surprised to see reviews with low stars for this restaurant, because I’ve never had a bad meal here. The service has always been good. I usually get one of the chinese dishes (garlic chicken or shrimp with vegetables), and there’s enough food to save for the next day’s lunch. The food tastes healthy (not oily or greasy).
It’s a little pricey, but it’s a pricey neighborhood.

Home of A & M Crispy Beef… best Chinese dish ever! Customer service was awesome. Will be back for sure!

First, this place is more like 3.5 stars. I only dined here once because I was on a mission to search a decent Chinese restaurant in Baltimore and could not find one, so I though I would give this place a try. It is actually not a bad place, given that the food is better than your average take-​out local Chinese. We are the only two customers in the entire place during lunch hour, however, they do have plenty take-​out orders. I ordered «Ants in the Tree» (ground pork stir fried with rice noodle with soy sauce), and «Moo Shu Beef» (stir-​fried beef wrapped in tortilla-​like wrap), and they are tasty. However, this place did not woo me so much that I feel obliged to come back. But I can imagine if I live around the neighborhood (it is a 20 minutes drive for me), it would be my take-​out place for Chinese food.

Like many posting here on Unilocal,my husband and I sought this place out after seeing it featured on Best Thing I Ever Ate. So, the crispy beef (alternately named on the menu as ‘Candy Beef’ — a more appropriate name) is not for everyone’s taste. I see that a lot of people here are giving the place one star after having this dish, which is patently unfair. To eat this dish you have to not think of it as a main dish. It is a snack/​appetizer, or even (seriously) a dessert. It is CANDY. And if you drop your preconceptions and think of it that way, it is pretty remarkable and unique. Tip — get it as an appetizer (not dinner). And DON’T try to eat it right away. Actually let it cool for a good 20 minutes — get another app and be patient. After the beef cools and the honey sauce firms up, you have your candy beef. And its even better the next day. I’ve actually been snacking on it slowly for a couple days — it holds up well.
Okay, moving on. My husband and I also ordered two tofu-​based dishes — he got the Kung Pao Tofu and I got the Pad Thai with Tofu. His dish was really well-​done, with the (non-​fried) tofu having sucked up all that good spicy sauce. They serve brown rice which I’ve found is a rarity at Asian restaurants in the DC-​Baltimore area. My Pad Thai had its moments — it gets points for being decidedly non-​oily, and the rice noodles were well cooked. They were, however, very bland — I had to add some of the Kung Pao sauce which actually made it taste a lot better. The fried tofu was literally inedible. It was so overfried that you couldn’t even chew it. I had to set it aside and had no protein (except my husband’s tofu which I pilfered) in my dish :(.
The ambiance leaves much to be desired. Drink prices are good (especially the sake). Service was fine, efficient. I would definitely go back.

I’ve been here three times and each time this place was awful. Save your money and go somewhere else

I just got back from eating at this «Café» because we wanted to get some Chinese that wasnt from Szechuan House, the one decent place to get Chinese food around Baltimore.
We got the A&M Crispy Beef because Duff Goldman suggested it on «Best Thing I Ever Ate.» I don’t know what possessed him to talk about this dish, because it was just burnt beef coated in freaking caramel or something like that. It was too hard to bite and almost completely meatless.
Major disappointment. I guess we’ll just have to drive those extra 10 minutes to get some decent Chinese food around here. Take it from a real Asian, don’t come here for your Chinese food fix.
Also, I don’t need the wallpaper to define «zen» for me.

While cruising around Mt. Washington my babydoll had a need for Sushi but Chiyo does not open on Mondays (this is what caught her eye). So, I looked through my GPS and found Café Zen not too far away.
I should qualify my review. It was a Monday around 8pm. I also have a desire to rate it lower but their sushi wasn’t that bad. My problems then? Well their «chicken» dumplings were pork, very doughy, and had an odor I’m familiar with: meat you’re trying to get rid of. My can of beer was flat and tasted of sake (sweet). I honestly prefer the sushi at H-​Mart to this but it served its purpose, I suppose. Although my «Cucumber and Eel» was clearly more similar to a California Roll without roe. Their spicy tuna is a tuna roll with sriracha.
I should have seen the signs. Café Zen? Ambiguous Asian restaurant. They served a little Thai, Chinese, Japanese, etc. If a place can’t commit then neither should you. The waiter was very sweet, though, so I felt bad. If you’re a decent waiter getting marginal tips then it probably isn’t you, it’s the establishment itself.
As a former server I would much rather get a mediocre tip and a telling look than have to beg a manager or deal with unhappy clients that sit around like assholes expecting the world due to a bad wonton. And the little frozen cups of ice cream did placate my feeling of being gypped.