Published by Angie. Last Updated on December 23, 2018.
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Zen Asian in Lawrenceville is a pretty standard Chinese restaurant with average food. The best parts about this restaurant are the large portion sizes and that they deliver – let's face it, sometimes you just crave a massive Chinese takeout feast.
After buying the house we were renting on our defacto “moving day,” we wanted just that.
Zen Asian Has Some Unique Offerings
The menu options are just as you'd expect but there are a few Japanese twists thrown in. Appetizers include edamame, dumplings, and scallion pancakes; various tempura and teriyaki entree options exist; and there is also a complete sushi menu.
We stuck with the more traditional Americanized Chinese menu with stir fries that span the gamut from Kung Pao to black bean sauce to Hunan sauce. Noodles and fried rice dishes round out the menu.
If you just can't decide on one thing, dinner bento boxes allow you to sample two different entrees and come with choice of white or fried rice and a side of egg roll, spring roll, or crab rangoon. It's a lot of food and a good value.
We tried our old standby, General Tso's chicken, as well as a dinner bento box. The sauce in the General Tso's wasn't very nuanced but rather sweet, which was fine, but the meat itself was lower quality and pretty chewy.
The sesame tofu dinner bento box was a much better option. The tofu was cooked well and soaked up the honey-based sauce that was sweet and rich with a slight vinegary tang. The cucumber avocado roll on the side was a little sad and mushy; based on this I wouldn't recommend the sushi here. The spring roll on the side was crispy, full of veggies, and hit the spot.
We also got an order of crab rangoon which was just what you'd expect for this dish with creamy imitation crab filling in a deep fried wonton wrapper. We would have loved the wrapper to be a bit crispier, though.
Overall, Zen Asian isn't the best Chinese food we've had in the city, but it's a good option for those looking for delivery or for the good value dinner bento boxes. We would definitely try Zen Asian again, especially to sample some of the items on the Japanese style portion of the menu.
Zen Asian is located at 5100 Butler Street in Lawrenceville.
For more food in Lawrenceville, check out Poulet Bleu, Industry Public House, Banh Mi & Ti, The Abbey on Butler, or The Vandal!
