IMPRESSIONS OF ZEN
by Louie P. Oviedo

My impressions of Zen, the restaurant located at the second level of Robinson's Place Ermita, are not to be mistaken with another Zen, which is not a restaurant.

Impression #1: It is ideal for dating.

Zen at Robinson's Place Manila is a good place for dating. Soft lights, romantic ambience, interior design that is in accordance to the principles of Zen---minimalist, simple, down to the bear essentials, relaxing---you will feel in harmony with your surroundings with its atmosphere.

The room was designed beautifully and so much in harmony that Penshoppe decided to shoot their commercial here. Remember that commercial wherein Ryan Agoncillo was forced to strip his clothes off when his girlfriend dating another woman caught him? They shot that at Zen from 10 in the evening up to 10 in the morning the next day.

Check out their comfort rooms, not only are they clean but innovative---focus all your attention on the sink and observe. The only division separating the men's from the ladies' comfort room is a shared sink designed in such a way that neither can take a peek into the other's room so there is room for privacy. But, it has one drainer with faucets on either side of the dividing walls thus allowing you and your date to continue with your conversation even down to the comfort rooms.

Impression #2: The ambience is so good, you'll think the price of their food is so expensive.

Wrong impression. They have set meals: Shokuji, Menrui, Donburi, and Curry Donburi sets---that let you have your main dish, appetizer, soup, and dessert. All you have to do is decide whether you will be having seafood, chicken, beef or pork as viand. There are so many to choose from, you can have one complete meal for Php200, totally dependent on your choice.

Or, if you prefer to be more adventurous, try their not-so-usual menu like I did and you will soon discover another exotic cooking to brag about to your friends. My favorite is their sushi pizza. It has crab, shrimp, tuna, tomato, onions, wasabennaise (japanese mayonnaise mixed with wasabe) then topped with cheddar cheese on toasted sweet sushi rice. You will never look at pizza the same way again---imagine rice crust instead of the usual dough. Innovative, unusual, and very delicious.

They also have the spicy roll, tekka maki with hot sauce. What's nice about this is that you no longer need to put wasabe with your soy sauce, in fact, you can simply eat the entire thing from the plate. Their spicy roll is definitely not for the weak hearted so better spice up your buds before you decide to try this out.

While you're still hot, why not try cooling off with Zaru Soba, cold noodles that comes with a sauce. The way to eat this, as General Manager Cheryl Cuenca demonstrated, is to dunk the noodles into its sauce. I had the hard time transferring my noodles into my cup of sauce---with my amateurish skill to maneuver a chopstick---no wonder the Japanese are the ones who are very fond of eating noodles, especially for breakfast.

Impression #3: Good place for people on a diet.

I had tofu shake with all I ate and so far my weight is still the same. Tofu as you all know is beancurd or the local taho, the way they mixed it---not too sweet---I don't feel any of the guilt as I munched all the way. Same goes with their green tea ice cream. Felt like I was having my tea in the form of an ice cream. It was also not too sweet. I commented that even diabetics would probably be happy since it felt like eating green tea than ice cream.

Impression #4: The place is flexible.

They have designed the place with the theme of origami---wherein everything folds. Starting with their dividers, their ceiling, their chairs, their bathroom fixtures and even their function room. They have one function room used by pharmaceutical representatives whenever they have presentations for the doctors at nearby PGH (Philippine General Hospital). It can be used as one big room or pass a divider through it and make room for two functions.

Ideal for dates, ideal for meetings, and even ideal for bringing along your kids. They have the Doraemon Bento set, melamin ware in the guise of a bear. It has three layers: the top is for dessert, the 2nd layer is for the viand, and at the bottom is the rice shaped into a rabbit.

Zen started as an off-shoot of Furusato Restaurant. Its first branch opened in Glorietta, Makati in 1995. It has added two branches ever since: one is at Robinson's Place Ermita, which opened on December 1, 1998, and a newly opened branch in Libis last February 1, 2000.

My final impression is: Even if the name is too flexible, Zen is making a name of its own---and I'm talking about the restaurant.