Having lived in Rathmines when Zen first opened, we used to be quite regular customers, but then moved away so haven't been there for some time. We have fond memories of Zen as it was a lovely setting (a converted church), had excellent food, which was also available to take away. At the time I remember it was one of very few places that served aromatic duck and pancakes to take away ! So many years later we found ourselves returning on a quiet Monday night, apprehensive that our good memories would be broken. We were delighted to see that the quality of the food had not in any way been diminished, and it still served what I would amateurishly call very "clean" Chinese food - i.e. absence of gloopy sauces that are so common. We felt the room however had changed and the visual impact of the upstairs "choir gallery" was lost somewhat with the renovations. Back to the food...to start we had the meat sung, which was really nice and crisp, and an unusual pang pang chicken which was served cold in a hot and spicy sauce - it was truly delicious. Mains were a scallop dish with cashew nuts (very generous portion of scallops), and a sizzling lamb which was equally excellent. Service throughout was impeccable - from both a mature lady who I think is probably the owner (I have not so fond memories of a previous elderly very grupmy man ! ), and a young guy who was most helpful and inobtrusive. On leaving we had a nice chat with a young lady reminiscing on the old style of the restaurant and congratulating them on their longevity as we read that they were celebrating 20 years in business. All in all a very pleasant night tripping down memory lane, and great to see that standards of food and service had not been comprimised donw the years. We will not leave it so long to return.....

Went with Menu Pages voucher and was very impressed with both the friendly staff and the food. I had the twice roasted duck which was great and my wife had the Chefs special which was Sea Bass in their special sauce, excellent. Nice place and can see why they are still here after 20 years, we will be back.

Was greeted promptly soon as I entered the tastefully decorated lobby by a gentleman who offered to take my coat. Attentive, polite and professional but a tad too serious during the evening, a smile wouldn't go amiss. The building in restaurant had a bit of an old world architecture like it had been a church or something with its stain glass windows, mightn't be to everyones taste. The 4 of us chose from the excellent value set menu of 2 courses for €15 and 3 courses for €19. I ordered barbecued spare ribs which were nice as were one of my companions spring rolls. The waitress was excellent and smiling. Hot plates were placed on the table for the main course which were 2 duck dishes, 1 beef with black pepper sauce for moi & sweet & sour chicken with fried rice for 2. The accompanying chips for 2 were nice & beautifully presented in an upmarket takeway fashion. The flower work with carrots was nice. One negative note, there was no black pepper or mill though there waas white pepper. 3 went for the banana fritters & ice cream & I went for the coconut ice cream, they have a wide selection of ice creams & sorbets. Everyone enjoyed their desserts & the after eights with tea were a nice touch. The loos are very clean & tastefully decorated also though it would be better were the cupboard off the disabled loo were locked, just a small criticism. Overall a good value enjoyable meal with professional service & just a few small things need to be twigged.