A Real Life Renton Tampopo: New Zen

Zen: a Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that aims at enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation. -Webster's Dictionary

New Zen: a quaint Japanese restaurant in a Benson Hill strip mall that tries very hard to make you feel at home.

Owner Yumiko Miyake, in traditional kimono, greets every customer with a bow at dinner time. She floats from table to table with dishes, and then disappears back into the kitchen to tend to pots on the stove. The offerings left me scratching my head in which direction to go, but my fellow diners were set on sushi. Our server was an earnest young man who seemed new to a complex menu. I brought a diner whose questions about sourcing left him slightly flummoxed, but he responsibly went to the kitchen to get answers from Yumiko rather than fabricating a response.

New Zen welcomed us with enoki mushrooms and minced fish cake served in a red ceramic spoon. For starters, I ordered our table a bowl of Gomaae Spinach ($4) and Gindara Kasuzuke ($12.50). The Gomaae Spinach is a whorl of vibrant blanched greens, but no sesame flavor. The Gindara Kasuzuke, broiled cod marinated in sake lees, wasn't finished despite its hefty price tag. Simplicity in Japanese cooking is a magical virtue, but this dish quickly lost our interest. Served the tail, skin on, it had a strong bloodline flavor that turned off a few of our diners, including myself.

Off the Nigiri Sushi section, we ordered Hamachi ($6, 2 pieces), Shiro Magura ($6, 2 pieces), and Kani ($6, 2 pieces). Of the three, the Hamachi (yellow tail) was the most favored selection. The Shiro Magura (albacore) received negative marks for its warmish temperature and 'mushy' texture. The Kani (snow crab) was overshadowed by heavily applied wasabi beneath it.

New Zen recognizes that times have changed for Japanese-American restaurants, and so "It is time to us to take in some international cuisine influence." So along with traditional choices on their menu, you can find rolls with names such as Monkey Brain, and the Boon Roll ($16.50), a plate-sized log of tempura shrimp topped with scallops and three different colors of tobiko. Good yes, but the price tag makes it hard to swallow with a smile.

Since their signage touts "Sushi Tempura", we decided we couldn't pass up tempura. You can order vegetable tempura ($7) or for $10 with 3 prawns and 8 vegetable pieces. It is also a dinner entree choice ($17.50) with 5 prawns and listed as a soup option ($12.50). I enjoyed sips of sake between battered bites, but I saw on my second visit that they offer beer from Yo-Ho Brewing Company. I've been curious about these charismatic beers since seeing them in 's fridge.

New Zen has premium sake tastings on occasion, and I decided to try out their sake flight ($12). Yumiko brought over 3 modern glasses and kindly wrote the names of each on a piece of paper for our education. The first was a Junmai Hosui, "fragrant water", the second Toryu, also Junmai grade, the third was Crazy Milk, a cloudy Nigori. The Junmai's went best with our Nigiri, while I preferred the Nigori style with the tempura.

Speaking of milky, I returned for lunch to try out their Ramen ($9.95). There is a warning about a wait during busy business hours, but at 1 pm on a Monday, this amounted to about 10 minutes. Fine with me if everything is fresh. New Zen focuses on a single style of ramen, classic tonkatsu-shoyu which is known as Tokyo-style ramen. Tonkotsu (not to be confused with the dish Tonkatsu) ramen has a milky color because the broth is made with pork bones.

It focuses on a balanced simplicity with two slices of pork, naruto, bean sprouts, half a hard boiled egg, spinach, ramen noodles of course, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. While the pork was lean, it was flavorful as it had been simmered in star anise and cinnamon, as was the hard boiled egg. I would happily eat the other spiced egg half, even if I couldn't finish my noodles. No Tampopo empty-bowl finish for me, although Yumiko reminds me very much of the heroine in that classic Japanese food film.

10720 SE Carr Rd.
Renton, WA. 98055
Phone: 425-254-1599    

Business  hours:   
Lunch  Monday-Friday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Dinner Monday-Friday 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday 4:30 - 9:30 p.m.