Zen Sai

A slight error on the part of our waitress prevented our experience from earning 5 stars. Came with my wife on a Saturday night and we’re glad we did. We arrived around 7:30 to a slightly empty restaurant. Being from the area, we knew that emptiness wouldn’t last for long as «Miamians» are late eaters. By the time we left the restaurant there wasn’t an open table to be found. Highly recommend making a reservation.
We were seated immediately and greeted by our waitress, Jasmine. Jasmine was very polite, knowledgeable and offered great suggestions on the asian-​fusion, tapas style menu. Researching the menu prior to arriving we knew exactly what we wanted to eat. We started with the garbanzo spring rolls which got the night rolling on a very positive note. I’ve had spring rolls many times before, but I can honestly say that these spring rolls were some of the best I’ve ever had! Paired with a cilantro curry cream dipping sauce, I was literally scooping the cream with my finger even after all the spring rolls had been finished. We also read Unilocal reviews promoting the bartender whom we had read was an expert mixologist. I ordered my standard old-​fashioned and my wife ordered the speakeasy. The drinks were masterfully crafted, strong, and my wife’s speakeasy was superb.
Here’s where our night started to take a slight downward spiral. We put in our dinner order which consisted of the organic chicken, the stir-​fry udon, and a spicy-​tuna roll. 20 minutes went by and we notice that despite ordering before many other tables around us, we still had not received any of our food. 30 minutes went by and Jasmine returned and said the food is almost ready. 5 minutes later we asked for a manager explaining that we still had not received any of our dinner items, despite waiting almost 40 minutes. Jasmine returned a few minutes later admitting that she had forgot to put in the order. She was extremely apologetic and offered to cover the rest of our dinner items that had not yet arrived. This was a huge save on the part of Zen Sai exuding excellent customer service. We probably would have been satisfied with a free round of drinks, but Jasmine went above and beyond to exceed our expectations of great customer service.
The rest of our dinner entrees arrived several minutes later. The stir-​fry udon was the best tasting out of the remaining three — a hefty portion of noodles full of all the prominent asian flavors. The organic chicken robata was tasty but I would recommend switching to white meat chicken. The Japanese potato salad that accompanied the dish was a bit on the strange side which I didn’t care for too much. The spicy-​tuna roll was good, not great.
Overall, even despite the slight ordering mishap we had a very pleasant experience at Zen Sai. The menu items are reasonably priced and the customer service was beyond amazing. I will warn patrons that you could hear the music blasting from the Clevelander property, but this is Miami-​Beach where the party never stops! Would definitely come back!

Just returned from eating here and feeling very happy and satisfied! The food and cocktails are VERY fresh and creative. We ordered 6 small plates and we were very satisfied, although the food was so tasty we could have easily ordered more! A few standouts that need to be tried: Garbanzo Spring Rolls with oh-​so tasty curry dip; Bok Choy which I always love but the way they prepare it here is outstanding, flash fried to crispy goodness! We also really enjoyed the pork belly sliders and jalapeño tuna sashimi. I should also mention the cocktails, fun and tasty twists on classics, Sake Margarita, Ginger Sake Mojitos and other interesting choices. The cost for 2 cocktails and 6 plates came up to $ 107, which is very fair for the quality and service.

Very pleasantly surprised. Was not expecting much from what seemed from the outside to be a typical touristy SoBe hotel restaurant and we ended up having a great dinner. Hector, our waiter, was exceptional and the rest of the staff was great too. The menu wasn’t too big but the variety was just fine. The yellowtail carpaccio was one of the best I’ve had in a very long time. The spicy tuna roll was excellent as well. The quality of the sushi fish was very high and given how often I frequent sushi bars I could tell their bar and sushi man were legit. Garbanzo spring rolls were very yummy. Seaweed salad and cocktails just okay. The place reminded me a lot of Shoji Sushi from South of 5^th back in the day before it went downhill; a nice, low-​keyed sushi option when you’re not in the mood for Nobu or PB Sushi but want something better than Toni’s or even Moshi Moshi.

We ate here because we didn’t want to deal with the crowds on Ocean Dr. The place was quiet and the waitress was very friendly and made good suggestions. The menu is small, but everything was cooked with care and they were all very presentable, which I guess is what brings up the price. The two of us had 3 plates (tapa size), and had room for desert. The ginger crème brûlée with sake infused strawberries was heaven!!! Definitely save room for that!

Excellent service and great cocktails. The prosciutto toll is a must have! Total explosion of flavors. The garbanzo around rolls are also good. A bit pricy but worth the experience.

Everything was great! We loved the rock shrimp, sea bass, ribeye skewers and spicy tuna roll (without the crispy things on top)

I’M STILL SALIVATING FROM LAST NIGHT’S DINNER!!! The minute we sat down, our server Julio made us feel welcome, told us all about the restaurant, and made sure we were set with drinks. ((((The cocktails sounded sooooo good)))) but I’m getting over this insane cold, so I could only admire them from afar. All those glasses of wine that went by — a healthy pour!
On to the food. Ohhhhhhh the food. Everything we had was nothing short of phenomenal. We shared the seaweed salad, yellowtail jalapeño sashimi (slight trace of truffle oil for the fast track to food heaven), rib eye scallion rolls (beef negimaki), and an eel avocado roll. I wanted to keep ordering!!! No, it wasn’t cheap — each dish was $ 12 – 20 I believe. But everything was fresh, tasty, and worth it!!! We ate outside, which was peaceful, beautiful, but shielded from street traffic by a wall of beautiful greenery. It would have been nice to sit by the stunning pool area, but the music was a little louder there and we just wanted to chill and talk. This is definitely a «run, don’t walk» situation!

Nothing exceptional. Good/​decent rolls and stuff. I feel like the reviewers are a bit generous with this place for some reason. I certainly am not a sushi snob but there’s plenty of places in my neck of woods that are better than this and they definitely don’t get the same rave reviews as this place does. I think it’s partly because there aren’t that many sushi places in that part of South Beach. Maybe scarcity is affecting the ratings I don’t know.
Wait staff is very friendly and I’m sorry for them because apparently the hotel is shutting them down to expand their lobby space. That sucks.

What an AMAZING find! My boyfriend and I were walking down Collins Ave and were looking for a good sushi place, and of course, went to Unilocal to find our spot.
The reviews are dead on for this place. Great food, friendly service, and priced well. Would highly recommend the Fried rice — it was one of the best fried rice dishes I have had in a very long time.

Spicy Japanese? Yes, and Zen Sai does a wonderful version. Visited here twice in September, and the cuisine is a delightful twist on Japanese food. They have a wide selection, which includes sushi. They also have great cocktails, and they are even a little spicy also. They have a nice, private, outdoor eating area. It was also great for happy hour. We were lucky as the mosquitoes had gone on vacation.

Lovely food… if you don’t mind that it is really Loud… without interruption. It depends what you expect from your dining
experience.

Came here on a Saturday night in Summer and the place was deserted. But don’t let that put you off.
This place is on the Miami Spice promotion — a full 4 course meal (from the set menu) for $ 39, bargain!
I ordered the Spicy tuna, rock shrimp, pork skewer and split a chocolate cake and ginger crème brûlée with a friend.
If you get anything — get the spicy tuna sushi rolls. I have no idea what’s in them but they were just incredible.
Service was great. Lychee Martinis were very well made. Super!

This place was awesome!!! We came for Miami Spice and they were very flexible about not making the entire party order from the Miami Spice menu! So we got to try a little bit of everything! The yellowtail jalapeño is incredible! Must try!!!
Service was great as well!

Come here for Miami Spice! Can’t go wrong. So delicious.
You know it’s a 5-​star dinner location when remembering the menu/​food makes you go: Holy moly! Omg. So delicious. When are we going back? (vs. our Zuma date which doesn’t generate nearly as much enthusiasm, unfortunately :().
The quality AND the quantity of food left us in-​love and completely stuffed. We had to walk off our dinner before getting into the car to head home.
Came here on a double-​date with miss KC and mr Andy (we go everywhere as a group these days, lol! :)) for Miami Spice 2015 and love-​love-​loved the food and the customer service. Parking was a bish, but that’s okay. It’s Miami Beach — what do you expect?
We were hanging out, driving around and trying to decide where to eat when this restaurant came up as a topic of potential locations. We called because we would be getting in fairly close to their closing time (maybe 15 – 30 mins before they closed), and they were completely all right with that. Seated us inside without a problem while the boy went to park the car at a garage ($ 20).
This is what we ordered for the night from our 4 «Miami Spices»:
APPETIZERS
+ Spicy Rock Shrimp: PUH-​LEEEEEASE get this. If you can handle even just a tad bit of spice to your dishes, you supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-​must get this. The boy and I loved this dish. It’s reminiscent of Bonefish Grill’s Bang Bang Shrimp — which, if you’re like us and love this dish and stalk BG’s Wednesday BBS deal, then you will love the Spicy Rock Shrimp. Stop reading. Order it.
+ Yellowtail Jalapeño: This was also yummy. The flavor was great; I’d order it again. It’s a different kind of love from the Spicy Rock Shrimp app — I just can’t help that my cholesterol is in love with fried shrimp.
+ Spicy Tuna Roll: What is love? Their spicy tuna roll is love. You will heart this if you heart raw fish rolls. :)
ENTREES
+ Pork Belly: Crowd fav. Perfectly grilled. The sauce was amazing. :)
+ Scallion Ribeye: This isn’t on the MS menu, but our server said it was one of the items they could swap out. It’s essentially pounded ribeye wrapped around scallions. For me, this wasn’t so great (but I’m also not friends with scallions lol). I dissected mine and took out the scallions before eating it (made it so much yummier — to me).
Looking back, I think I’d have liked to try the salmon. :)
DESSERTS
+ Lychee Panna Cotta: So yum. ;_​_​_​; (tears of joy) Please order this. It’s so light and refreshing, and — Hiiiii, Panna Cotta! Where have you been all my life? This Italian dessert is something I wish I had known about sooner.
— Ginger Crème Brulee: I am a lover of crème brulees. It is one of my most favorite desserts ever. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. I think the ginger flavor just threw me too much.
+ Chocolate Cake: This is a so-​so for me. It is extremely rich and decadent (and incredibly filling). If you like chocolate cake, you will like this.
Overall, I much preferred the panna cotta.
Aside from the food, KC and I ordered 2 drinks. I believe mine was the Speakeasy and hers was one of the mojitos. We loved. :)
The customer service was perf; our waiter (whom I believe was named Hector — hiii, Hector :)) was fun and friendly and made great recommendations.
Would go back. :D
getthepannacotta.youknowyouwantit.andtherockshrimp. *subliminal messages*

While traveling to Turks and Caicos I stopped in South Beach looking for the best mixologist one that takes pride and ownership with their craft cocktails. After reading the Unilocal reviews I started my bar drinking journey at the Broken Shaker but ended up at the Zen Sai bar which is located inside the Essex house hotel. My favorite happy hour drink is a sake margarita made with Japanese Kumosobe and el Jimador tequila this drink has a spicy bite but goes down smooth.
Julio the bartender from Spain is awesome he made for us a couple different off menu cocktails.
For happy hour appetizers I enjoyed the garbanzo spring roll and the spicy rock shrimp.
For sushi I tried the spicy tuna roll on the happy hour menu I like the extra crunch. I had the sushi chef make me a variety of incredible different sushi rolls from the Yellowtail Jalapeño, BBQ eel, Prosciutto and the Maine Lobster roll yum.
You will enjoy the friendly banter from the bar staff at Zen Sai.
ありがとうございます Arigatou my friends…

Honestly everything was really awesome from the ambiance to the service, the drinks to the food!
Service was super informative and friendly and she did a great job of talking us into ordering more than we had intended! Glad we did. The drinks are apparently made with «fresh fruit juice that’s made everyday», I had the strawberry basil martini, it was delicious but no trace of basil! I had 2 anyways :)
I started with the seaweed salad which was unlike seaweed salads at most sushi places. It has 3 different seaweeds topped with peppercorn and was quite amazing. I would order that again.
I had the prosciutto roll as my main and this is not your traditional sushi roll by any means. There’s no fish in it, but it’s f*cking delicious! Prosciutto on top with asparagus, mushroom, roasted red pepper, and goat cheese inside with balsamic glaze and truffle oil. Omg I want it always. I didn’t want it to end and I miss it.
Bf had spicy tuna roll and rock shrimp, probably good but I couldn’t pay attention to them compared to what I had.
Go here! It’s elegant, trendy, super on-​point in service, and prosciutto rolls exist in zen sai’s world.

I saw a Living Social for Zen Sai a few months back and knew I had to get it after Savanna M’s reviews. It was for a «date night» special which included a bottle of wine, two small plates, two robata grill items, two sushi rolls, and two desserts. Sounded like a great deal to me for ~$ 80.
I made a reservation via open table on a Sunday evening. Parking in this area is an expected stressful mess. I was not about to pay $ 40 for the garage and since it was later in the day I scored a beach lot spot for a «reasonable» $ 10 an hour. All part of the South Beach charm. We entered the restaurant through the hotel directly off of Collins, but the hostess stand is off of the side entrance on 10^th. The staff were very friendly and happy to guide us through.
The restaurant is quite small, with the outdoor patio having a nice garden like ambiance. Inside there a few high top tables. Our waitress introduced herself and brought us the special «date night» menu and I requested she leave the regular menus too, just in case. This is a tapas style restaurant and typically you just order as you go, but with the date night special we had to chose everything we wanted at once, which was fine with me. For our wine we had the choice between a Cab Sav and a Chardonnay. These are probably my least favorite red and white, but I’ve been warming up the Cab Savs lately, and this one was quite good. Now for the food. We ordered:
*shishito peppers: These were off the regular menu and I added them on to our already abundant meal, but I’m glad I did. The peppers were refreshing and I really enjoyed the grilled/​salty char on them. I was lucky enough to only have delicious sweet ones, as the waitress warned us there can be random devilish hot ones in there.
*yellowtail jalepeno: yellowtail sashimi with jalepeno garnish and some sort of delcious glaze, really yummy
* spicy rock shirmp: I LOVED these. They were cooked perfectly for me, I like to refer to my favorite shirmp as «perfectly undercooked» and these fit the bill. The sauce was great, and I enjoyed the spice. It comes in a tempura bowl which many people eat with the spicy sauce, but we had so much food I decided to skip eating the dishes.
*sushi: We chose the spicy tuna and shirmp tempura rolls. They were good, and the shirmp tempura used a rice paper rather than seaweed. I don’t want to say they were a disappointment at all, but everything else I ate was so amazing, that I could probably skip the sushi rolls next time.
*robata grill pork belly: I didn’t eat this but my boyfriend loved it, and the black bean sauce it is served with is delicious.
*robata grill salmon: Hands down the best salmon I have ever eaten. Cooked perfectly, and had the most delectable crispy skin on it. This was served with a Yakitori sauce that I loved as well.
Our waitress was kind enough to bring us over an array of sauces and spices to enjoy with our robata grill items and of course I tried every sauce on everything, it was all heaven.
Now dessert. They make all their juices for their cocktails in house, so I decided that despite the bottle of wine, I had to try a signiture cocktail with dessert and got the Hipster, which was whiskey, Chambord, with cranberry, lime, and raspberry. A great cocktail for sure. Now for the actual desserts we chose:
*crème brûlée: I’m not the biggest fan of crème brûlée to be honest. I don’t really like anything with that texture, but of course I ate the crispy sugar top, and the fruit compote that was served with it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. The waitress mentioned that it had apricot in it, and I am in love with apricot so that probably had something to do with it.
*Chocolate cake: this was the most decadent chocolate cake I have ever eaten, and though I am not big on desserts in general, I would make sure I got this here every time.
At one point my boyfriend put a bite of each dessert on the same fork and declared it the perfect dessert.
The service here was impeccable. Our waitress was attentive, and funny, and made the meal extra relaxing. She even went out of her way to bring us over the hotel’s ipad so we could enter to win a staycation there.
It seems Zen Sai offers a good number of deals on various coupon website, so if you see one, snatch it up for sure, but honestly with the tapas style menu you can have a nice date night and not spend an arm and a leg, especially considering the location.

This place is beyond great! Excellent staff and great service!
I’m a local and this is a chill, reasonably priced Asian fusion restaurant!

Had them bookmarked for quite a while and being we were nearby we stopped in on a Wednesday night. Our server was very nice, always with a smile and explained the menu well. We weren’t very hungry that night so we opted for appetizers.
We ordered the shrimp tempura roll and the spicy shrimp sliders. The shrimp tempura roll was all rice, hardly had any shrimp. I think it would have been better if it would have had other things inside not just small pieces of shrimp, maybe some avocado and cream cheese or even mango. We ended up asking for a side of eel sauce because there was hardly any on the rolls, even though the menu mentioned it. The shrimp sliders were good but at $ 21 for just three I wasn’t that impressed.
Not sure I’d try them out again.

Go here for the Happy Hour (4 – 8)! Where can you get a well drink with Belvedere vodka as a house vodka? At Zen Sai!
I loved the ambiance of this restaurant, very Miami: sexy, chick with house music playing on the background. Very deem lighting with lots of candles.
Well drinks are only $ 5 and as i mention, they use premium liquor.