The Zen Caribbean Restaurant

I was there for take-out and do intend to go back for a dine-in experience. The food was tasty, West Indian/Chinese. Friendly and helpful staff on hand to make your visit great.

Ordered through uber, ordered veggie fried rice, zen special Cantonese noodles, pepper shrimp and honey garlic short ribs. The only dish I enjoyed was the pepper shrimp, the others were nothing special. I was disappointed in the noodles, i expected crunchy noodles.they should of packed the noodles separately from the sauce, meat and veggies like every other restaurant does for take out as the noodles were wet and soggy by the time we got it. The honey garlic ribs was also a big let down, there was nothing honey or garlic about the ribs! Most likely won't order from here again.

First time trying The Zen for dinner, ordered a chilli chicken, pepper shrimp, honey garlic wings, zen special fried rice (chicken, beef, shrimp with chicken on top), zen special chow mein and the zen special lo mein.
First off the guy in the front was super nice and carried himself professionally even with a rush. I had called before to ask a question and he answered them easily and straight forward.
When I had reached the restaurant I asked him what he recommended as it was my first time and he asked me some questions to get a better understanding of my taste. Over all the service was excellent and the dude in the front was exceptionally nice.

The food was blessed. Pepper shrimp was excellent, nice plump shrimp, just wish it had a bit more of a kick (but that’s what the extra pepper is for).
Chilli chicken was nice with white rice.
The fried rice hit, just like a real Guyanese fried rice.
The lo mein was saucy and tasty.
The honey garlic wings, hit the wings craving, was saucy and decent size.
The chow mein was probably the only let down, it lacked flavour and veggies but the pepper sauce definitely made up for the lack of taste. (I recommend getting the lo mein if you want a noodle dish).
The chicken on top was okay, they are cut up small and I understand why (for packing) but it just dries out the chicken and some of the pieces are to slim to get a satisfying bite.

Overall a great experience, great food and great service. Definitely recommend and I will be going back again.

The food is alright, nothing special. I seen a review on instagram, so we decided to try it. We ordered: pepper shrimp, lo mein, fried rice and short ribs

The pepper shrimp is inconsistent, some shrimps had a lot of spice, while others had none
Lo mein was bland
Fried rice was good. Probably the best dish
Short ribs are good but a small amount

Definitely has room to improve.

Thank you, Zen, for some catering I had for my daughter's birthday. Large tray portions fed everyone with leftovers to take home!

I recommend the Zen Special Fried Rice. Amazing portion size, and the taste OUT OF THIS WORLD. Tastes so fresh and has so much flavour. Could not get enough, 10/10!

This place never misses man. Once you try their pepper shrimp and pepper fish, you won't go anywhere else. Their chili chicken is addictive. Cantonese chow mein is nuts as well. House special fried rice. Zen bites, short ribs jeez. Man, everything is too good to be true. Must shout out the manager Ronnie for always ensuring an awesome experience and next level customer service. Big up yourself boss.

Flavour, food, ambience, and true west indian vibe. You must get the pepper fish and pepper wings to start.

I tried the food here and it's excellent. I am now a weekly customer.they are consistent, food is not greasy, salty or spicy. Of course they supply their hot sauce
For more heat.
Ronnie is very kind and helpful.
Their lunch specials are great.until 3pm. Tues to Fri.
Chicken fried rice, chili chicken,
Chicken and brocolli, vege fried rice, and many more.
Are all delicious. ️

I'm not even going to make the stuff up.but I have eaten the best pepper shrimps in my life at this place today. I just can't describe how delicious it was. And their house special lowmein was awesome. We were looking for a place to eat as we were starving and we just couldn't decide but saw the zen hoarding on Kingston and drive right now. Best decision we made.

Excellent chow mein! And amazing pepper sauce!

For those who handle handle real heat tried their wings house heat and OMG. BEST. EVER.

You have won me as a returning customer

By far the best wings and fried rice and overall food is cooked with love, service is great, feel like i am at home here love it authenticity at its finest fried fish and shrimp are fireeee

I honestly don’t like the customer service at your location an the manager needs to train their staff some customer service skills didn’t appreciate how he told us that they were closed and not taking any more orders 5 minutes after sitting down when it was only 9: 08 that was very unprofessional.after driving one hour

Drove here from Toronto got recommended this stop came there only to be told the kitchen is close at 9 pm it was 9.05 pm. That was really sad but it’s fine.

I have been wanting to try this place for a while and Finally Yesterday I got the opportunity. I tried the chili chicken on Chicken Fried Rice and what can I say I loved the whole meal. Everything is so tasty and as being abit, of a picky eater with peppers I didn't feel the peppers at all, the whole disk completes and blends out. I hope to return sometimes soon and try some other dishes on the menu. Also while on a side note the the staff is super friendly and absolutely amazing and if you want the food to be extra spicy you can ask to add an extra kick to the dish. But be warned I was told customers who ask for it to be more spicy tend to not order it that way again. My recommendation is to keep it orginal because I loved all the flavours.

Was a little bit hot in the restaurant but the service was excellent and the food was fresh, tasty and had some real seasoning, will definitely be visiting again.

Got an awesome quote to host my mom's 70th birthday. Food, service, and staff were way beyond expectations. I look forward to going back. Best of luck in your endeavors guys. Chris

Seen some great reviews so I thought I’d check out the place. The customer service was great. This was my first time at Zen I did a take out order. I had the chilli chicken with fired rice both were burnt and had the black bun up pieces mixed up in everything. The fried rice with chicken on top not so good, the chicken had no taste and was a bit to red in colour for me the fried rice only had carrots and beans. Wasn’t happy at all I ended up through the food away.

I had a great experience with some friends, and the staff. Excellent quality food. I can't wait to try out the other menu items.

Attended a birthday party and they ordered from here. Now I must say this was one of the best pepper shrimp I have ever had. The chicken was also great. The beef was soft and done just right. Wow. I will be driving the back roads from Markham to get food from here on the regular.

The food was absolutely delicious. Service was awesome and friendly. One of the better experiences I’ve had in a long time. Would highly recommend this to anyone. Can’t wait to go back IR order in. Keep up the great work!

Friday September 17th, 2021
Decided to try a different restaurant for lunch. When i walked in the young lady behind the counter cutting up lemons & limes with her hands, was not wearing gloves or her face mask. Two other male came from the kitchen not wearing their face mask One had his hanging around his neck the other didn't have one with him. Customers came in who seem to be owner friends not wearing face mask.
I ordered the Chicken & Broccoli on white rice '$5.99 Lunch Specials'? It was nothing special.the chicken tasted like frozen meat; had no firmness. Was as if they steam chicken to defrost and added the sauce.

This is some of the best food I've had in recent years. I had the chow mein noodles and the spicy chicken fried rice. Both were amazing. 5 stars without hesitation.

Great in-restaurant lunch dining experience. Friendly owner and staff - will definately be back.

Great food with excellent service. You get a great size portion even for the lunch specials that are from 12-3pm. They have a great variety of hot/pepper sauce, we ended up grabbing 3 because they were so good! Definitely recommend to anyone who loves Caribbeanian dishes!

Phone rings.staff answers very polite and customer service friendly. Orders the chill shrimp (10/10).
Orders the ginger chicken with chili chicken (10/10) and tol it off with black pudding (first time I am eating balck pudding in Canada and US and you get the crunches of the green herb) over all 5. The owner comes and say hi.nice mask.much appreciated. How often do you get that type of interaction

Good food.needs to update their times. Don't show online you close at 10pm then when you call for takeout say your kitchen closes at 9pm.

Great food! Hands down. I've tried so many Caribbean/Chinese restaurants and this is by far the best. The food always tastes fresh and delicious. Most places the food is oily and greasy but not here. The workers are always very friendly and polite. Keep up the good work guys!

I love the food, especially the Zen special fried rice, it is so good, the best I’ve had period. Customer service is also very good, picked up my order and there was a minor mixup, called to let them know and they insisted on making it right even though I told them it was ok. My order was corrected and delivered to my door in no time, hard to beat service, what more can you ask for. Would highly recommend, give them a try and I’m sure you will agree with me

Food is Excellent! I have ordered the pepper shrimp, the fried rice, chow mean, chilli chicken and soo much more! Have been going almost weekly for the past 6 weeks and everything has a great flavor! Every order was perfect and the pepper sauce is flavourful.
Service is top notch, I recommend this place to all my friends and family and every one that I sent there says this is there new go-to spot!

First time ordering from here. The food was delivered fast, and was fresh, delicious and not at all greasy. I will be ordering again

Had the jerk chow mein. Had better jerk and wasnt a lot of meat. If you like spicy food.this didnt have the heat

Food was AMAZING! Thank you for our delicious dinner. I look forward to ordering again in the near future ️

This place differentiates itself from the rest just by a few simple things. I won't tell you guys what they are. Just go see for yourself. A true hidden gem in Durham that brings back that class I've been missing in fusion food. The freshness and menu will make you come back for more and absolutely blows away the competition by a longshot. Goodluck to the others because Thezenrestaurant.ca is here to stay.

First time here for dine-in during COVID. Amazing service, everyone was super friendly and attentive. The food was great. Safe environment. Chili chicken and fried rice was really good.

I first read about The Zen in the local Ajax News Advertiser. That was Thursday, December 3,2020. Ever since I read that article about a new Ajax restaurant that fuses Caribbean with Chinese, I've been hooked. The Zen not only offers good food in a variety of dishes, they are also well schooled in hospitality and excellent customer service. I met Chris Chetty and Ronnie and found them to be humble, respectful and professional. Since my first visit to The Zen, I've told my family and friends about this hidden gem in Ajax. I am already looking forward to my next visit. I purchased a number of their hot sauces and found the jerk chicken and Lo Mein dishes to be my favs, so far.

Amazing food! Great flavors and friendly staff. My new favourite restaurant in Ajax. THE BEEF RIBS ARE

Great new spot in Durham. Everything tasted fresh, lots of great choices on the menu & the flavours are on point. The little hot sauce samples they pack are killer heat but HELLA delicious. Gonna be back for sure

I DEFINITELY recommend this restaurant! This restaurant serves Caribbean Cuisine dishes that have the spice you crave, want and need! The little factors that this restaurant considered that stood out to me is that it is conveniently accessible to the highway! Coming from the West End area, this restaurant was a few minutes from the highway as the restaurant was very easy to locate! I also loved the fact that Chetty’s Hot Sauces are available whenever I am short on supply at home. And the ambiance is very sophisticated and classy! Loving the look of the restaurant! This restaurant did not disappoint me and my family at all! DEFINITELY ORDERING AGAIN AND AGAIN! Thank you for your amazing service as well!

On January 9,2021, I had ordered the:
- BBQ Spicy Beef Short Ribs (I highly recommend)
- Pepper Shrimp (did not have too much batter which is amazing so you’re able to really enjoy the shrimp and it’s flavours)
- Chilli Chicken Cantonese (first time trying crispy noodles in my life and I really enjoyed this dish)
- Zen Special Fried Rice (the go-to)
- The Zen Special Chowmein (the go-to)

The food is amazing. Made perfect to order. Will definitely return and make this a regular spot

Very friendly staff called and ordered take out. It was ready in 15 minutes they called me to also let me know when it was ready and waiting. The food was hot and very tasty. This is our 2nd time trying The Zen and we would highly recommend it to others. We had the Chilli chicken, veggie fried rice, pepper shrimp and beef short ribs.

Had the pepper shrimp and pepper fish with veggie fried rice along with the stir fry veggies. It was delicious! My order has a mistake but other than that it was a great customer service.

Best place to eat in Durham hands down! My family and I order food once a week. Brandon is always very friendly and alway gives is the best advice on what new dishes to try.

Their lunch specials were really good and affordable! The customer service and the cleanliness of this restaurant is 10+!

Ordered from The Zen about 6 to 7 times. Their menu speaks for itself. I think I've tried almost everything. The house chicken and wings are amazing. When you want top notch service and great food this is the place to go!

The food is amazing! Great selection and literally no bad option on the menu. Take out or dine in, it's always a great experience. Staff are super friendly and attentive! We love dining in and taking out! It's definitely our go to place!

The food is fresh, and high quality ingredients.
Portions are average and meat portions are small.

Here's the kicker. No seasoning at all. The food could of been fantastic as all the foundations were stellar.

Also not sure how all the ratings are perfect as it's a brand new restaurant and there was no seasoning, especially for Carribean style not sure what's going on here.

I've had many different dishes from The Zen and the food is always fantastic and fresh to order. On top of that the man behind the counter (Ronnie) makes the customer experience phenomenal.

Hands down the Best Fried Rice in Durham with some Amazing prices When you have 4 kids that love the Food it just makes your Weekends a lil more relax no need to Cook Great service icing on the Cake.

Tried this place for the first time and ordered the chilli chicken and beef fried rice. Everything was tasty and we went back within two weeks to try the pepper fish and jerk chicken! The pepper fish is perfectly fried and fluffy yet crispy. Really enjoyed this recent meal from Zen and again looking forward to ordering from Zen this weekend for the super bowl. I’m not even a super bowl fan but it’s just another excuse to order from Zen because they have specials going on! Love that I have a local place to get my West Indian cravings fix. Oh and their pepper sauce that is provided with your meal is bang on!

The customer service was amazing here. Everyone was so friendly and suggested what dishes to try out. The food was amazing! I highly recommend the pepper shrimp, beef short ribs, and im not a big fan of fish but the pepper fish was my favorite dish here. It is a must try!

I live in Durham and highly recommend this restaurant. I am a repeat customer and never once disappointed. The food is amazing! And so is the service!

The refreshing menu and great atmosphere was better then we hoped! The food was just perfect and staff efficient and friendly as needed! Took my wife and one year old for dinner and we had an amazing time. Service, staff and food was on point! Highly recommend you give this place a try, they won't disappoint!

Good location in east Ajax. Clean and presentable restaurant. Food is good with a variety to choose from. My favorite is the stir fried mix veggies and the baby back ribs. Friendly atmosphere!