Looking for somewhere a little different for a meal to celebrate my nieces 18th Birthday in September 2015 we looked on the internet and found the Zen Restaurant at the Omni Resort at Championsgate. It’s only about a ten minute drive from our villa on Highlands Reserve and studying the on-line menu there seemed to be a wide choice. It also looked a little more special than many of the other Floridian Chinese Buffet style restaurants. The party included my niece, her parents, sister, myself and my 85 year old mother so it was quite a mixed group to cater for.
When we arrived at the hotel, we enquired where we should park and were asked to simply hand over the keys and car would be valet parked for us. That made us feel special to begin with! We walked into the lobby of the hotel which is beautiful with marble floors and gigantic chandeliers. The Zen restaurant was clearly signposted and we went straight away to book in for our meal.
We were shown to a large circular table which was ideal as we could all converse easily. The restaurant is very tastefully decorated in red and black and as soon as we were seated we were greeted and offered a drink. The menu is described as Pan Asian with a Sushi Bar and the head chef is said to be heavily influenced by the Sichuan style of cuisine.
We had passed another table of diners who were enjoying a huge plate of delicious looking sushi but we decided to go for the A-La Carte menu. Being mindful that Floridian portions are sometimes rather large, we choose a selection of dishes on the recommendations of the very friendly waitress. Most of the dishes were familiar from UK Chinese restaurants but the quality certainly was not. We started with soup, shared some tempura style sweet potatoes and a lovely fresh ginger salad. We then shared four main courses between the six of us which was absolutely ample. As a guide, starters began at about six dollars and main courses at about twenty dollars. To finish the meal, as we had mentioned it was my niece’s birthday they brought the usual cake with a candle!
The service was very pleasant and attentive though not at all pushy and the surroundings were definitely suitable for a special occasion. We felt that for the quality of food the prices were fair. The worst thing was seeing the table we had walked past had left some of their Sushi (obviously eyes bigger than their tummies! ) – I’m not sure how we managed to stop ourselves going over to help them out or just to ask to have their left overs added to our, inevitable, take out boxes! !
When we arrived at the hotel, we enquired where we should park and were asked to simply hand over the keys and car would be valet parked for us. That made us feel special to begin with! We walked into the lobby of the hotel which is beautiful with marble floors and gigantic chandeliers. The Zen restaurant was clearly signposted and we went straight away to book in for our meal.
We were shown to a large circular table which was ideal as we could all converse easily. The restaurant is very tastefully decorated in red and black and as soon as we were seated we were greeted and offered a drink. The menu is described as Pan Asian with a Sushi Bar and the head chef is said to be heavily influenced by the Sichuan style of cuisine.
We had passed another table of diners who were enjoying a huge plate of delicious looking sushi but we decided to go for the A-La Carte menu. Being mindful that Floridian portions are sometimes rather large, we choose a selection of dishes on the recommendations of the very friendly waitress. Most of the dishes were familiar from UK Chinese restaurants but the quality certainly was not. We started with soup, shared some tempura style sweet potatoes and a lovely fresh ginger salad. We then shared four main courses between the six of us which was absolutely ample. As a guide, starters began at about six dollars and main courses at about twenty dollars. To finish the meal, as we had mentioned it was my niece’s birthday they brought the usual cake with a candle!
The service was very pleasant and attentive though not at all pushy and the surroundings were definitely suitable for a special occasion. We felt that for the quality of food the prices were fair. The worst thing was seeing the table we had walked past had left some of their Sushi (obviously eyes bigger than their tummies! ) – I’m not sure how we managed to stop ourselves going over to help them out or just to ask to have their left overs added to our, inevitable, take out boxes! !