Went to this place for my dad's birthday because recently he's been eating less and less meat. The restaurant is located in a plaza that faces away from the road so if you don't see their sign on the billboard, it could be easy to miss.
First impression of the restaurant was that it was clean and well presented. I smelled tofu the second I walked in (which is fine because this is a vegetarian place so what else can they cook lol). It was also quiet and had a relaxing atmosphere which is contrasting to what you would expect at a typical Chinese/Asian restaurant. Since it was our first time there, we didn't know what to order and but the server was super helpful and recommended a lot of dishes.
Things we ordered:
1. Large Hot and Sour Soup - tasty and it was a lot of soup, was more sour than spicy 8/10
2. BBQ tofu - my favourite dish of the meal! Unlike BBQ Pork, which can sometimes be dry and hard, BBQ Tofu is moist all the way through. Not sure how they made the tofu but it has a consistency similar to meat and had the best flavour. Would definitely recommend. 10/10
3. Three Cup Tofu - this is their take on the Taiwanese dish, Three Cup Chicken. It had two different types of tofu and some mushrooms, was tasty 7/10
4. Enoki mushroom balls - this is one of their main dishes but I personally did not enjoy it. It's pretty much deep fried enoki mushroom balls wrapped with seaweed and placed on top of boiled spinach. I didn't like the taste of deep fried seaweed. Judging from the reviews a lot of people do like it, so give it a try if you're feeling adventurous!
5. Red Bean Cake - typical, like something you can get at any other dim sum place. Not worth the price markup
6. Fried Taro Cake - three generous pieces and actually tastes like taro! (Not filled with flour) would recommend if you like taro cakes
Overall Zen Gardens gets a 3/5 because although they have some hot vegetarian dishes (BBQ Tofu), the prices are marked up too high for their other mediocre dishes.