Zenz Oriental Restaurant in Harlow

No longer open for eating in Really strange been going here for years my orders are always £80-£90 for 2 adults and 1 child The food has gone down hill so much literally past few months it’s got worse and worse will make the trip to May Epping from now on. Shame, good Chinese takeaways in the area are so rare. Also WTF no crackers

So today decided to get a takeaway from Zenz. The last time I’d got one was a couple of years ago and it was good. Anyway, our order….. We ate our mixed hors d'oeuvres, found these nice but everything was a small portion. Moving onto mains, chicken chow mein with veg, super dry, and well undercooked veg. Shredded smoked chicken, nice but more sugar than Tate and Lyle. Singapore fried rice very dry. Chips, these just tasted of grease and half were just fried husks of potato. The pot of curry sauce was only half full. When I complained I was offered replacement food, which I declined, I wanted a refund thenthey really quibbled about how much we’d eaten and had to argue about quantities. Finally the person came back to the house to take what food we hadn’t eaten and to give a refund. The meal came to £54.50, I received back £32.50 The hors d'oeuvres for two were £19.00. And what surprised me as well was there was a £3 delivery charge….. on a £51.50 bill, that’s harsh. You may ask why did I not query the price, well I’d believed that I’d been told the cost was £34.50. When it arrived I queried the bill, but accepted, as it was good the last time albeit a couple of years prior. Never again…….. Didn’t even get a complimentary bag of prawn crackers.

So today decided to get a takeaway from Zenz. The last time I’d got one was a couple of years ago and it was good. Anyway, our order….. We ate our mixed hors d'oeuvres, found these nice but everything was a small portion. Moving onto mains, chicken chow mein with veg, super dry, and well undercooked veg. Shredded smoked chicken, nice but more sugar than Tate and Lyle. Singapore fried rice very dry. Chips, these just tasted of grease and half were just fried husks of potato. The pot of curry sauce was only half full. When I complained I was offered replacement food, which I declined, I wanted a refund thenthey really quibbled about how much we’d eaten and had to argue about quantities. Finally the person came back to the house to take what food we hadn’t eaten and to give a refund. The meal came to £54.50, I received back £32.50 The hors d'oeuvres for two were £19.00. And what surprised me as well was there was a £3 delivery charge….. on a £51.50 bill, that’s harsh. You may ask why did I not query the price, well I’d believed that I’d been told the cost was £34.50. When it arrived I queried the bill, but accepted, as it was good the last time albeit a couple of years prior. Never again…….. Didn’t even get a complimentary bag of prawn crackers.

This is probably the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. I’ve travelled through a lot of Oriental Asia and had a lot of Asian food in the UK but in all the years I’ve been eating this type of food nothing is as tasty and well flavoured as Zenz. We will be customers for as long as we live round here. UPDATE 30/08/2024: Unfortunately we probably won’t be customers anymore. Prices have become ridiculous. Before the prices changes a couple of weeks ago I was paying £33.90. The same thing last night was £42.40!! Needless to say I didn’t order. Everyone has a limit. Mine has been reached.

Always wanted to try this place but cannot bring myself to order. It had a food hygiene rating of zero for a few years and still only 3. It's not hard to be cleaner.. They are also advertising incorrectly they have a 5 food hygiene rating, this is fraud!

Favourite Chinese takeaway. Only downside is no prawn crackers . Slightly more expensive than other local Chinese takeaways but the food is top notch

Had chicken in black bean sauce chicken and pineapple in sweet and sour and prawn toasts All came piping hot and every mouthful was delicious.prawn toasts were to die for best I’ve ever had .

Just finished eating and I have to say was not impressed. This used to be my favourite Chinese. Since it has become takeaway only the food has gone down hill. Everything had no taste. Duck was nice and tender but freezing cold. Very disappointing

Ordered tonight for the 1st time. Absolutely dreadful food. Keep well away. Mark my words. Beef chow main dreadful 🤮

Only get takeaways from here hence only 3 stars for atmosphere But food is always great

Chips are crinkle frozen chips just deep fried, paid £53 the quality so poor. 1st time ordering from here will never order again.

Always beautiful above the average for sure

Best Chinese I’ve ever had! Always hot, Tastes delicious Only downfall is quite expensive delivery charge and don’t sell prawn crackers. Overall 9-10

Wow got to be the worst take away I have had from a Chinese, ribs were so hard and the soup was cold , the chicken balls were dry , as for the rest it was just shocking , very sad as two years ago this was one of the best take aways in old harlow , shame

Since January when the new chef started to work (new chef was confirmed by the staff) the tastes changed and the prices went up. Also I mentioned to the staff, the food tastes are not the same as earlier. I think the owner also changed. I am disappointed because the food quality went down and went up. I was a regular cusomer.

Disappointed with take away again tonight , don't know if it's changed hands or got a new chef but prices have definitely gone up and food quality gone down . Last time the egg fried rice was like sticky rice not nice at all and I've noticed they've started putting lots of tasteless carrots in their dishes . Tonight we had crispy duck for 2 £12 duck wasn't shredded very well and lots of it was just in thick chunks . Special fried rice was tasteless and had burnt peas in it , loads of fatty bits of Chinese pork and a few prawns , Didn't see any chicken in there and there were some other horrible dried bits of stuff in it that I couldn't tell if it was meat or veg?? Very disappointing as not cheap . Need to find another place for a Chinese take away now 😞

Just or first time from Zenz spend £90 . Spare ribs was very dry , special fried rice is bland, sweet sour kings prawn ball is oily, and udon beef noodles is very bland no flavour very disappointed. I’m as a chef food tonight not that happy so I bin half of dishes 😩

Ordered a take away for 2 and I must say it was the worst Chinese I’ve ever had! I’ve used Zens for years but I will never order from them again! They have gone down hill over the last 3 years. Beef in black bean sauce was too salty and the salt and pepper scallops tasted like they were 2 days old! Very dry, they were more like chicken nuggets! 🤢 And on top of everything they will NOT do prawn crackers…I mean really? 1 out of 10! And never again!

Very disappointed had a takeaway from Zenz last night have been having takeaways and also used to eat they when they had a site down restaurant and I have always said it was the best in the area but not any longer The quality of food has really gone down and the sizes are so much smaller and the prices have gone up will not be going back . Don’t seem to have good Chinese in this are anymore The only other place I know is in Epping.

Excellent take away, always tasty and good service. Recommended.

Home delivery Ordered all vegetarian As ordered and tasted good.

Only doing take away and deliveries now

Took a take away for shrimp, chicken fried rice and kung po chicken. My favourite was the fried rice and shrimp with beans which was so filling and tasted so fresh. The kung po chicken was a tad bit sweet and less spicy. But nevertheless o enjoyed my whole meal.

Amazing location and view specially during the sunset time. We have been there two times and we have experienced a quality of food and services as they are using copper plated, wood fired ovens to enjoy something unique. Bryan and his team are great and welcomed people, I’m sure you are in a save hand once you reach there.

I am a regular customer for Zenz and I have to say that the food is amazing! Never upset or disappointed so highly recommend.

Bang average. Cheapest cuts for ribs, (binned) special fried rice mushy, extra requests ignored, £2 for a tin of coke 🤯

Terrible service, ordered New Year’s Eve ….. told will take 1.5hrs, fine ….. 3hrs later still no food or a call from the restaurant

Great and friendly staff! Very good portions and very tasty!

Just what I wanted , best food I’ve had.

We have been going to Zenz all thru lock down. It's been a great place to get good takeaway food and whilst we wait a glass of wine and beer. The staff are so very welcoming professional and we love going there. It's given us a place to go during lockdown. A big thank you to all of the staff.

Great takeaway with a good range of vegetarian options. Collection does take quite a long time but it is worth the wait. The staff are very friendly too. I wish they would reopen inside as I would like try dining in

We get our Chinese takeaway from here and only here. Never had a bad dish, service is quick and friendly. You might have to redial a few times because they are so popular 😉

Great food and service, thank you very much

Had a takeaway from Zenz on Saturday night it was first class it is a little more expensive then most Chinese but is well worth it You might have a problem getting through on the phone so I went to the restaurant and ordered and waited for my meal only around 20 minutes but it was a Saturday night when I left there was a waiting line of people Would recommend this

Never had a bad meal from here! 1st class!

Been going to this restaurant for quite a while now and everything was amazing, then I ordered one evening placed my order rice noodles with out shrimps, when the food arrived started dishing it up and realised that there was shrimps in the noodles after telling the person on the phone that I was extremely allergic and when I complained the waitress did offer to get me one back out to me only the noodles, when everything would of been cold, I refused for the replacement and don't think I will be ordering from them anytime soon.

Consistently Delicious food and lovely staff , very efficient.

Food was good, was missing half of our order

Quality chinese food in pleasant surroundings and helpful staff. Not sure how many calories/sugar/ colouring/microwave meals are in the meals/menu.. but I enjoyed them.

Have been having take aways, great food and staff are great. Try it you'll love it

Can’t comment on the restaurant as I’ve never been in it but the takeaway is the best for a long way. We get takeaways from here regularly and they are always delicious.

Without doubt the best Chinese in Harlow by a very, very wide margin. Do try the Mongolian Lamb, Happiness Prawns and Beef in Honey. They are excellent.

Been having takeaways delivered from Zenz - great Pad Thai and Beef udon noodles in particular - our favourites and generous portions. Best local Chinese by a long way.

I called my local restaurant last night for a takeaway last night , so friendly . When I arrived we were discussing the fact I am a nurse , he informed me that is trying to contact local hospital /NHS to send food to the hosipital nurses and Drs but no one has got back to him?? He also gave me a free dish so kind of him. Lets suppport loacl businesses .

I am a bit of a regular at Zen's and would always praise them and love the mixed starters so thought I would try a take away. Very disappointing the spring rolls 50% of normal size, No prawns on the oven done toast, satay chicken 50% of normal size But for the 100 % Normal menu price..... go round the corner to the fish bar!

food very bland meat content terrible for the price never again its a joke for a top end chinese

Fabulous anniversary meal tonight delivered by these fabulous people. Great job everyone thanks. you get what you pay for.

Excellent food and service , very spacious ambience. Perfect!

This is the best Chinese in Harlow by far and is 100% worth the price. I have been ordering from here for years and have never written a review for anything but the level of customer service i received tonight was fantastic after a mix up with my order they had someone with the replacement dishes come outside with them when they saw me pull up and let me keep the dishes that were wrong. This is the only Chinese worth ordering.

Hands down the best Chinese food I’ve ever had! Staff were friendly and efficient and it was a lovely experience. We’ll be back :)

Best Chinese restaurant in the town.

We are a normal family who are not fussy eaters but we enjoy a good takeaway and reading the reviews on here and other sites we decided to order a takeaway from here on Saturday 1st February 2020. Got through to the restaurant they said they were busy and there may be a delay which wasn’t a problem to us. The food arrived and I wished I hadn’t bothered. We had ordered prawn balls which were under cooked not crispy and looked like an Australian Witchttey grubs. The spare ribs sauce was so salty it made the ribs inedible as was the duck dish and the shredded chilli beef. The spring rolls were only half full and in my opinion undercooked. The only edible thing was the noodles and rice which is very difficult to get wrong. I appreciate that most of the reviews on here are for sit down restaurant but one would expect that the food would be of the same standard. We will never eat here again and I would advise anyone else thinking of ordering a takeaway to think twice before ordering as the food was awful.

The food was excellent tonight, thoroughly enjoyed everything I had.

Had a great atmosphere. And the food was great .and very good customer service.

Average Chinese food nothing exceptional. Very friendly serving staff. Prices about right for the standard offered.

Very nice meals and very attentive staff. Thank you

Best Chinese Restaurant, food delicious & staff very friendly. Hordeurves & aromatic duck pancakes are amazing, will be back again soon

Very disappointing dish scallops with mixed veg that was nearly £10 Had to search for scallops and veg was lacking in my opinion worth £4-5 max, staff not interested when mentioned don't think I would go back again

Food is fabulous atmosphere very relaxed service great staff lovely, definatly recommend this restaurant.

Can't help but chuckle at some of these mob piping up about the portions being small because they're that same standard sort of size as anywhere else. Perhaps these people are coming out with that because they're a bit scratchy in believing you should get huge portions when you are paying that bit more? Erm no you generally get what you pay for which with Zenz is quality rather than quantity so yeah I'll acknowledge this gaff not being the cheapest place you'll ever go to but the food is lovely. We've had three takeaways out of there over the last six or seven weeks now and the quality has been of the same high standard on each occasion! It's also well worth mentioning they do 15% discount on collected takeaways and even knock 10% off on home deliveries which is unusual but most welcome. I went in there for the first time ever to make a fairly large order on New Year's Eve just after opening time and they were already incredibly busy at around 5:30 to 6pm. They said it would be about a 45 minute wait and granted it ended up being a fair whack over an hour but they were most apologetic to all of us there waiting. You had your usual collection of moaners up to their eyeballs with self importance kicking off about having to wait a bit longer. Seeing I understood it was most likely their busiest night of the year I took it as par for the course waiting both patiently and quietly. When they finally brought my boxes of grub out the young lady grabbed me a chilled bottle of Aussie/Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc out of the fridge on the house for the delay which was a very nice gesture. Got it back home for four of us to tuck in to the best Chinese we've had in a very long time so we were all very happy and contented. Been back there twice since and on both those two occasions the food has been excellent as before! I'm actually going to grab a munch out of there for us tonight because we're moving to another part of the country soon and want to enjoy it whilst we still can.. Can only speak as I find which is I've found the staff very friendly and attentive with the food being of a far higher standard than other 'cheaper' competitors on the manor, absolutely spot on!

Lovely food. Staff are friendly too.

The Best Restaurant in Harlow!!

Been here a few times now, the food is always of a good, high quality and incredibly tasty. Peices sre reasonable and staff are friendly. Id recommend Zenz to anybody looking for a chinese restaurant.

Really enjoyed the take away. The vegetarian mock crispy duck was very tasty. Lots of families eating in the restaurant- looks a very friendly place.

Always a pleasure, very nice staff

Finally found the best Oriental restaurant i have eaten from and will now only come here for it, we visited the restaurant with 10 friends for a birthday and everything was perfect, i could not fault it in any way, the food tasted fresh and very tasted with everybody complimenting how great the food tasted. The staff were very helpful and polite. Will highly recommend it and will now only go to Zenz for oriental food. Keep up the good work guys. Tony

Service is brilliant, really smiley and welcoming, food is still the best in harlow, favourite dish beef in black bean sauce they always cook it so perfectly. have to book in advance as they are always busy. Well recommended Thank you for giving us a lovely meal 5*

Great food, service and ideal for a take away. Would recommend... 👍🏻

Always lovely food and great service xx

Small portions, bland mediocre food but was with close friends for family birthday so didn't want to upset the meal. The owner Var talks to you when you pay the bill so wasn't looking at the bill when payment was made. Soon over priced for the meal £480 FOR 9 people (3were kids and only 2 were drinking alcohol) went back to speak to Var about how this was too much money for what we ordered and some of the additions on the bill were wrong and his his reply was that's business! And told me that I should have checked the bill before I paid. Be aware of this scam of his to engage you as you are paying the bill when you are in a big group.! Did he torch the place for the insurance! And run. Sorry who are you?

What a wonderful evening of great food and hospitality on the 16th December. Thank-you so much for giving us a lovely pre-christmas family meal together we will be back.

This has always been one of the best in the area for Chinese and Thai food. The service here was great and fast. The food was fantastic as always and great quality. The place was empty however, which is a shame as it may not remain open long.

Very friendly staff, good food - much nicer food since they reopened, as it had got a little grim before that! Can sometimes have delays getting takeaway dishes out, but who doesn't?

Very nice people, and very nice food & place. I started with the soft shell crab. Main meal was lamb with fresh ginger and spring onions with a dish of fried noodles and bean shoots. All in all a great meal on a special family night out. I had a Tsing Tao beer during the meal which was served cold. Recommended restaurant. Oh, and very reasonable price (about £20)!!

Over all since our last visit the menu has shrunk but the staff are really attentive and helpful.

Had dinner here for a special occasion There were 15 of us . The service was excellent and the food was to a high standard and well worth the money. All in all a fantastic meal. Also one of us left our wallet at the restaurant Zens manager went out of his way to let us know. Couldn't recommend it more Thanks Zens...

Best Chinese on the town. Helpful staff and wonderful food. Great place to eat.

We met up with a couple we had met on holiday last year. We had a table booked for 7pm. The restaurant wasn't busy. So it was a very relaxing evening. The food was first class and it served well.

Great noodles, great service, great price

Been going to Zendz since they originally opened years ago. Excellent Asian/Chinese food. Good service and friendly atmosphere.Had anniversaries, birthdays and many family functions, always fantastic memories.

Best Chinese takeaway!!! 😊 excellent service, delivered to the door! Welcome back Zenz 😊

By far the best Chinese in Harlow! Missed it when it was closed so glad it’s back open!! Best food ever, quick delivery! Thanks guys!

What a delightful place. me and my son when for a chat over dinner . service and atmosphere was great. food was well presented and fantastic lots of favour and very very fresh . will be back .

We always get our Chinese food from here - it's so tasty and fresh - it never fails. I've eaten plenty of Chinese and Cantonese over the years - this is simply the best, with friendly cheerful service to boot.

Great local restaurant food is awesome service outstanding parking outside is fine great value as large portions

Better than a lot of Chinese restaurants in the area, good food, staff are very pleasant and accommodating.

Pedimos para la entrega. La ordenación fue sencillo, la entrega fue a la eta, el hombre entrega fue educado y la comida. . . . Caramba, esta es la mejor comida china que he probado en mucho tiempo. Todos disfrutamos muchísimo, estaba impecable. Tan sabroso y los mejores ingredientes utilizados. Esta será, sin duda, el chino ahora.

This was our first to Zenz and it made a great impression with varied Chinese food served with great style and with a first class taste , very helpful and friendly staff , spacious areas between tables , a first rate wine list with a house wine that cost £4 less than in most restaurants.

Fuimos a Zenz con algunos colegas para una cena el pasado verano y que fueron bien recibidas. Las mesas redondas son siempre una opción mejor cuando vas a un restaurante con un grupo de personas. La comida era deliciosa y el servicio fue bueno.

Absolutely fabulous food and great service which also includes their delivery service.

Order on a weekly basis, by far the best oriental restaurant in Harlow. Staff are very welcoming and friendly.

When we arrived, the two of us were directed to a table for 2, I didn't think nothing of it at the time but I soon realised my chair and table was right next to and up against a fridge, this meant every time they opened the fridge door, the table shook and I got a blast of cold air on my back. At the end of the evening I politely complained to a male member of staff, he responded by just saying un-careingly, "that's just how it goes sometimes", never mind that my evening was ruined. They would be better off not being greedy and doing away with this table and not packing people in like sardines and alienating customers. On a positive note the service and food was good.

Disappointed food portions tiny service was slow considering how many staff standing around. Very expensive for Chinese wouldn't recommend

Nos alojamos en el Premier Inn no demasiado lejos y me apetecía un cambio de la Beefeater adjunto así que decidimos ir en coche hasta Old Harlow y elegiremos este restaurante basado en los comentarios.

Very overpriced for the small portions you get. Service slow. Food was also bland, having very little flavour at all.

We love this place we even have a takeaway if we don't get out I love the Crispy chicken all the food is great

Half a bowl of sizzling fillet of beef in black bean sauce! You must be joking

Great restaurant, great food and great staff. Really hard to find any fault. The soft shell crab is fantastic and the sea bass is also good. The waiter also have us a lift home as we couldn't get a cab. Recommend!

Un entorno cómodo y aunque comida llevó un tiempo llegar fue obvio el por qué - era agradable y fresco. Yo prefiero esto que el uso de demasiadas salsas de fuera de la bolsa. El personal era simplemente encantador.

I had not had a meal or a take away here for over a year but I will be going back. I thought the staff were friendly and helpful even though they were a little bit busy in the restaurant area. The food was good albeit a little bit expensive.