The Big Zen

The Big Zen is a Thai/Chinese restaurant Hakka/Halal in the Thickson Square next to the Metro. Fantastic food and menu, huge portions and great pricing. They also have a very nice dining room if you want to eat in. You may notice that The Big Zen seems very, very similar to The Zen, also in Whitby. The owners say there is no affiliation between the two, but it is obvious it is the same place, with the exact same menu and great quality food, just different owners. Highly recommended.

Randomly looked up a hakka place in the area and this was a highly rated one. And i couldn't disagree with those reviews at all. This was an amazing place. Everything tasted great. Got the chicken momos and a Thai fried chicken rice. Really amazing food and the quantity is crazy great for the price. The staff was really friendly too. Definitely recommend to try this place out.

So delicious!! Ordered Spicy Mango Chicken it comes with rice. So flavourful, so delicious, I can’t wait to try more. Just one thing - menu shows two so I thought it will be spicy, but it wasn’t. I requested extra spicy, but it wasn’t spicy. I had your spicy before so I know you can do it..!

Visited first time. Restaurant tables/ Chairs are new and presenrable. Service was good. For food, both chicken manchurisn and honey garlic has the same base fried chicken which taste somewhat old. We liked honey garlic chicken and that may be the main reason, i may go back for a take out. ZEN'S shrimp tasted like a desi dish rather than chinese. Also,they charged Service charge in the bill which was not mentioned in the Restaurant or in the menu.

Super Yummy food! Great customer service. I’ve ordered twice from there this week. It’s beautifully decorated inside. Their menu is large ! Lots of options to choose from. So far I’ve had the chilli chicken and Hakka noodle. And spicy mango chicken and egg fried rice.

Cheap and tasty. Fast service. Their food could be spicy spicier than Siracha. Not as greasy as other places. My one and only go to place for Chinese in Durham Region. Highly recommend: chicken sweet corn soup, anything fish, mushroom fried rice, crispy noodle with black bean sauce and beef. They are very generous with their portion so for two person, don’t go crazy. Only two dishes is more than enough. They are also super generous with their bell peppers. I can’t stand bell pepper but those are my partner’s favourite. FYI, they cook vegetables Asian style where it’s crunchy. So if you refer your veg to be soft, please address that beforehand.

Always friendly service, great prices for the size of dishes and so flavourful!! Food comes out super fast & fresh to order!! Our table got Tom Yum, Shrimp Chips, Crispy Ginger Beef comes with rice, Chili comes with rice Chicken balls and came to $75 including 12% gratuity. I always tip extra because the service is fast & friendly. Highly recommend, this place has become a new favorite we visit regularly!

For the first time ordered from ‘The Big Zen’ Ordered Chicken 65 Hyderabadi Style quantity was good but the sauce was disappointing. It was laden with sugar, specially not recommended if a diabetic! As per the description says Tangy/Spicy Sauce. With the Chicken ordered Signature Hakka Noodles-Veg. Good but lacked vegetables Sweet Corn Chicken Soup was the best. Called them to let them know about Chicken 65 That it was extra sweet, overload of sugar or ketchup. The response was not very good. Before adding an item to the menu should learn the history of the item or remove it!

Congrats on the grand opening! Restaurant is bright, beautiful and clean. Service is excellent, pride of ownership is present. Prices and portions are great. I know this is a Hakka /Thai restaurant but their hot and sour soup is on point. Flavor is very balanced. You can tell a lot about a place based on their hot and sour soup. You can also taste the wok on the hofun noodles, I’m sure it will get stronger as the wok matures. My only complaint is the dishes Bombay chicken and noodles could be spicier. Next time I will just request spicier. It’s great that they keep the spice at a level everyone can enjoy.

If they deliver this quality for all their meals - this is my new hakka spot in Durham! We got the vegetable fried rice, mango chicken, general tsao chicken and mixed vegetables. All we REALLY REALLY great! Loved the whole thing and feeding 3 ppl for $50. Hard to go wrong! Go check them out and compare them to other places in Durham. Thank me later!