Zaibatsu is an unprepossessing cafe on the highly polluted Trafalgar Road in Greenwich. Steps away from the lovely Greenwich Park, I must have walked past this establishment many times without having given it a second glance.
So it was like unexpectedly coming across an oasis to open the door and find a full buzzing atmosphere with Chinese lanterns fro the ceiling, a largely Asian clientele and the bright colours of tables, chairs and platters of food.
We had gone to this Japanese fusion restaurant on the basis of several recommendations from friends, after mentioning this new blog. Despite having been slightly more organised than for our firstr two visits and having booked a whole 24 hours in advance, we had failed to get a table for 5 people before 2.30pm so just 3 gannets went at 1pm whilst the Mr Gannets ate at a local pub. Many have raved about Zaibatsu so we had to see for ourselves.
The menu had several pages ranging from starters, to noodle soups, to sushi to sushimi. You can browse it here. We ogled some passing sushi:
but decided that was for another day. About £8 for 8 pieces in case you were interested - sliced from a single long roll.
We asked our Thai waitress for advice and she recommended sharing 3 starters and then ordering some mains. We played that classic trick of looking to see what the guests at the next table were eating. Tempura and noodle soup, it seemed. Both looked delicious but soup is not suitable for sharing.
The tempura looked unmissable so we ordered that and added in an aubergine dish with sesame paste, a seaweed salad and a mixed tempura as starters:
We sat at a small yellow melamine table that looked like it had stepped out of a 1950's kitchen. This place is not grand.
The food, O Fellow Gourmand, was delicious. Not haute cuisine (there was shell in the tempura prawn, the cutlery was 1970's school style stainless steel) but it was flavoursome and beautifully presented: There were fanned out noodles that had been tempura battered to look like shells, and the aubergine came on a leaf platter.
We wimped out and ordered only 2 main courses between the 3 of us as this was a Saturday lunchtime and we needed to leave room for dinner later. Even so we didn't manage to have much impact on our Dynamite Noodles (very hot, we were warned) and the Malaysian chicken curry. "Who took all the chicken?" cried Gannet 1 as she ate yet another chunk of potato from the curry. Gannets 2 and 3 both found plenty!
Again the food was delicious.
Admittedly we were not their best paying customers of the day - 2 glasses of tap water and 2 of diet coke - but we were staggered when the bill came to a tiny £10.50 each for this feast we couldn't finish.
The waitress told us that all items on the menu are available for take-away and that we could phone ahead 020-8858- 9317, or just drop in (90 Trafalgar Road - almost next door to the old Arches). There were quite a few visitors during our meal who came in for the takeaway. All 3 gannets are sure they will be making use of this facility in future. Surely it has to beat Domino's hands down.
Value: 10/10
Ambience: unpretentious - simple and not the place you would go for a romantic date but perfectly serviceable and in a great location (for us!)
Authenticity: 10/10 definitely Pan Asian. Not so sure if particularly Japanese but it's hard to do Japanese for a tenner.
Taste: 10/10 Delicious
It is advisable to book ahead.
Okay, now we turn to how to make lunch at Zaibatsu into a lovely (cheap) day out.
If you can get to London Bridge station or Cannon Street station, then trains are every 10 minutes to Greenwich and Maze Hill. Maze Hill station is a hop and a skip from Zaibatsu (? 2 mins walk), but I would recommend alighting at Greenwich. Then walk across the World Heritage Site Greenwich Park to get to Zaibatsu - leave at the gate by the children's playground. If you have longer to play with then go round the National Maritime Museum completely free on your way. On your way home, head straight down for the river from Zaibatsu and follow that West to the Cutty Sark then cut up through Greenwich town centre (and market) back to the station.
If Waterloo or Charing Cross stations are easier for you, then get the train to Blackheath and walk across the heath and park, passing the Deer Gardens and the Royal Observatory on your way. To get home, walk back along the river to Cutty Sark dlr where you hop on a dlr to Lewisham to change for a train back to your starting point. The Cutty Sark is expensive but worth a look from the outside. You pass the Old Naval College and, time permitting, stop in and look.
If you simply insist on driving then park at the top of Crooms Hill or Maze Hill (free after 10am) to walk diagonally across Greenwich Park to the restaurant, or, for the very very lazy, park on Westcombe Park Road for free for 2 hours whilst you nip down the hill and into Zaibatsu for your meal.
Please do leave comments telling us what you thought of this restaurant and/or steering the gannets to fly to somewhere else in South London that you feel deserves a review. It wold be nice for us to think that someone is reading this...
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