Zaibatsu - Menu

"As something of a local favourite of mine, I can see how easy it would be to fall into the biased category and sing only the praises of this really offbeat and low key sushi restaurant on a street you wouldn't assume to have any foodie gems in Greenwich. But I'll try and be as honest and constructive with my feedback as possible because I've had mixed experiences in here in the at least half a dozen times I've been. I'll start by saying that I think it became a victim of its own success. For a long while now, it was known amongst us locals as a bit of a hidden gem for great sushi and Japanese food at really affordable prices. And that generated some great reviews, it developed a Trip Advisor presence and before you know it, the hidden gem became frequented by tourists from all over the world visiting Greenwich who had read about it on Trip Advisor. Of course, there is nothing wrong with it but as expectations became increasingly raised based on reviews, it became difficult for this very small establishment run by a very small team and one main chef to uphold standards that were suddenly being judged by an enormous international community of foodies and travellers not just the locals in need of some great food. For me, the key thing here is that in and amongst all the mixed opinions, in my mind and based on my personal tastes, the flavours have hardly ever disappointed. In particular, I find the range of sushi rolls are delicious whether you are opting for the Norwegian salmon roll, the volcano rolls, the crabmeat or prawn tempura rolls and even a type of sushi roll with gold leaf, I find them all fresh and refreshing. Many of the hot appetisers are also delicious on our many visits, we have tried chicken gyoza, Katafai prawns, black cod tempura, vegetable tempura, an absolutely divine bowl of lightly battered tofu dipped in a wholly flavoursome satay sauce. Our particular favourite dishes include the buttermilk prawns and we recently tried their new salt and pepper battered prawns, which did not disappoint either. I can never get past the starters and small plates here as there are plenty to choose from so I never waste precious stomach space on a large plate of main course. But I have taken both friends and family in the past, who have tried various noodle dishes including Shojin noodles and I was pleasantly surprised by these as well the portions are huge but they are a little greasy and although they have a lot of flavour, my tip would be make the most of the range of hot and cold appetisers and sushi as this is where they really excel. Dessert choices are rather limited a few Asian inspired choices of icecream including green tea and black sesame and a conventional chocolate pudding but you always get served a few slices of fresh orange at the end of the meal and on our first visit, they were kind enough to give us a complimentary green tea tiramisu. So what is there to complain about I hear you say? Truth be told, like it or not, the interior is a problem it is very cramped, in the winters, if you are seated near the door, you feel a constant draught and I have on several occasions, dined still wearing my coat for that reason. There is one table seated out in a corridor at the back, next to a stash of toilet roll packets and canned drinks and the bathrooms I can see they are trying to squeeze in as many tables as possible but having been seated there for the first time earlier this week, I must say that this is far from ideal. It's cash only and bring your own booze so keep this in mind if visiting. But mainly the problem is the slightly disorgansied chaos that can occur with booking. If you are going at lunch time or on a weekday evening, then you are unlikely to have any big problems booking ahead and we never had done. But on a Friday or Saturday night, even with a booking, we were left waiting for half an hour whilst other people with later reservations came in after us and got seated before us. The argument the restaurant gave was that they had earmarked a particular table for us and those diners weren't leaving but regardless of, this is clearly poor management and was very inefficient. It was particularly frustrating as we are such loyal customers but they tried to make amends by offering us a small discount off the total bill. We love the food and it will remain one of our favourites because of the quality of the food but we have been put off by the organisational issues and have started to wonder whether to just order take away in future. If you come with realistic the realistic expectations that as far as a small local, out of town underground Japanese restaurant, this is excellent and beyond what most would expect. But if you read some of the early trip advisor reviews suggesting that it is the best sushi in London or make a trip from miles away to try it because of the reviews, then you may end up leaving disappointed it is fantastic for the area it is in but the expectations of many diners have been raised by the early rave reviews."