Zaibatsu Japanese Fusion — Restaurant in London

Traditionally one of my favourite Japanese sushi places in London. Over the past couple years I've gone about 4 or 5 times and have loved the food. Zaibatsu has generally provided amazing high quality food at a decent price (comparable to the likes of Nobu). Don't be fooled by the decor (or lack of). *the asterisk on this statement is that my latest visit (last week) was below average in terms of food. I'm not sure if this is s trend due to their popularity but hoping this was a fluke, otherwise I would have given it five stars. Now for the fun part of the review (or not for some).

FOOD the food is generally the draw here. You aren't coming for the decor or the packed in seating. To be honest I wouldn't come for this reason if any other place.

They have a solid array of of pan Asian food including Japanese, ramen, sushi, Malay curries, and more. My favourite is the lamb chop starter. Well seasoned and perfectly cooked and comes served on a nifty block of wood. Other starters are also decent but this ones my favourite. Stay away from the seaweed salad. Not what I'm used to, they do it differently and not in a very good way.

All sushi is generally good, from sashimi to their rolls. All sashimi and rolls come nicely decorated with nice fresh fish. Some of the better sushi you'll find that you aren't paying half a mortgage on.

However the last visit had some of the worse salmon sashimi I've had. It felt fresh but had a bone and was a bit tough. I'm not sure it was the right cut for a piece of sashimi. Maybe this was a fluke maybe a sign.

I do not usually get desert but they do have green tea ice cream!! I suspect their desserts are ready made and kept in the frozen. We found ice crystals in the ice cream indicating it had been in he freezer for a while.

But I have been pleased all other visits so will give them the benefit of the doubt.

SERVICE Service is always good. Nice staff for an Asian restaurant and quick service. Staff are attentive and food comes out quickly.

ATMOSPHERE The atmosphere is buzzing with people enjoying good food. Otherwise it is a small cafe with barely enough seating for the level of demand. This is not the draw. However BYOB is always a plus for a cheap good time.

LOCATION Conveniently located near maze hill station and a few busses so easy to get to. If you drive here I'd also street parking, mostly on the side streets.

In a nutshell traditionally good restaurant. I haven't sold it very well through review but would recommend a visiting if you...

A real rollercoaster of an experience which left me unsure where it sits…here we go. Very busy little place of which you must book and is cash only. These things usually suggest big things and are always great.

BYOB is a massive upside, as well as the prices, so the scene is set for nothing but excellence.

Spicy Edamame was top shelf (a great start to proceedings). Seaweed salad followed and it was equally brilliant, expectations were met. The sushi was also superb and we were very happy customers. Salt and pepper squid arrived and was like warm direct from the freezer which was underwhelming, maybe it was a blip, so we can ignore that.

However, as the mains entered the table they were largely in the same range. Seafood soup (went ramen noodles) was watery and tasteless. The ‘seafood’ was straight from the freezer as were the noodles (some were still stuck together) while the beans and broccoli weren’t even cooked (or an attempt to made to soften them). Across the table we had Vegetarian Dynamite noodles that were very inoffensive however lacked anything resembling taste.

So we were at a conundrum- do we discard the poor end and focus on the brilliant start? In hindsight, I would order more sides and sushi which have to made ‘fresh’ to order rather than anything which can have corners cut. £40 for 2 with plenty of food. Would I go back? I’ll...

Very cheap, yes, but food is so poor- come on! It’s also very dirty (bathroom included) with huge amounts of dirty plates stacked up in the corridor. The plates have palm leaves on which are just recycled on every new plate (because all the old plates are so brown and stained) that goes out. It’s pretty gross. Once I saw what was at the bottom of my edamame bowl it made me feel a little unwell.

The food is all super cheap frozen food which is then cooked and tastes of old oil (agedashi tofu).

The salmon in my sushi was still partially frozen and I couldn’t eat it as it was too cold and I’ve ended up taking it away in the hopes to eat it later.

This place is really poor quality and not worthy of the stars it gets. My meal came to £20.70.

I also nearly wasn’t allowed in and was blocked from entering by the staff when I arrived. I don’t think they “got” I was in gym clothes and parka. It seemed as though thought I was a reckless single female yob trying to cause trouble or something. I found it...