ZA Restaurant

Za, from the outside appeared to be a great looking Italian eatery and first impressions were great. my partner had a delicious pasta dish, the pasta cooked to perfection with a surprisingly delicate sauce to accompany. My dish however was dissapointing, a collection of fried bread cooked in days old oil with a simple marie rose sauce for dipping. The manager was very unaccomodating to my displeasure with my meal (incidentally costing £10 for said collection of fried bread) and thought nothing of watching me not eat it but then still charged me for it. His waiters were his saving grace however, offering good servie dispite their managers poor example. It is a shame that the manager was not more accomodating as i feel this this performance let the dining experience at Za down enormously and i will not be returning.
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Jon Clarke
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Thursday, June 08, 2006

I sometimes dispair at the people on this website are you born to complain?

What do you expect when you go to a local Italian restaurant? Well I'd expect decent Italian food. Not messed around with. Not anglo orientated. But decent Italian food.

And that's what you get. The Menu has concessions to England (Lasagne???? real Puglian food....) but on the whole, if you stick with regional dishes this is as good as I've tasted outside of Italy.

Last night I ate Wild Boar slowly cooked in wine and tomato. It was gorgeous. One of the party I was with had parpadelle ragu, again made with wild boar. Again it was fantastic.

I've eaten here at least 10 times in the last 18 months and I love it.

Avoid the consessions. Eat the regional food and celebrate the fact that Blackheath has a gem like this place.

If you expect michelin stars, then don't go.

If you expect fresh, well cooked Southern Italian food, then go here. You will not get better.
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James Foulkes
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Saturday, June 03, 2006

I ate at this restaurant last night and have seldom ben so disappointed by a meal. Being the hottest day of the year so far, the open windows and almost full restaurant looked very attractive. However, we waited a good 10 minutes to be given menus, and further 15 minutes to receive our wine, albeit ably helped by the friendly waiter.

Unfortuntately that's where the good stuff ends. We ordered garlic bread whilst we were wiating for our main courses - I never realised garlic bread could be so terrible, or even warrent a review! Greasy, slimy, and almost tasteless, we resisted complaining and hoped the main courses would be better when they eventually arrived... my partner orderd traditional puglian meatballs which were ok, I ordered the spaghetti scaglioni which was truely dreadful. Extremely bland and tasteless, the insipid, minute seafood was cast on the edge of the plate by a mound of flavourless pasta. I don't think I've ever tasted anything so taste-free!

In the meantime I noticed other couples waiting for their food, two orders sent back to the kitchen, and one group of three who were served two out of three dishes and waiting ages for the final pizza to make its appearance. Although our waiter was charming, the restuaruant was obviously struggling to stay in control, but the real disappoinment (and I have been to Puglia several times) was the obviously inferior ingredients, and complete lack of skill in putting them together. Blackheath has, and deserves great restuarants, this is not one of them.
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Sam Fay
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Friday, May 05, 2006

I was disappointed by my first visit to this restaurant, but some of this was not the restaurant's fault. We were unfortunately sat next to a couple of smokers (the only people smoking in the entire restaurant) which really didn't help. What offended me more, however, was the fact that the gentleman smoker was wearing trainers, a tracksuit and a cap - clothes that would not be out of place on a building site. I was reminded of the episode in the Sopranos where Tony "persuades" a similarly dressed man to remove the cap with the not particularly well disguised threat of violence. Luckily (for me probably!), I do not share Mr. Soprano's volatile temper and did not speak out, but how someone can attend a restaurant in those clothes is beyond me. I am in no way suggesting you should be suited and booted to eat out, but there should be some sort of limit!

Anyway, the food was good, but unfortunately the service was very slow - not helped by the fact that my partner's order was taken incorrectly, and her food therefore delayed. Despite being promised a fresh dish myself, my plate had clearly just been microwaved before being brought out for the second time.

With all this said, as a restaurant ZA is very pleasant with an intimate atmosphere, friendly service and a reasonably priced menu. I must hope that my next visit is a more enjoyable one - I will maybe wait until the smoking ban kicks in next year....
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Friday, April 21, 2006

I first discovered this little treasure back in winter, my father who is Italian and very picky came to visit last weekend, and I booked a table at Za as I knew that the food is authentic and tasty.

The food is from the Puglia region in Sicily and the wine too. Paolo's (the owner) family send the fresh produce from their own farm in Puglia, so the quality of the ingredients is excellent.

Amazing starters to be shared (they come on a wooden board) and they are a great concept.

Pizzas, pastas and great mains also change according to the season.

All the staff there come from Italy and they know their stuff. My father was so happy with this place, we had a fantastic meal!
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Paola
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, April 18, 2006

We had a lunch on a January Thursday afternoon and we were the only couple present and were greatly outnumbered by the staff. So the atmosphere in the place was very quiet.

The food was ok, but it was obvious that a microwave had featured in some of the cooking such as the Lasagne. One of us had food served on an obviously cracked dinner plate. Apart from that the quality and portions were ok.

The range of dishes was limited Scillian food and a good range of Pizza's. Some of our selections were not available.
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Chris Smith
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, January 27, 2006

Honestly the best Italian i have been in South London.

The food was very fresh, you could see that the mozzarella was the real Italian thing, and not a cheap version (I’m very fussy about it!). We took the waiters advice on the ravioli filled with pumpkin, which had sweetness that married very well with the five cheese cream and truffle. My lamb cutlets were superb, well cooked and presented.We skipped desserts, but the Limoncello were very welcomed indeed! I definitely recommend 'Za , on the basis of the food, pleasant service and also good value considering the quality of the ingredients used.
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James
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Saturday, November 26, 2005