Zaika

This was one of those "hot" restaurants , great setting , tasty food , latterly perhaps the carnival has moved on , however last Saturday evening we had a really excellent meal here , the menu gourmand, really outstanding food

8 courses for £62 which isnt bad.

Service was friendly as was the reception, the setting we still like , so its back on our list of restaurants we can return to with anticipation.
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alan fowle
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A nice place with a terrible management. On 30 Oct. I was seated beside a quarrelling French couple. They were arguing loud and no waiter or maître, although they were constantly passing by near them, seemed to notice the situation, even when the man stood up throwing his seat to the ground and abandoning the restaurant (apparently to smoke a cigarette). Other clients had to put it up. When he came back, their behaviour was exactly the same, and the restaurant staff was yet pretending not to notice. When I protested to the maître, she said it was my fault (I should have been their "informer", why?, were they deaf and blind?). They were more interested in charging that couple than in providing a calm atmosphere for others' dinner. For me it was an awful dinner and I will never come back again.
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Miguel
2 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, November 09, 2011

We were fortunate to get a table on a Tuesday night. The restaurant looked full. We ordered a la carte and were glad that we did - we ordered one starter and a main and were really full! The food was delicious and well presented. I had the scallops to start, which was served with a broth type sauce in a bowl but without a spoon which was a little shame. The lamb rogan josh was alright and my prawn curry was great with the biggest prawns I had ever seen, possibly a little overcooked or just big I’m not sure. We didn’t drink but I thought the wine package to accompany the tasting menu as well as the tasting menu looked good and decent value.

The service was inconsistent and really let down the whole evening. I was not impressed by the maitre’d who came across as arrogant and almost disdainful of our questions about the food. The welcome was very relaxed which was fine although not what you may expect, and we had to wait ages for anyone to take our order. We had to wait quite a while between courses although because we were so full that was fine. One of the courses for some reason didn’t turn up for a while after the others which was a bit annoying and we couldn’t seem to attract anyone’s attention when we wanted to order more bread.

Maybe it was an off night for service who didn’t seem to be very happy at their jobs, but it was a shame, and overshadowed the food a bit.
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Annie - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, November 18, 2010

OK, so the place itself is lush and lovely, not unlike being in a very posh restaurant in a recently renovated colonial hotel in Delhi - we know this from experience. All lovely carvings and drapes and Shivas. All the staff are, of course, beautiful. A lovely table, all crispy white linen and sparkling, classic, silver and glassware, beautiful menus and wine list. So we ordered G&Ts, and drooled over the menus, and eventually made our minds up. A pre-starter, which we hadn't ordered, of tiny cappuccino cups full of this thin, but incredibly intense, spicy chicken soup, was absolutely delicious. Then my wife's soft shelled crab in spicy batter, and my aloo chaat arrived, and we were in transports of delight. God! Her crab was just amazing, fragrant and sweet and succulent, in light-as-a-feather batter, with a little single ravioli of brown crab meat. My aloo consisted of this:- a little loose patty of black beans, and lime and coconut marinated tiny diced cucumber white, then a thin layer of thin cream cheese, then a disc of spicy puff pastry then the best aloo chaat (fried potato patty) I've ever tasted, light and just-spicy-enough, with a single celeriac crisp and a cloud of apple foam on top. Just beautiful. Mains were thus:- my wife had 4 HUGE tandooried prawns, with a quietly spicy tomatoey salad and a selection of smears of fishy/spicy sauces, all of it just beautiful, while I had a block of masala dusted monkfish, pan-fried, sitting on a heap of brown, nearly risottoed Goan rice, with two pan-fried prawn tails, all of it surrounded by an incredibly intense, yet incredibly light, spicy fish reduction sauce, kind of like if you made beurre blanc with fish stock instead of vegetable. Add to that the nicest Reisling we'd ever had. Then a palatte clearing passion fruit granita (another freebie), then the De Luxe dessert platter - 6 different desserts, including rosewater creme brullee and chocolate and cardamom ice cream, and it was all just HEAVENLY. £134 for the two of us, which is, for the quality and choice, amazingly good value. 10/10!
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nik devlin
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 10, 2010

I am wary of paying for a 'high-end' Indian meal given a plethora of very decent 'cheaper' restaurants. Usually my concerns are met, but with with Zaika, I believe I have found one of my favourite restaurants (not just Indian) in London. Yes a meal is pricey, but well worth it for delicious dishes from Dwivedi's creative brain.

Looking forward to going again!
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RY - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, July 27, 2010

WHAT A RIP OFF!!!!!!

I/we could not believe how expensive this place was. Went there for lunch after having read reviews. First courses were tasty and nice. Main courses: Goan chicken was sickly - too much cocout cream, tikka (I think) prawns there were about 5 on the plate for nearly £20.00. And the timing? We were the only two there and it took 1 1/2 hours from the momemt we ordered to the end of the meal...far too long inbetween courses.

So, 2 starters, 2 mains, 1 bottle of wine = nearly £100.00!
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5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Went on the set menu early deal. some ability on show from the kitchen especially in the starters, but the mains were very low quality and we were treated as second class citizens. Fair enough on an offer? Not really, ignoring the fact that if you can't do a deal professionally, don't offer it, in fact it was still £35 a head by the time you put in a glas of wine and service, which may not be a lot in London, but is hardly nothing. The supercillious looking down the nose service set against the fact that by eating in less expensive areas you can eat far better for less means that if the aim of early evening deals is to encourage me back to the a la carte they failed abjectly.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Sunday, June 28, 2009