We asked AI, Gemini, to find us a restaurant open Sunday night which provided sparklers for a birthday party. We also asked for a restaurant with vegetarian options. I wanted to go to the Argentinian steak house in Whetstone, all you can eat. My son said you have to give them 24 hours notice for the fish option. Besides we wanted to try somewhere new to us.
AI gave us about ten choices. Top of our shortlist was Zaza restaurant in Pinner.
We compared all the reviews on Tripadvisor and Google maps. Zaza seemed to please most people and stay within budget. So we booked.
A Good Start
The restaurant has a double front, easy to find, near the corner. You know the famous promise, 'you can't miss it ' - but you do. We missed it. We drove down the long high street of shops and pubs from the church down to the Park - ending with the lake and Heath Robinson Museum and Pinner station to your left. It's not there. It's in the short run of shops in the road running parallel. In a moment we were there.
Delightful Decor
Lovely lights on the decorative tree. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
I liked the imitation tree branching across the ceiling in both of the two rooms. At night it is attractively lit with white fairy lights.
We were in the less busy second room. Our reserved table was a circular table with a bench alcove. A bench is convenient for spreading your bags around you, off the floor, safely away from thieves. Those on the bench are away from clumsy passers-by who might trip over your bags, or bump into your chair. We could sandwich the 5 year old between two adults on the circular bench so she could not get lost or annoy others and we could attempt to make her eat.
Music
Music was playing as we arrived but it soon diminished and was never so loud that we could not talk.
Drinks
Prosecco served in a Champagne flute kept me happy. The menu offered lots of drinks available by the glass. Good for the drivers - we had two drivers, two families in separate cars. Also non-alcoholic drinks.
We went without starters as we were saving ourselves for dessert.
The restaurant has a child's menu.
Spaghetti bolognaise was served up with no meat and tomato sauces on the side for a child, at our request.
Main Courses
The salad we ordered as a side dish with one of the main courses contained small green olives.
Lamb in sauce, cheaper than the steak, excellent for a meat eater.
Seafood - a good selection of three kinds of seafood.
Chicken with potatoes. I prefer to have chicken in white sauce with mushrooms. I settled for breaded chicken and it surprised me by being acceptable. I liked the small potatoes in herbs.
Desserts
The high point of the meal for me was desserts.
First, most important, the dessert for the birthday girl. It arrived with happy birthday written on the plate, in chocolate sauce, and a candle.
She had not ordered dessert, and was not asked to order a dessert so that they had something to put the candle on, which had happened to us once at another restaurant.
It was not just a small round dessert plate but a big oblong plate to take the writing. \Looking at the picture I took, I notice they have gone to the trouble to add a red heart drizzled in a brown chocolate outline. The dessert is on a square surround which looks good - and makes it look larger whilst not overwhelming the diner with sugar.
For health reasons, I would rather have fruit dessert, without sugar. In the old days, back in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Italian restaurants and hotels, in both England and Italy, would have a dessert trolley and one of the options would be a fresh peach, one of any piece of fruit from a fruit bowl, a fruit salad, or an orange, or pieces of peach or other fruit in a syrup.
I had lemon tart, the nearest I could get to something which sounded as though it contained one drop of fruit. It was attractively presented, with an impressive decorative swirl of red sauce. The sauce was tasty. It tasted of sweet strawberries and sugar.
The bar is by the door and we had been greeted on arrival by somebody who asked if we had booked and showed us to our table. Somebody at the bar said goodbye as we left.
Toilets
Two cubicles, one for men, one for women. Conveniently on the ground floor. Like all the restaurant.
Service
Service was obliging and fast.
Verdict
Not haute cuisine. We would not rush to go back. But very pleasant once in a while.
Not Michelin standard but good enough and a good price.
Parking
On Sunday night parking was easy, in the road outside for free. Also in the car park opposite.
What did they not do? What could they add? No flowers on the table. In lieu of a bouquet I had cut a four or five rose heads off my garden roses, and the waitress, at my request for a bowl, brought a drinking glass which I filled with water to act as a small vase.
No chocolates with the bill. But I did not miss them at the time, only in analyzing the whole place with a fine tooth comb, in retrospect. We were quite happy. We had had chocolate dessert.
The Name Zaza
After I got home, I wondered why the restaurant was called Zaza. First, Za or Zaza is an abbreviation or slang term for pizza. Yes, they have pizza on the menu.
Secondly Zaza is a character in Italian pop culture, and was famous in the 1944 Napolitan song Where is Zaza (Dove sta Zaza).
Thirdly, Zaza is a popular name for friendly family restaurants. The Trattoria Zaza is famous in Florence, Italy.
If you are wondering where you have heard the name Zaza before in English, it is the name of a biblical character in the Book of Chronicles, an Italian footballer, in rap songs it stands for potent weed (marijuana), and the zebra Zaza is a character in the children's TV series Peppa Pig.
You might also be thinking of the fashion brand Zara. Or the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. But now you know it is a restaurant in Pinner.
The Zaza Italian Restaurant group has seven branches. The other six are in Berkhamsted, Bushey, Enfield, Harpenden, Old Amersham, and Ruislip. You can book a private dining room for a fee at Old Amersham, Ruislip and Berkhamsted.
Zaza Italian Restaurant,
8 Love Lane, Pinner, HA5 3EF.
Tel:020 8866 3883
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