Zaza Italian Restaurant, Pinner, For a Family Birthday Meal

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

Zaza Restaurant, Pinner. Photo by Angela Lansbury.  Copyright. 

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.

Salad. Potatoes. Zaza Restaurant in Pinner. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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 at Zaza Restaurant

The high point of the meal for me was desserts. 

Birthday Cake Slice At Zaza Restaurant

First, most important, the dessert for the birthday girl. The small portion of cake 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.

Lemon Tart At Zaza restaurant

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 at Zaza

Two cubicles, one for men, one for women. Conveniently on the ground floor. Like all the restaurant.

Service at Zaza

Service was obliging and fast. 

Verdict on Zaza Restaurant, Pinner

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 in Pinner near Zaza Restaurant

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. 

Zaza Restaurant Branches

The Zaza Italian Restaurant group has seven branches. The other six are in Berkhamsted, Bushey, Enfield, Harpenden, Old Amersham, and Ruislip. 

Private Dining Rooms At Zaza Restaurants

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

Useful Websites

www.zaza.co.uk

-ends-

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Majestic Warehouse, Ruislip - Free Tastings and Affordable Wines

 

Majestic 

The Majestic Wine warehouse in Ruislip puts on tastings regularly. Free. Get on their mailing list to be informed.

On April  10th 2025 we tasted five wines, a sparkling, two whites and two reds. I liked them all, although I don't normally drink or like red wine.

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

We started with a British sparkling wine, Silverhand Estate Sparkling Brut, from Kent. This area of the downs is chalky (you may recall the image in your mind on hearing the song about the white cliffs of Dover, immortalised in the Vera Lynn song). Those chalk soils, which the French call terroir, like territory, are the same as the base in France's Champagne region. But the British sparkling wine is cheaper, only 18 pounds sterling a bottle, the price comes down to only 12.0 if you buy it in the Majeti Wines Mi Six, a case of six mixxed wines.

Magestic sell wines, beers, spirits, low and no alcohol beers and spirits, packets of nuts and crisps. They do deliveries, free tasting, beginner learning sessions for a low price), wines by the bottle cases of 6 or 12, and a wine club. Their premises are in England, Scotland and Wales.

Useful Websites

https://www.majestic.co.uk/stores

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majestic_Wine

https://www.u3a.org.uk/

Please follow my blog and share links to your favoutie posts.

Angela Lansbury, author - travelling, wining, dining and learning languages. 

Blogs on travel, dress of the day, comical poetry.

What Was Good About The Middlesex Stadium - For Refreshments After a Funeral At Breakspear Crematorium

The Clubhouse Sports Bar and Lounge - a surprise venue after a funeral.

Drive into the car park after a funeral and it is convenient from the start. You can even fill up your electric car.

Jugs of water were on the table.

Problem
The stadium? Where is it? I had been to Ruislip crematorium several times, also to funeral teas held at the Barn Hotel, Ruislip.

We were offered white wine, apple juice, orange juice on arrival. Sandwiches on the table.

Sandwiches over on the buffet display. Samosas. Chips in spicy tomato juice.

Brown bread sandwiches with three fillings. I opted for chopped hard boiled egg.

Cake
Delicious cake with buttercream.

Cake looked ordinary. I ate it anyway. Much better than it looks. Good. I tried another piece. Excellent. Cake I dream of. The buttercream filling had an almost crunchy texture. 

Biscuits.
Coffee machine.

Screens showed family photos. A good venue to recover after the funeral. Could not be more convenient.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author and speaker.

MUSIC! The Carnival March, Comic Operetta, Festivals, and all kinds of Music, Music!

Problem
What kind of music festival can I go to? Are you looking for a birthday or holiday event for a specific date, or just entertainment?

Answers

BY TYPE OF MUSIC

Tribute Acts

Obama Greek restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Carnival Parades

Christmas Carols
Events at churches in London and worldwide. Midnight Mass.

Classical
Lucerne Congress and Culture Centre, Lucerne, Switzerland, August 10 - September 8, 2018


.(Provisional dates. Check with booking agency.)

Comic Operetta

Grimsdyke Hotel Restaurant.

You can also stay in the hotel in a suite.

Country & Western
USA
Singapore has had a Country Music station on Saturday afternoons. It keeps disappearing I presume because of diminishing interest or people in charge wanting a change, then is brought back by popular demand.

Hymns and Sacred Music

Jazz

Opera
Verona. Outdoors in ancient arena. (Take warm wraps for shoulders and legs. The daytime is warm but nights even in high summer can be very chilly.)

Pop
Glastonbury is not taking place in 2018. The field and the organisers are having a Sabbatical.

Rock

MUSIC BY COUNTRY

Germany
Festivals and parades in Cologne and Mainz. Hear the traditional Mainz festival march on YouTUbe.

Italy
Verona - outdoor concerts in summer

Milan
Book online at La Scala opera house, Milan. We booked cheaper seats in a box at the top and side still very expensive, in my view. If you are a family and have the whole box, you can take turns sitting at the front and looking over. I was very disappointed. In the first half most of the time the singers were on one side of the stage below.

We had cheaper seats sitting at the back and we saw nothing. Why? Apparently boxes were designed like that so patrons could be behind curtains and secluded for a evening out with who knows who.

In the interval we complained. I would have wanted my money back. The box office said we should have told them earlier that we could not see. They moved us and put us down in the more expensive stall seats, in a back row, for the second half, which was much better.

Other music centres include Cannara.

I visited the house of the composer Puccini. A statue of him shows him smoking. He died of cancer.

Umbria, Italy, where the musical school has held open air concerts since 1843. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright. 

The Athaneum, Bucharest, where George Enescu first performed his orchestral Romanian Rhapsody.

Photo by Goldmund100 in Wikipedia.

www.festivalenescu.ro (Previous festivals in September)

Romania
We drove from the capital of Romania, Bucharest, to the second largest city, Brasov, to join a walking group. Near Sinai I saw a sign to the home of Romanian composer, George Enescu. It was late in the day and the place was closed but we and many other tourists gathered around the gate taking photos of the picturesque house in the woods. He designed this house himself, with the help of an architect.

George Enescu lived from 1881-1955. He taught Lord Yehudi Menuhin. Enescu was a composer and violinist. He travelled to the USA to perform, and lived in France. He is buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery, which has many dramatic graves of famous people and is a tourist attraction where devotees pay homage to their favourite artistes.

You can see a seated sculpture of him in Bucharest. Vienna has a wall plaque of his face on a bas relief on a house where he lived.

I wanted a musical souvenir of Roumania. I bought this music box which plays Rhapsodie Roumaine.

Switzerland
Festivals in Lucerne and Basel

Composers by Country
Poland - Chopin

UK -
London Beatles walking tour. You can walk across the zebra crossing which appeared on one of their covers.
Gilbert & Sullivan comic operetta (events at Grimsdyke Hotel, which was Gilbert's home).
Kenwood House, Hampstead.
Last Night of the Proms, Royal Albert Hall. Cheapest tickets are standing in the gallery.
Glyndbourne, opera, with strawberries and champagne picnics and deckchairs for hire.
Liverpool - statue of the Beatles
Many seasides have free concerts given around bandstands in parks in summer.
Musicals - look for two booths in London selling reduced price unsold or returned tickets on the day. You have to arrive early and queue up.
Tune your hire car radio to the BBC classical music stations. Or ask for a car which can play CDs and take your own discs with you to play on long journeys and in traffic jams.

You cannot get out your guitar and play it in a pub or restaurant unless they have a music license. The same goes for a Britain's Got Talent competition. I was in an event as a stand up comedy turn and we had to be moved out of the pub into a cricket club hall a week later because one of the turns was singing and the pub had no license.

Tribute Turns in Restaurants
Orama in Hatch End has regular tribute act evenings, very good value.
Greek restaurant
The Chinese Elvis performs regularly at a restaurant in Ruislip.

Wales
Cardiff Eisteddfod.


Welsh male voice choir performs at Writers Holiday in February in Fishguard, Wales.

The Welsh harp, performance with the Welsh male voice choir at Fishguard, Wales. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

The harpist showed me that the strings of the harp are coloured to help the player find the notes.

Welsh Male Voice Choir performing at Writers' Holiday, Fishguard. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

USA
All over America I saw items once owned by Elvis. A car in one museum, a suit in another, a guitar in another, a disc in another.
The great thing about America is that you are more likely to be able to hear country music on the airplane. You can do an Elvis tour.
Nashville.
Opryland. When I stayed at the Opryland hotel, I would go out in the morning, having had the radio off so I could sleep at night. I would come back and find the radio tuned to play Country music.
Graceland, home of Elvis.

YouTube
If you are looking for a national anthem or classic song, you are likely to find it on YouTube. I found several versions of the comic song about Romania. One was by Shirley Bassey. An even better one was by a Yiddish comic theatre group with a great tenor.

Several websites specialise in booking music events.
(I shall be adding more websites later. Come back tomorrow.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker,

Free wine tasting at Majestic

On the corner of the road leading to the wonderfully art deco Ruislip Lido lakeside restaurant selling cheap meals and drinks is a branch of Majestic where you can try tasting some new wines and spirits for free.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Spanish Menu Translation - inspired by Toresano restaurant in Ruislip

Interrupting my daily Spanish lessons was the thud of the free magazine. I opened Optima magazine and read a review of Toresano, a restaurant in Ruislip, new to me.

I went onto the restaurant's website, found out the name comes from the town of Torre and a Toresana is a person from there, and I started checking the men's Spanish words.

Here's a handy list in alphabetical order:

Spanish - English
a j i l l o (not jail which was the choice of spell checker)  - garlic
Catalana - from the Catalan region or Catalan style
cochinillo - suckling pig (diminutive - think cochon pig)
con - with
crema - cream
crema Catalana
croquetas - croquettes (cut up or shredded or mashed bits in batter)
de - of
filete - filet or slice off the bone of fish or meat
gambas - prawns
garbanzos - chickpeas?
marinado - marinated
mero - halibut?
mixta - mixed
o - or
spinacas - spinach
vegetales - vegetables

Tapas
A small plate of food, often an aperitif served with drinks, eg olives and other titbits, sometimes served free in bars, increasingly served in UK restaurants as a small sharing plate as starters or for a multi dish main course. The word comes from the slice of meat placed across a drink in the old days to keep off the flies. However, the Toresano restaurant menu tells a different story about King Alfonso who was sick and had teeny plates of food with wine and when he recovered passed a law.

A place to practice your Spanish - a Spanish restaurant. However, we did go to a French restaurant in New York with our French former au pair girl Caroline. When she tried speaking fluent French to the waiters it became apparent that they were not native French speakers.

At the moment, a Spanish menu and perhaps a Spanish song, or Mexican song, would do just nicely for me.

The Spanish menu, especially if bilingual, with handy expansions of ingredients plus explanations in English is useful for English people learning Spanish, also for Spanish people learning English.

If you want to practise your Spanish,:
1 Watch Spanish speaking films on the internet with English subtitles,
2 Read the daily news from a Spanish newspaper online,
3 To to a spanish speaking conversation club,
4 Attend a Spanish speaking club in Toastmasters International public speaking organisation.
5 Learn or revise your Spanish using duo lingo.com , free online course
6 Read my previous posts on Spanish
7 https://translate.google.com
8 Website translations: Many websites have a little flag in the top right hand corner. You can click on that to get the web page translated into other languages such as Spanish from English, or English from Spanish.
9 You can also install the language flag in your own computer or laptop. This helps if you want to type Spanish words with the correct accents.

More Information From

Toresano Restaurant
36 High Street, Ruislip, HA4 7AN, tel: 01895 633128
Review in
www.optimamagazine.co.uk
Reviews on TripAdvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1869831-d3216773-Reviews-Toresano-Ruislip_Greater_London_England.html

toastmasters international find a club

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, language teacher, language translator.

Mother's Day Dinner and Lunches

Mother's day dinner and lunch offers are available for March 5th and March 6th, 2016.

For Christmas each country has its own favourite recipes. For valentine's day the favourites, as for Xmas and Easter are champagne, red flowers and chocolates, plus hearts.

For mother's day, a meal out, so she doesn't have to cook, nor do the washing up.

Add a home made card with a picture of mother and the family, especially children. Take a photo at the event.

Book early to be sure of a place, and special offers. Watch out for being charged extra just because it's mother's day.

Note that mother's day in England is different date from Mother's day in the USA.

Miller and Carter are offering free champagne with steak. I would have thought that steak was more for Father's Day, but I'm sure some people will like it. Free Champagne - who's driving?
https://www.millerandcarter.co.uk/restaurants/london/millerandcarterruislip/offers/mothers-day-offer

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Santas Dashing Everywhere, and St Luke's Santa Dash

I saw a group of Six Santas, girls in costume, on the railway station platform at Ruislip and had to photograph them, just in case I can adapt the song on the Twelve Days of Christmas to including Six Santas Sitting or Six Santas Standing.

Varied costumes. One has a short beard and moustache, another a short beard and moustache, one a red hat edged with a white band, another a white edge hood, and two have white eyebrows.

The next day I was sitting in Waitrose, South Harrow, drinking coffee (read my previous post on the cheapest coffee) when a lady dressed as Santa joined  me.

She said she had taken part in a run raising money for St Luke's Hospice. It has several branches  of its charity shops including a large one in Pinner and another in Hatch End.

She said they steam all the clothes so they are crease-free.

Why is it called St Luke? You may recall the rhyme: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, guard the bed that I lie on.The four gospel writers of the New Testament were these four.
Who was St Luke?

According to Wikipedia:

The Roman Catholic Church and other major denominations venerate him as Saint Luke the Evangelist and as a patron saint of artists, physicians, surgeons, students and butchers; his feast day takes place on 18 October.

St Luke's Hospice
http://www.stlukes-hospice.org/events

St Luke's volunteers are wrapping presents in St Anns and St George's Shopping Centres in Harrow, NW London, to raise funds for the local hospice from the 12th December until Christmas Eve.

They are looking for volunteers. You could volunteer to help at a shop or at one of the events.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

More thoughts on Crown Carvery, Water's Edge, Ruislip

The location is great. Desserts are great. Good choice of drinks.

They have a feedback survey.

At around £27 for an all you can eat main course, dessert and drinks it would have been great value if the main course food had been better quality.

The midweek deals and occasional offers are good value.

The meat was dry. The place was pretty empty, so one of us said we could hardly expect them to bring out fresh meat for no customers. The other person said that surely restaurants have to replace food at regular intervals as a legal requirement.

Staff were friendly. The girl taking drinks orders was warm and friendly by the time we left. The man serving the meat made the evening with his tales of his past.

Can you cook and travel the world? I recall that if you wear glasses you might be turned down by the RAF and navy, but could get a job as a chef in the army. Earlier this year at a food show I met a group of chefs who worked on ships.

You could not leave food out from 9 am to midnight even if you had no customers. I thought it had to be replaced every hour, or at least every two hours, worldwide (in Singapore because of the temperature being about 90 degrees f, every hour.)

Feedback Survey
You need the phone number of the restaurant to register the survey. You can find that on your bill (make sure they give you the bill and you keep it). If you forget to keep your bill, you can find the restaurant phone number on a website.

The car park is big and free.

My last tip. Hang on to your unused paper napkin in case the toilet paper has run out.

To end on a happy note, the view was just great and I loved the apple crumble dessert. Yum yum.

Crown Waters Edge

Reservoir Road

Ruislip

HA4 7TY

Tel: 01895 625241.

Angela Lansbury Travel writer and photographer, author, speaker. 

Munching T-bone steak at Miller and Carter Steakhouse, Ruislip - also Harrow in London, England and Wales

Driving into Ruislip we saw this place with an adjacent car park and pulled in for a quick meal.
The decor is inviting, modern and chic. This steakhouse has class. The atmosphere is informal but the place is pristine and smartly decorated, with amusing cartoons on the theme of cows and bulls holding conversations.

Drinks
Lots of choice. Lots of drinks by the glass, conveniently divided by styles on one large page. Could not see a sweet muscat for dessert, but two kinds of zinfandel, red and white.

If you've no room for dessert, coffee with a chocolate pot.

Starters
Chicken wings, four pieces, to start were good. Although billed as spicy with specks of red pimento, not too spicy, just tasty. Came with a finger bowl containing lemon and paper napkins.

Main courses.
Steaks offered included T-bone and our English speaking local London waiter was able to explain clearly the different types and sizes of steak. The steak was served with a choice of three kinds of potato, including the healthy option of baked in its jacket. Chips came in a container. The piece of cooked tomato was well received.

If you have more time than money, get in and out before 6.30 pm when you can have two courses, or add a dessert for £3, at less than £20. Options on the lunch menu include chicken main course and apple crumble dessert, which is not on the evening menu.

The evening desserts are all highly calorific and mostly sugar and toffee and ice cream and chocolate.

This chain has 35 locations including Bath, Cardiff in Wales, Harrow in North London, Lakeside shopping centre, Leeds, Manchester, and Poole.

You can find them using satnav. Follow them on Facebook. Sign up to their newsletter and get a free starter or dessert.

I have reviewed the Ruislip branch on Tripadvisor in November 2014.
More information from
www.millerandcarter.co.uk


Photos copyright Angela Lansbury.
For more information on Angela Lansbury travel writer, author, comic poetry, table etiquette, see YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Lulu.com

Happiness is Lunch in Hawtrey's Restaurant at the Barn Hotel, Ruislip

Look for the history of the hotel in the restaurant menu and wine list.

The hotel has a fire in the old hearth in the old part of the original building. It leans as much as 16 degrees! (Now shored up, apparently.)

If you have lunch in Hawtrey's Restaurant, you'll appreciate the hot bread. See my review on Tripadvisor.

The menu changes weekly.

The hotel has a car park.

If you are coming by train, the hotel is next to Ruislip station if you are coming here from central London, or meeting a friend, family, or colleagues who are coming from central London.

Ruislip station is not to be confused with the other Ruislip stations. Check the website.

Birthday Lunch At Hawtrey's Restaurant in the Barn Hotel, Ruislip, London

Hawtreys has always been one of my two top favourite restaurants for food and historic atmosphere. The Barn hotel has a log fire burning in the central lounge under beams.

Starter
    The set menu changes daily. I am allergic to shellfish and did not feel like mushroom soup so I opted for the egg. I knew the chef would do something special. My egg appeared with a crunchy outside. Deep fried? the bacon was turned into a triangular sail. Hardly healthy. But very tasty.

Main Course
  My main course of lamb was perfect. I didn't really notice the potato. The beans were satisfying. Under the lamb I discovered asparagus.

Dessert
   I had phoned to ask for Happy Birthday to be written on my plate. The Happy Birthday was a delight. The chocolate and sorbet were not overwhelming in flavour, a slight disappointment.

The coffee was not impressive.

But all in all the near-perfect lunch. At a reasonable price.

Ladies
   The ladies toilet is always a delight. Lovely mirrors. Paper tissues as well as paper towels. Gel soap and hand conditioner. Elegant and colourful. You emerge feeling elegant, pampered and pleased.