Tsuru (previously Ginza), 139 Woolwich Road, Greenwich, SE10 0RJ, London

Update: We've been there a few times since this post, and it's now either called Tsuru or Sensuru of Sentsuru. I'm not sure, because all three versions of the names are printed on the menu and outside the restaurant.

You would've thought that in a village (right word?) like Greenwich, there would be quite a few good restaurants around. I mean, you get tourists by the bus-loads here, each one eager to be at The Start Of Time(zone), and surely these guys have to eat something in between all that time(zone) travelling? Apparently not.

From the restaurants we've tried in Greenwich central (ie the small bit that exists between the 2 sets of traffic lights), the only ones worth dining at are the chain restaurants like GBK and Pizza Express. If you're really desperate (like, really really) for some Chinese takeaway style food, then there's always Tai Won Mein which serves up cheap nosh in quantities worth taking pictures of. However, if you're up for some decent, non-chain restaurant style food, I'm afraid I've not found one that's worth blogging about yet. Maybe it exists, I surely haven't found it.

But read on. There is a glimmer of restaurant hope yet further down the road.



So, moving down Trafalgar Road, further away from Greenwich town itself, there once was a lovely little Japanese restaurant called Ginza. This lovely gem of a find served some of the freshest, thickest slices of sashimi I've had in London, with a cosy, comfortable interior most suited for first dates (if you're splashing out). With almost no obvious clientele base in the are, how the business survived, I never knew, but I guess that question is out the window now that the restaurant seems to have changed its name.

It's now called Tsuru.

To be honest, you'd never even know the place had changed name if you just went by it. The decor's the same, the signboard's the same (with the obvious exception that the letters now spell T-s-u-r-u- instead of G-i-n-z-a), the colours are the same. Heck, the whole restaurant including the little walk-through-cloth-door-things are the same.

Anyhow, we decided to give this new place a try - going with the assumption that since everything but the name remained unchanged, maybe, just maybe, the quality of the food would be the same also. With my folks and the husband in tow, we headed there one Thursday evening around dinner time. As usual, there was only one other table occupied by 2 diners who seemed more absorbed in their Blackberries/IPhones than each other, so all the attention of the waiting staff were focused on us. The service was fast and efficient, with our tea cups being filled up constantly.

We decided to go all out and order whatever we wanted. Usually, there is always some sort of limiting factor; be it the waist-line, the budget, or just self-control (which is usually absent at the best of times). Today, we chucked all of that out the window, and just flipped the pages of the menu, letting our fingers fall where it felt like. While I rubbed my hands in glee at the thought of all this food, my camera gave a squeak of approval, indicating that it was indeed time to place our orders.


I love it when there are free side dishes. These were good ones, too.



Pickled cucumbers which had a funny (in a good way) texture, being slightly chewy yet crunchy. How do they do that. Pickled ginger - OK though nothing special, but free so always good.

Crab salad

One of my absolute favourites when I can find it. I knew that Ginza did a very good version of this, so to test the standards of Tsuru, I decided to give this one a try and I'm glad I did. I think the portion got a little bigger from before, not that I'm complaining. Thinly-sliced cucumber and crabsticks mixed in with Japanese mayo and fish eggs make for an absolutely unbelievable combination - I think I could eat truckloads of this stuff. Crunchy, soft and creamy at the same time - perfect filling for a sandwich.

California hand-roll

I'm beginning to think I have the taste buds of a 5-year old. Why do I like Kewpie mayo so much? This hand-roll was very generous - lots of soft sushi rice filled with crabsticks, cucumber, lettuce, mayo, topped with fish eggs. In fact, this could have been the crab salad, wrapped in seaweed. Realisation.



Sashimi boat (£36 for 30 pieces)

When I said push the boat out, I meant push the sashimi boat out. Since there were 4 of us there, we had to try this one out. As there was about 4 slices of everything, a quick calculation shows that there must have been 6 or 7 types of sushi, with some types having more or less than 4 slices (most useless sentence of the day). I'm trying to recall what types of fish there were, bear with me ...


Salmon - fresh, cold and thickly sliced.
Squid - I had this all to myself. Each piece was crunchy, cold and creamy at the same time.
Tuna - Husband's favourite, and apparently it was nice. Tuna tastes of nothing to me, and has a texture which I don't like.
Octopus - Fresh, cold, though I don't like it as much as I like squid. Squid is the bees knees.
Surf clam - New found favourite. Doesn't taste of much, which is good, because if it tasted of fish, maybe it's gone off. Anyhow, chewy and springy which I like.
Scallop - Mmm fresh and very soft. Sweet tasting, well-textured, fab.
Prawn - Served cold, each (tiny) piece of prawn was delightfully crunchy and sweet-tasting.
Red snapper - Didn't have much of this but from the bite I had, it was lovely also. Just like everything else served.



OK, so I can recall 8 items, which means there wasn't 4 slices of the stuff. Maybe I'm making the whole 4-slices thing up. Whatever. It was nice.



Dragon roll

Mmm mmm mm this was so good. I've had something similar to this before, but what makes this so much better than the others is the fantastic quality of sushi rice used. Soft, slightly vinegary, chewy - it wrapped and complemented the warm prawns perfectly. Maybe there was more Kewpie in it, that's why I liked it so much? Each piece was like a little drop of morning dew (or similar) - even imagining it now is making me want a piece.



Ebi (prawn) tempura

Like how huge is this prawn! You probably can't tell, actually, from the photo, but it was the length of a Subway sandwich. Batter was nice, went all gooey and soft when dipped in the radish sauce, and prawn was fresh and crunchy. The item on the menu was actually the mixed tempura with vegetables but we decided to ask the chef if he could make it just prawns and he did.



Steak teppanyaki

Sizzling plate brought to the table, and we went 'Wow that's a lot of onions on top'. Turns out (as you probably already know), those weren't onions, but Bonito shavings instead. As we melted each shaving on our tongues, the taste of the fish and meaty steak blended in wonderful mix of sweet, salty and umami tango. I thought the meat would be slightly chewy, but they were as soft as cotton candy, and it hardly took any chewing at all - which was good so we could eat more in less time.



Plain rice

Fools, what fools we were. Like we thought there wouldn't have been enough carbs to fill us up, what with all the fish and meat on order, so we decided to bulk it up with one portion of plain rice (and how pretty it is too). Turns out, we were stuffed by the time we finished the sashimi boat, so it was with plenty of bravado and effort that I finished the rice (helped down with lots of steak gravy).



Unagi rice box

Ordered this as it's one of our favourites, although by the time it arrived at the table, we were kinda looking at it with a mixture of wry and full stomachs. Despite that, each piece of eel was tasty and tender enough to entice us to have more of it. Soft, slightly slippery on the chopsticks, and ever so sweet and jelly-like, this was a delight. The gravy was perfect with the rice, and we ended up finishing that too.



Grilled salmon head

One of the cheaper items on the menu, though the taste and quality was on par with the other items. It's probably because salmon heads are sold almost as discards in supermarkets, I reckon you can get one whole one for under £2. Grilled to dry perfection (the way it should be), the skin was crispy (so thin and crispy it was almost like crackling paper) while retaining the lovely salmon juice inside. The lemony sauce provided for dipping the fish into was again another success when eaten with rice.



Green tea soba

One of the simpler dishes with deceptively complicated methods of preparation - and my mom's favourite dish. I can't say for sure if the soba is made fresh on the premises but it sure tasted good. There's something about soba that makes me prefer it over pasta and most other noodles. For one, it can be eaten cold without it being starchy and sticky. It's also chewy and al dante despite being left out for some time, and in fact, it's probably one of the few items which taste better when eaten cold. The sauce provided for dipping wasn't too sweet, wasn't too salty, and in fact was just right (Goldilocks style). Slurped my way to the finishing line.

Glad to say that although the restaurant has changed its name (and seemingly most of its staff), the menu is pretty much the same as it was before. The quality of the food has definitely remained consistent, if not better than before, and we look forward to having this little gem in Greenwich as one of our 'special occasions' dining venues.

The Pilot Inn, 68 River Way, Greenwich, London, SE10 0BE

The original idea was to go to the Princess of Wales in Blackheath for the Sunday roast. That idea was somewhat thwarped when cats and dogs started raining, and everyone in Blackheath decided to go to the Princes of Wales for Sunday roast. The only other place which would be less crowded would be the Pilot Inn, so off we went.

The Pilot Inn is one of those establishments where the vibe depends very much on whether or not there are people in the place. I guess you might say that applies to most places, but the decor here (traditional and very wood-y, almost like a comfortable, library with a roaring fireplace) means that without many people sitting around chatting, it’s almost like sitting in a library.

On the Sunday that we were here, there were loads of people, but not so many that there wasn’t tables for us. Perfect.

Roast beef £8.95

When we first moved to London, the prices of roast was something of an eye-opener to us. Nearly a tenner for some roast? We’d shake our heads and look for some cheaper option elsewhere. Now, we know better. We know that £10 is the average price for a roast, and sometimes, it’s not even good roast.

The good thing was, the roast here is good. Almost excellent, even. If not for the slightly bland gravy. Huge portions accompanied by lots of wonderful roast vegetables (al dante carrots, a rare find these days), a fabulous looking Yorkshire pudding, and 2 generous slices of roast beef.

Pea and ham soup £3.25

I chose the soup as I though that that would be the least tempting thing on the menu. Let me digress for a while here (the soup was delicious, by the way).

When I go to a restaurant, I immediately choose the nicest, most delicious, most scrumptious thing on the menu, and cross it off the list. I then cross items off one by one, according to whether or not they are:

- calorific (everything is, I know, but there are categories)
- commonly found everywhere (eating out for a reason)
- so delicious that I’ll probably finish it all myself, and glare at anyone who wants some

By the time this list is done with, there are usually not many items left on the menu. Soup is usually one of them. Side salads also sometimes feature.

Thus, it was very much a surprise (pleasant surprise) when I took one mouthful of the soup and discovered it to be the best soup I’ve had from a restaurant / pub / place selling food. The pieces of ham were actually evident (I know!!!) and the soup was so meaty tasting! So pea tasting! So fantastic!

Finished it all at one go, by myself.

Would I recommend this place? Of course! Now that I’ve just discovered it myself, we’re gonna be coming back to try out more of its menu, line by line!

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Peninsula Chinese Restaurant, Holiday Inn Express, Bugsby Way, SE10 0GD

Restaurants within hotels evoke a sense of wariness in me, one usually associated with leftover microwaved food and the sound of silence in the dining area. This wonderful Chinese restaurant quashes all those worries, and is definitely one of the gems in the Greenwich area.

Although it has to be said that their lunch-time dim sum is yet to impress (click here).

With our group of 4 wanting to eat lots, and fast, we decided that the best way to go would be down the hotpot route, with lots of rice.

Stir fried kailan with beef £9

This was not something on the menu, as the main choice on the menu was kailan with scallops (too much of an extravagance, really). Going down the beefy route, we thought that would be more value for money, but it turned out to be only 50p cheaper.

Braised beancurd and fillet fish hotpot £10

For those of you wondering why this dish seems to be a permanent feature on this blog, it is because this happens to be one of our favourite items, so we have made it our mission (such a tough one) to go round all the restaurants comparing how this dish fares in each restaurant. So far, this dish is best done in this restaurant.

With lots of generously sized pieces of white fish, deep-fried, and stewed with tofu and vegetables in a lovely, thick gravy, this is perhaps the best dish to have with rice. Or on its own, whatever, it is that nice.

Braised beef flank – ordinary traditional recipe with mooli £9

Wow this was one impressive dish. We’d had it once before when we ate here with a group of friends, but at the time, the meat was quite stringy and tough, so while the taste was impressive, the texture of the meat did nothing much to impress me.

This time, however, the bits of meat were perfectly cooked, each one almost melting in the mouth with such loveliness, and so much taste that it made me want to down the whole pot at once (but for the sake of social decorum, I didn’t). The gravy was slightly sweet, with bits of ginger in it giving a hint of spice, and cooked so well that the beefiness was so well immersed throughout the dish. Really, really liked it.

Would I recommend this place? Definitely so for the dinner menu.

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Bar du Musee, Greenwich, London

Most museums have coffee houses attached to them, sort of like a revenue generator and a place for bored, non-cultural types to have a chat, a coffee and a nap. There is a Maritime museum in Greenwich, but this doesn’t quite explain why Bar du Musee is French.

The only thing French about Greenwich is the fries from McDonald’s (not sure if Cafe Rouge counts as French?).

If you’ve never been to Greenwich, I suggest you make a trip here. Obviously, if you’re not from around the same region, district, country, continent, ignore that suggestion. Some people describe it as a mini-Bath or a medium-York.

If you don’t know what Bath or York looks like, then, possibly the entire paragraph above was pretty much useless to you.

When it’s bright and warm in Greenwich, there are tourists about everywhere. Students from Europe come for school trips, chic types hang out at the chic type boutiques (all one-off chic non-mass produced type attire) and poodles come out in full force.

One sunny day, we decided to check this place out. Having had gone past it many times previously, peering in curiously wondering what on earth was in there, we decided that enough was enough. French or English, croissant or iced-buns, we’d try it out.

Inviting until you try to figure out which of the doors went to the cafe, the restaurant of the tea room.

The first thing you see when you are in the cafe is this chandelier. There are 3 of them in there, confirming the fact that you will be paying more for your tea here than you pay for an average meal elsewhere. Nevertheless, let’s not be biased before we’ve even looked below the chandelier.

Below the chandelier is the price board, confirming for a fact that you will be paying more for your tea here than for an average meal elsewhere (because I am a cheapskate and eat at cheap places).

Once in the restaurant, you look around at what the other tables are having, and immediately wonder why you just couldn’t be generous enough to fork out that little bit more for a nice meal here.

Instead, we just ordered a cup of tea and a lemonade, and because it looked so good, a piece of raspberry cheesecake. This just goes to show that standards are ever still so low, and the pocket strings are possible tighter than before (freebies?).

Look, wouldn’t we have had liked to enjoy a meal here? Indeed we would have. Instead, we sipped our tea and Coke slowly, savouring the lovely ambience.

I’m not sure if this was actually the raspberry cheesecake we ordered but it sure didn’t look like any cheesecake I’d had before. It sure smelled like raspberry, but texture-wise, it was more like a mousse-y spongey cake.

Would I come back to this restaurant? Well, considering the fact that we didn’t actually have a meal in here, I wouldn’t say I’d eaten here, but I’d sure like to try the restaurant out. Great ambience for sure.

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Thai Silk, O2 Dome, Greenwich, London

The O2 is a huge, round dome located at the edge of the River Thames by Greenwich, London. In line with naming everything ‘millennium’ something or another, this round James Bond landing pad is also known as the Millennium Dome.

When it was initially built, there was simply more space than necessary, which couldn’t be filled with shops. No shops and alot of space meant no profits, which led to the sale of the dome for something really cheap (before the £ was worthless).

There are at least restaurants and clubs now in the O2 Dome, and most days there are concerts and events going on here. As a result, there are many (if not all) chain restaurants here, some good, some not so good.

I’d been to Thai Silk once previously, when there was absolutely no one else dining in there apart from my group. This time around, the restaurant was quite full, mainly with people who looked as though they were waiting to go to a gig (bored-looking, and with not much food on the table).

As we were there for a light meal, I tried to go easy on the ordering but somehow, still ended up with 1 starter and 2 main meals.

Chicken wings, stuffed with some tofu mixture £3.50 (ish)

Nice, but not nice enough to cost £3.50 for 4 wings. I don’t know the exact price (navigating their website requires alot of directional skills which I don’t have) but I know I ordered it because I was under the impression that I’d get more wings than that.

While it was crispy, it was also quite bland. Not sure if someone told Chef that tofu is bland and that perhaps more seasoning should have been added in, but he certainly went light on the salt (unlike Carluccio’s). The chilli dip that came with it was not much help in adding to the taste.

Pad Thai £5-ish

How would I describe this. Well, imagine if you went to the shop and bought a dried pack of Thai noodles, read the instructions which said to soak it before cooking, and promptly ignored those instructions. Then, imagine putting these dried noodles (uncooked) into the frying pan, and frying it with the usual stuff you fry it with. Result?

Uncooked tasting Pad Thai, pretending to be cooked Pad Thai. The noodle was so hard that I couldn’t tell the difference between biting into the peanut bits and the noodle.

Pineapple fried rice £5-ish

This ‘fried’ rice was possible the most un-fried rice I’ve ever tasted. Even under the romantic dimmed lights meant for tricking food bloggers, the rice was very pink for something that was meant to be fried. It also tasted like it hadn’t been fried.

All these points which made me conclude that it had NOT been fried.

It tasted like sticky rice which had been mixed around with some tom yam soup and ketchup. In other words, slightly sour, slightly sticky and not fried. There was no fried egg bits in there, and the 5 prawns on top of the rice didn’t look fried either.

I’m going to put a map to this place below, but you might very possibly find nicer food at the local takeaway.

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