Zai Cafe in Richmond upon Thames

Cosy restaurant/bar/coffeeshop, tastely decorated, a few minutes from the Kew station. It offers good quality, simple breakfasts and lunch dishes, all freshly prepared with good quality ingredients from a small open kitchen at the back. Prices are reasonable for the area but with a 15% service added to the bills.

I recently completed a two-month stint at this restaurant. Unfortunately, during my time there, I encountered issues with late payment, with delays extending over a week in the first month and two weeks into the second. My attempts to contact them have been met with silence. However, I must commend the dedicated staff who consistently delivered excellent food despite limited resources. While the restaurant upholds public health and quality products as core values, my experience behind the scenes revealed inconsistencies in meeting these standards.

We went for the first time on a Saturday at 4pm. They only served drinks and cake at the time which is what we wanted. The menu was varied and lots to choose from. I had the Sky at night cocktail and lemon polenta cake. My daughter had the matcha latte and loved it. We didn't need to wait long and the music they played had created a good vibe. I would recommend.

I ordered a Sunday roast and a birthday cake when making a reservation on OpenTable three days before my visit, but I never received a response. On the day of my visit, the Sunday roast was sold out. Since my husband had been looking forward to it, his birthday ended up being a disappointing one.

We went for a celebration and had requested a booth table but sadly we were put in a corner table behind a pillar and felt very much separated from the atmosphere and buzz of the restaurant. The staff were really friendly and polite. But by the end of the evening we struggled to get anyone’s attention to get the bill ~ being behind a pillar out of sight staff help! The food however was excellent and we both enjoyed our meals. The shrimp and salmon burger special was delicious.