Zai Restaurant
Where: 50 Campbell Ave, Morningside
Open: Monday to Saturday 8am to 2am, Sunday 9am to 1am
Call: 031 309 1422
Ingrid Shevlin and I popped into lunch at the relatively new Argentinian grill, Zai, at the bottom of Windermere Road. We had originally intended to try the oddly named CowFish which has been promising to open on Florida Road for some time. In fact, its social media suggested it was open but the paper was sealing up the windows. Strange.
Zai has taken over the empty space next to old Bean Bag Bohemia, which used to be Vintage. It opened mid last year and has had a complete make-over. Wood panelled, with deep teal coloured walls and comfy Scandinavian mid-century style chairs, it has a dramatic and well-stocked bar and tables along the open glass frontage looking out into the street. At the side is an open veranda which is the smoking section, and tables spill out onto the pavement. Two guys are hubbly bubblying the time away on the roadside. It’s all smart and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We arrive at a busy restaurant at the tail end of the breakfast buffet. We sat near the window but moved tables as the large party under the window was getting decidedly boisterous, and we wanted a bit of quiet time.
The food boasts about being authentic Argentinian in style, cooked on a charcoal grill. I am often not sure what difference there is to South African food cooked on the braai. We both have a tradition of serving good meat. But there are references to sauces like chimichurri and snacks like empanada, and there are dishes like espetada ‒ which I thought was more Portuguese. They do miss out on dulce de leche on the small dessert menu. I am less sure about Argentinian than simply a good steakhouse.
The menu is an ode to beef, and the customers are of the beefy set, many who are not scared to flaunt their beefiness.
We started sharing chicken empanadas (R85), little pies which were crisp with a tasty minced chicken filling. They were done an injustice by being served with a bought sweet chilli sauce. Something with some Argentinian punch might have done better. Other options might be chimichurri (the second “i” left out on the menu) chicken wings, lamb riblets with chilli or meatballs in tomato sauce. There are oysters and mussels for fish lovers.
Mains take in sirloin, rump, fillet, T-bones and tomahawks. There’s oxtail and said espetada. Lamb takes in a shank and chops, pork could be ribs or belly. Predictably, there are burgers and a curry.
Ordering is complicated by the fact that Ingrid and I have different menus. I settled for the beef short rib (R245), billed as “braised beef short rib slowly cooked for three hours served with mash and vegetables” on my menu. On Ingrid’s it’s “400g short beef ribs very rich flavour and an addictive crispy”.
The short rib was certainly tasty and tender and came with a lovely rich gravy. It might have done with a little more cooking as it didn’t fall from the bone, but I enjoyed it. I also liked the fact that it came with a good selection of braised vegetables, including Brussels sprouts. While Brussels might not be my thing, it shows the kitchen is trying to keep things interesting. Fortunately there was no sign of any “addictive crispy”.
Ingrid went for the camarones diabla (R290), which in reality is a Mexican dish of deviled shrimps in a hot and spicy tomato sauce. But the menu here advertised them as eight king prawns chargrilled with peri-peri (Mozambique) or lemon butter or cajun spice (southern US). These were nicely cooked and the lemon butter tasty. It came with a side (she chose mash) and some more of those lovely veggies. She enjoyed them.
We didn’t have time for dessert but they’re pretty predictable. Malva pudding (SA), waffles (Belgium), and crème brȗlée tart (France) are some of the options. No sign of the famed choco torta or Rogel torta, or even a humble flan.
Food: 3
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 3
The Bill: R882 including a 10% service charge
The Independent on Saturday