Zaibatsu Returns

by | Oct 5, 2025 | Business, Community, Eating Out, Restaurant, Uncategorized

 

Zaibatsu Returns

The return of Zaibatsu is something that some people in Greenwich have been looking forward to, much like the second coming of Christ. However, unlike Jesus, Zaibatsu is actually returning to the people.

Some of you may be thinking, Who or what is Zaibatsu. Zaibatsu was one of the best Japanese Pan-Asian restaurants in Greenwich, which was forcibly shut down due to underhanded business practices.

Two years ago, Zaibatsu was a thriving business, providing the people of Greenwich with excellent and affordable Japanese and pan-Asian cuisine. However, out of the blue, their landlord decided to evict them, for what people assumed was no ethical reason.

There was a reason, you see. It was alleged that the landlord’s son wanted to get into the restaurant business, so the landlord and his family thought they would evict the thriving business, set up a small restaurant selling virtually the same cuisine, and steal all their loyal customer base. Unfortunately, they seemed to misinterpret the word “loyal”, and many of the loyal customers boycotted the new restaurant.

Some of the reviews gave the Cuckoo restaurant good reviews, but at the end of the day, even if you have fantastic reviews, what they did behind the scenes to achieve them was sneaky, underhanded, and diabolical.

Well, two years later, the Cuckoo restaurant seems to have closed down, and the original Zaibatsu has risen like a phoenix from the flames and will soon reopen at 242 Woolwich Road, in what was, until earlier this year, Peter’s Café.

I refused to review the new restaurant as I thought the way the landlord treated Zaibatsu was shocking. I had a review of Zaibatsu, but had to remove it when Zaibatsu closed. Never fear, a new review will appear as soon as they reopen and settle in.

Admittedly, the location is not as good as the old restaurant, and it will not attract as much foot traffic as it did when it was on Trafalgar Road. The new place is similar in size to the original site, so it’s still cosy and small, and booking in advance will once again be a must in the evening. The wife and I used to go to Zaibatsu after a workout in the gym in the afternoon, so usually they had space so booking was not necessary.

On social media, even some of its loyal followers are saying that it is too far or that there is nowhere to park, despite the large car park of the Greenwich shopping park being nearby, and the 177 bus route running just a short distance from the original shop to the new one.

Luckily for me, I live near the new site, so I plan to frequent it more regularly this time.

 

The Duke is gone.

by | Sep 22, 2025 | Business, Pub, Uncategorized

 

The Duke of Greenwich

It is with a heavy heart that I read about the Duke of Greenwich pub in the murky depths blog https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2025/09/16/greenwich-pub-for-rent-at-80000-after-landlord-couldnt-agree-new-terms/ )  that yesterday (21/9/25) the pub shut for the last time, due once again to a  greedy landlord who is demanding £80,000 per year in rent.

I went to the opening day off this pub, just when it first opened, after waiting some time for the Vanbrugh pub replacement.

I would frequently jump off of my train journey home and Maze Hill for a pint or two of their real ale, and craft beer selection, before continuing my journey to Charlton.  I was even at their beer festival just over two weeks ago.

This is a great shame as it was a great pub. Great beer and a great BBQ outside when the weather was nice.

The opening times were a bit of a puzzle.  Closed Mondays and Tuesdays  and did not open till 4pm on a Wednesday and Shutting at 9pm on a Sunday but despite this the locals and real ale enthusiasts loved the place.

 

Rock Leopard Brewing Co

Rock Leopard Brewing Co

by | Jul 11, 2025 | Business, Community, Pub, Uncategorized

 

The Royal London Borough of Greenwich has a new pub. Well, sort of.

It’s actually a brewery taproom,  located at the Rock Leopard Brewing Company in Thamesmead.

The Rock Leopard Brewing Company was set up in 2017 by Stacey Ayeh, who by then had nearly twenty years of experience in the brewing industry.

Initially, he used the spare brewing capacity of other small brewing companies, such as Cloudwater and Drop Project, which is a method of brewing called cuckoo brewing.

By 2022, the Company had built up a good reputation and business brand, so the next step was to find a permanent brewing home of their own,  and to do this, they used crowdfunding.

They now have a permanent home for a brewing operation in Thamesmead and a community hub taproom called Bouldr Bar, which at the moment is only open at weekends.

Friday 09:00 – 22:30

Saturday 12:00 – 22:30

Sunday  12:00 – 22:00

Location: 13 Wagtail Walk, Cygnet Square, London, SE2 9FE.

Being a taproom, it will obviously be selling their own beers, but it looks like they will probably in future have rotating guest beers, as most tap rooms do.

At the moment, they only have outside seating, which is great for a sunny day but not so when the British weather is being its usual dreary and cold self.

I first heard about this place from a YouTube channel that I follow called John Rogers Walks, and it follows an ex-radio broadcaster called John Rogers who walks all over London whilst giving an educational history about all the places he visits or walks past.

On this one particular episode, he was following the River Wogebourne (No. I had never heard of it either) from its source in Oxleas Woods by Shooters Hill to its ending in the River Thames.

But just before it reaches the Thames, it flows to a large pond in Thamesmead called South Mere, and the Bouldr Bar just happens to be located on a square on South Mere.

John Rogers noticed the Bouldr Bar, sat outside with a drink and gave a summary of his days walk.  If I hadn’t seen the YouTube video I probably  wouldn’t have found out about the Rock Leopard Brewing Company or the Bouldr Bar.

On Saturday (12/07/25) I was on my way to the Ealing beer festival and thought, why not kill two birds with one stone? The Bouldr Bar is only about 11 minutes from Abbey Wood Station, and I can get to Ealing direct from the Elizabeth line at Abbey Wood.

When I got to the Bouldr Bar it had already been opened for about half an hour, and there was a young couple with a child just leaving and for a while I was the only customer until another young family was curious about the place and stopped for a drink.

Stacey Ayeh was serving the Rock Leopard Brewing beers, snacks, and soft drinks from the doorway to the new premises. The inside looked like it was filled with building and decorating stuff.

I asked him when did he think the premises will be up and running as a proper pub. He said they should be installing a kitchen in a few weeks with new interior furniture also to be installed, so they will be doing hot food as well as selling beers, but he hoped to be opening in about three to four months as a fully functioning pub.

Eventually they will be also brewing from the premises.  The Bouldr Bar is set in deeply residential area, and gathering from the hurdles the Green Goddess at the Blackheath Standard had to go through to get a licence to brew on their pub premises I fear Stacey will have a hard time convincing Greenwich Council to agree to it without strict stipulations added.

One of the council’s main worries was the smell of the brewing upon the local residents,  but I for one can say the Green Goddess does not exude any Brewing smells.

He has already been through one block after another with the council so far, just to get where he has now.

He has only been selling his beers from the doorway for the last month or two and already has a  following from some of the locals.

I personally wish him well and can’t wait to finally see the Bouldr Bar open as a proper pub, hopefully by October.

 

 

 

 

The Woolwich Pub Demise.

by | Jun 20, 2025 | Uncategorized

One Sunday morning this week (15/6/25), I got up, switched on the TV and clicked on my YouTube subscription channels, and one video in particular caught my eye.  This video was called The Suffering Pub Scene in Woolwich – South East #London. ( https://youtu.be/noRAD9qzWhg?feature=shared&utm_source=MTQxZ )

The narrator,  Vinnie Sullivan, went on to lament the loss of the many Woolwich pubs lost over the years,  such as the Gun Pit, The Bull, The Mitre, and The Albion

And I have to agree with most of what he said until he started praising the Elephant and Castle, which I reviewed with a friend on 12 October 2024. (See https://greenwichreview.com/pub-reviews/ )

I’m afraid I couldn’t agree with his evaluation of the Elephant and Castle.  I’m not dissing the Elephant and Castle in any way, but when I reviewed it I came to a different conclusion.

If only he had walked through the arch that he looked at when staring through the window of the Elephant,  he would have seen the way Woolwich has progressed, pub-wise.

He didn’t even mention the fantastic Dial Arch, which I would say is the new standard of pub by which others in the area should be measured. The Guard House, The  Great Harry, SALT Woolwich  Tap room,  or the demise of great pubs like The Anglesea Arms, The Equitable or the Albion and the Queens Arms.

He even filmed right by the site of what was planned to be a new pub, The Volunteer in Powis Street, to be opened in 2024, but due to financial problems with the pub owners, it never materialised.

Woolwich has lost a lot of pubs over the recent few years, and that is an absolute tragedy.

As the demographics of the area have changed, namely a heavy established Nigerian and Somalian community it is shown in the establishments in the area,  hence the Castle pub which was a pub that sold African food is now totally an African restaurant,  and the Albion that become the Le Wouri African restaurant that subsequently also folded.  The Victoria was also shown in its decrepit state, which is now a Domino Pizza delivery point.

When I was growing up in Rotherhithe and  Bermondsey, my go-to pubs were in the Old Kent Road, which at its peak in the 1980s had about 20 pubs and is now reduced to just 2 and one of those is struggling. Vinnie also highlighted the sad demise of the Old Kent Road.  Which is one loss I still to this day cannot understand or comprehend how it happened to such an extent.

Woolwich is struggling, it may not be as bad as the Old Kent Road, but a few large breweries and pub chains, such as Wetherspoons and Youngs and a few independent pub chains have invested in Woolwich and their dividends are paying up good.  The people of Woolwich are looking for good pubs to keep, and that includes The Elephant and Castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urban Village Fete 2025

Urban Village Fete 2025

by | May 21, 2025 | Uncategorized

 Urban Village Fete 2025

The 10th Urban Village Fete took place on Sunday, 18th May 2025, and I thought it was a fantastic success.

With various workshops taking place not just inside the park but also on the riverfront and in the nearby Design District buildings.

The Pottery, printing and tile-making workshops took place just across the road from Central Park, in the Design District workshops.

Most of the other workshops took place in tents or on stalls in the park.

This year’s workshops included:

  • Band weaving
  • Creating your own aromatherapy spray.
  • Bamboo weaving.
  • Home mushroom cultivation.
  • Nail art workshop.
  • Making mini bags and charms from waste recycling material.
  • Making with Mycelium.
  • Polish Paper Cutting.
  • Making Kimchi.
  • Herbal Tea Blending.
  • Rosette Making.
  • Pottery painting.
  • Making Pinch Pots.
  • Beats and Braids hairstyling.
  • Printing Workshop.
  • Ceramic Tile Making.
  • Kombucha Workshop.

For the children we had:

Two Art Workshops for Kids.  Dreamhouse and Funny Elephants both with Acrylic Markers, and also a third Workshop called Self-Portrait using Oil Pastels.

For the fitness-minded amongst us, there were Fitness Workshops of Yoga, Group Fitness, a Breathing workshop and Kids workout with the nearby Gather Gym.

These workshops took place outside on Tide Square by the Riverside near the Gather Gym on Cutter Lane.

For our four-legged friends, there was the Canine Circus Dog Training Workshop.

For the more oratorical amongst us, BBC Radio London’s Robert Elms hosted a series of creative conversations in the Design District covering Britain’s education system, community & collaboration, and fashion. A community-led input and a gathering of ideas to help society move forward and progress.

This year’s music was provided by DJs Gilles Peterson, Errol and Alex Rita, the founders of Touching Bass, and DJ Jack Hemingway and DJs from Radio Loose FM.

The London Soul Choirs also brought soul and harmony from a mix of Choirs across the capital.

The were also several smaller sound systems to entertain the families at the other end of the park.

This is where me and the wife and a friend planted our seats for the day and were entertained by the ‘Speaker Box Street Party’, who are a high-energy social dance Workshop group.

They got everyone dancing from toddlers to pensioners, and they succeeded along with the DJs in doing what the Urban Village  Fete was all about, making sure families and children in particular had a fabulous time.

I noticed that although they had security and stewards all over the park I did not see any police patrolling the park or venues,  so it just goes to show that a family orientated event can run smoothly and efficiently and safely when people have a good time and don’t rely on the consumption of too much alcohol to have a good time.

One thing that I would bring back from last year that I did not care for too much this year was the toilet arrangements.

Last year, the men’s and women’s toilets were in large trailers with running water.  This year, the men and women shared plastic Portaloos and hand sanitisers, and the men had an area of urinals with virtually no privacy from people walking past. It must be a cost-cutting issue.

Here’s looking forward to next year’s Urban Village Fete.

Below is a video of this year’s event, or the video can be viewed on the Greenwich Review YouTube channel:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW6Wcse-fJI  

 

Greenwich Park deer comeback

Greenwich Park deer comeback

by | May 8, 2025 | Greenwich Park, Uncategorized

Greenwich Park deer reintroduction.

‌When I was a little kid,  I used to love being taken to a small side path in the flower gardens at Greenwich park and looking at the deer enclosure and the deers living there.

Over the last few years when I have looked into the enclosure or to show someone the deers I was always disappointed that I could not see them.  Perhaps they were hiding round the corner or in a housing in the enclosure, or just sick of us humans looking at them all the time.

Well this week I found out the reason I could not see them,  an that is because they were not actually there.

It would seem the herd of fallow and red deer were removed from the enclosure back in 2021, and relocated to Richmond park.

Regardless of the fact that I knew nothing about the removal  of the deer from their enclosure, it’s  good news to hear that they are back living in Greenwich  Park.

The Royal Parks said a new herd of eight fallow deer were “enjoying a renovated and extended deer paddock”.

Even though they are back you probably still won’t be seeing them for a short while, as park rangers have said the new arrivals would be settling in over the next few weeks and were therefore unlikely to be very visible to the public.