C&R

 As with any other country-specific foods, I suppose, where there is a 'correct' taste to these dishes, it was the authenticity of the vibrant Malaysian flavours which I was eager to judge during my dining experience at C&R in Chinatown.

But aren't you from Singapore?

Singaporean cuisine consists of mainly Chinese, Malay and Indian food, and there is usually a fair amount of each type in hawker centres and local eateries.

Likewise, Malaysian cuisine includes lots of Chinese, Malay (duh) and Indian delicacies too. Southeast Asia has a great potpourri of local foods – it's like we had this unspoken selection process happening throughout the decades, and the survivors of gustatory judgement (i.e. dishes we all can't get enough of) have been accepted as ours.

Then there's Thailand who's up there adding crushed peanuts and lime juice into everything and having their own little party.

C&R boasts an extensive menu of all the Malaysian/Singaporean favourites, from *real* Singapore Fried Noodles to nasi lemak, from chendol to ice kacang. And they just had to, had to, had to throw in the Asian-dining-in-Europe quintessential: Pad Thai.

The portions are exceptionally huge for some reason, but it makes me feel alright about spending £6.50 on my mountain of mee siam which is SG$3.50 (£1.75) in Singapore for a more sensible portion.

It's a little unfair, but my mum makes the best mee siam in the world, (recipe up soon) so I can't say that this dish was brilliant. Unlike the version served in a milky, spicy soup back home, this is the original 'dry' version which is truly Malaysian. These noodles were surprisingly spicy for my standards, let alone for the poor tongues of the British. I downed the iced Milo in the background quickly, but the spiciness lingered. Before the chilli became torturous, I did enjoy the noodles, which were tasty enough with a fragrance of bean-paste, and came with prawns, tried tofu, beansprouts, fried egg and some veggies. If I'm not wrong, the lemon wedge should have been a lime instead.

Char kway teow is also another extremely popular dish of Malaysia and Singapore. It is described as 'broad rice noodles stir-fried with egg, prawn, fishcake and bean sprouts.' This dish was actually of the average Singaporean standard, but then again, with black sauce, everything usually comes out okay. I'm glad they added in the chives, which are necessary for a great taste and texture contrast, together with the crunchy bean sprouts, an added yay-factor.

I definitely recommend sharing one dish between two diners, (unless you're a big guy/not having dessert/skipped breakfast/trying to gain weight) or taking away the leftovers. (Additional cost of 50p) Singaporeans and Malaysians will rejoice at this eatery which serves all our authentic local favourites at a good value.

C&R Café
4 Rupert Court
London W1D 6DY
http://www.cnrrestaurant.com/

Café TPT

Tau huey is a favourite dessert among many young people in Singapore, and consists of silky-smooth, gelatinous beancurd in a sugar syrup. It is often served warm, but I personally prefer it chilled because of Singapore's tropical climate. It tastes sweeter too!

Anyway, Café TPT is a Chinese restaurant located on Wardour Street in Chinatown. It serves a wide array of common Chinese dishes, but their meat (pork and duck) were popular choices as noticed from the tables which my friends and I passed to get to the second story of the restaurant.

It isn't the prettiest place – plain, tiled floors, cream walls, crammed with as many tables as they can fit into the space.

However, many customers are keen on their dessert menu, which sells regular tau huey (chilled) for £3.50, and everything else at either £4 or £4.50. All the desserts are liquid-based, and are served in aluminium-lined wooden tubs – deep ones!

Although there are many choices, some dishes differ from another just by the addition of a fruit, or sago jellies. For example, the regular tau huey can come in mango 'soup', with red bean, or with fruit, among several other additions and variations. It's like how salad is basically lettuce, cucumber and dressing, but the British have created Niçoise, Wardour, Caesar, which are basically additions or renditions of what is, essentially, giraffe chow.

I ordered a tempting 'Mango & Coconut with Black Glutinous Rice & Sago'. The mango & coconut refers to a thin, creamy 'soup' with both flavours. It was served cold as well, and very delicious and refreshing! However, due to the use of coconut milk and the seemingly endless depth of the dessert tub, it's a good idea to come here with an empty stomach.

Café TPT is definitely a recommended place to visit with friends for a taste of good quality Chinese dessert!

Café TPT
Chinatown
21 Wardour Street
Soho, UK
W1D 6PN
020 7734 7980

Loon Tao + Dumplings Legend

I love Chinatown – it has Asian supermarkets which loyally contain my instant noodles and Hello Panda biscuits. It also boasts rows of Chinese restaurants with names as stereotypical you can get.

Loon Tao Chinese Restaurant (Loon Tao = Dragon Island)

龙岛粥面小菜馆

It had the shortest queue among most restaurants on a Saturday evening, when my company and I were wandering around Chinatown hoping to get some decent Chinese food for dinner.

The interiors were nothing much – hanging red lanterns and random oriental posters up on the wall – it was a very simple place. I seemed to be the food consultant of the evening, explaining that, yes, porridge was indeed savoury, er yes I guess it's sort of like rice pudding, and that Singapore noodles is a phony dish. The latter is fried vermicelli noodles with curry powder, which is virtually served no where in Singapore. This dish is like improvised mi-fen with the wrong ingredients within reach of the chef. It is a legit, edible and tasty dish, though. I got a simple beef porridge (a.k.a 'congee') with peanuts which tasted good and authentic, although no porridge can ever surpass my mum's home-made beef porridge.

The restaurant served the staple deep-fried appetizers such as spring rolls and prawn toast, which were not too popular in Southeast-Asian menus.

Overall, the food was tasty and not a bad quality, with reasonable prices and lots of helpful staff walking around. We were served free slices of really good, juicy orange after the meal. Loon Tao is definitely a reliable place to go in Chinatown.

31 Gerrard Street

Soho, London

W1D 5QJ

United Kingdom

Dumplings' Legend

小龙皇

The Dim Sum in Dumplings' Legend is of high standards for a Chinese restaurant in Europe. The famous pork soup dumplings (£6 for 8 dumplings) were good, but could have been served hotter, like most of the dishes I had. The Pork buns (3 for £2.50) and crystal prawn dumplings (8 for £6) were good. What I think was Fried Vermicelli Noodles & Hofen with mixed seafood and scrambled eggs had a few hard, uncooked bits, and the sauce was over-gooey – that dish did not impress me. Otherwise, Dumplings' Legend is a great place to go for acceptable-quality dim sum with a wide variety of dishes.

15-16 Gerrard Street

Chinatown, London

W1D 6JE

Phone: (020) 7494 1200

Opening hours:
Mon-Thu 12:00-00:00
Fri-Sat 12:00-03:00
Sun 12:00-23:00
Nearest Tube Station: Leicester Square

http://www.dumplingslegend.com/

Assa (Korean food)

Before coming to London, Korean food was just something I had never encountered or bothered to try, maybe because I assumed that Korean dishes were nothing more than thrown-together variations of Kimchi, or because of their long, complicated names. Also, I was probably contented with my Japanese food obsession, and felt that Japanese food was the only other type of Oriental food I needed in my life. I don't know if this is a good comparison, but it's like if you took up French as your second language and went around rambling 'comment allez-vous' and plus belles phrases en français, I don't think you'd be in a hurry to learn Danish and greet someone with 'hvordan har du det' anytime soon.

Anyway, it was a busy Saturday night in Soho, and all the restaurants were piling up with people. Thank god for Chinatown, which has several rows of Asian food-places. My friends and I settled on Assa, a Korean restaurant on Romilly Street, and we got in after about 15 minutes of waiting time.

Google images helps the lazy blogger

As one of my friends pointed out, it was one of those places which would make your hair reek – one would inevitably leave the restaurant smelling like a walking Kimchi stalk. Nevertheless, the place was filled with the warm, happy and comforting aroma of Asian food which only served to entice our appetites.

Like many other cheaper Asian restaurants in London, you are there for the food, and not the atmosphere. The tables were small and rectangular, and the place was noisy and busy – not an ideal place for long conversations or catching-up, something in-common with most Asian restaurants in London. You are rushed in, you are served, you are shoved out via implying stares from waitresses.

A must-try in Assa is the Kimchi fried rice. (Kimchi 'Bokumbop') We had two plates of those but I would've been happy with two more. It is served with a fried egg atop, yolk still runny, and sigh-inducing when leaked and eaten with the fried rice. The rice was made tasty with the kimchi, and had a lovely smoky taste that all good fried rice dishes have.

Then we had Kimchi noodle soup and a Kimchi hot pot which seemed like nothing but a whole lot of Kimchi to me, but filled me up decently.

We then got a Kimchi pancake, (kimchijeon) which was Kimchi and who-knows-what-else deep fried in a golden tempura-like batter served with tempura sauce. (Or the Korean equivalent) It was crispy, warm, tasty and absolutely yummy.

After the dinner, we hung out at Starbucks until they chased us out onto the streets with the partygoers and drunken people at 11pm. Central London in the night is satisfying in a strange way whenever you are out with friends.

ASSA
23 Romilly Street
London
UK W1D 5
020 7734 9050