C & R Cafe

C & R was never my favourite Malaysian eatery in London, which used to be on Wardour Street. But for some bizarre reason, the owners closed it down, moved to central Soho and poshed up.

We ate there once. It was the same food I used to eat but 3 times as much. Location, location, location. Justice was served when it closed and a Korean buffet joint opened in its place. That closed not long after also. No idea what is there now, maybe a Chinese place. Who knows.

So after long searching we found C&R. Quite by accident, as it’s down a small side street quite near where my old favourite Malaysian place used to be.

The décor is as I am used to finding in Malaysia. Plastic tabletops, cheap metal chairs. Nice picture of the Pretronas Towers. Nice big private restaurant downstairs for some quality karaoke on a Friday night. God forbid.

The menu is not high end, as most mains are about £7.50. But what they do produce is pretty good. Well except for the two Nasi Gorengs. No idea why but they do not cut it, and no idea why I keep ordering them. One day I will learn.

Our favourite dishes are the roti Canaai, Nasi Lemak and some quality Laksa. All are made as well as you would find in K.L.

The Nasi Lemak is almost perfect. The rice is nice and coconutty, the sambal has a tad of heat that sets the lips a tingling. The dried whitebait are fishy and crunchy, these and the peanuts add good texture to the dish. The chicken curry has lots of thick curry sauce to eat with the rice. The only down point are as always the over boiled eggs. Why can’t people boil eggs for 7 minutes. It’s not that difficult. Set the timer, pop eggs in. Take them out when timer goes off. Hey ho.

The laksa I last had was wonderfully spicy. After nearly a year of not eating anything with a breath of heat, it really set my tongue on fire. Missed it and loved it.

As I said it’s the best place that is still around that reminds me of eating in Malaysia. It’s good, filling and pretty cheap. Unlike some up market places I could mention. But why pay more for similar food but with white table cloths.