Rasa Sayang – My New Favourite Malay Joint

I think I have found my favourite Malay eatery now. Since we have been back, I think I have eaten at Rasa Sayang on at least 5 occasions. All with different groups of friends, who all have loved the place. I’m sure, I am due a free meal there now.

Even when it opened last year, Rasa Sayang was serving good food. Good Malay/Singaporean food. Which in this part of London was badly needed, as most China Town eateries only serve swill to the masses. But as Chinese food has been relegated to cheap take aways, not many people will pay a premium for good Chinese cooking. It has now become a cuisine that is cooked so badly it is a wonder that people still eat it. But that rant is for another blog.

Back to the Rasa Sayang. It reminds me of many a coffee shop in Malaysia or a simple eatery in a housing estate in Singapore. One to which our favourite and best food guide is more than happy to show us every good place to eat in his country.

There are the obligatory pictures on the wall to get you into the mood of being in that part of the world. Table and chairs are also fitting of being in Asia. They are plain and basic and do the job.

The menu is split into different sectors, having been in Colombia for what seemed like an eternity. I only ever look at the hot section. I come here for one thing and one thing only. Heat and spice in my food. It must be withdrawal symptoms or something. I want spice. I want heat. I get it here.

I even took Linas' Aunt and Uncle and cousins there recently. Apart form Alonso, everyone else had noodles. I am not a big fan of fried noodle dishes. It screams blandness to me and I get no enjoyment from eating them. But they all loved them. 

So far I’ve eaten the Nasi Lemak, Laksa, Satays (the peanut dipping sauce is to die for), Roti Canai, Ayam (Chicken) Curry and the Beef Randang. They have all been fantastic. Lot’s of spice to perk my lips and tongue up.

In the battle between the Nasi Lemaks of this small part of London. Over all, the one at the Rasa Sayang wins over the one at the C & R Café, but the chicken curry is slightly better at the latter. But everything else is better at the former. They still over boil the eggs, but less than anywhere else. They are getting there.

The service is good, people are friendly and they serve Tiger beer. What more could you ask from in life.

I think I am going back to the Rasa Sayang now to have their Fish Curry. See you there.  

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.

When in New York, it's Nyonya Time .....

After nearly 10 months of eating too much bland food in Colombia. We were in the need for some spice. As we were in New York, and staying in China Town. Why not have some good Asian food with some spice.

For some reason the restaurants in China Town did not tempt us at all. In fact they repelled us. Too many restaurants selling pre cooked buffet food. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Last time I was in a Chinese buffet eatery (Mr Wu), I was sick as a dog for several days afterwards. All that bacteria in all that food. My body never stood a chance.

After doing a bit of research on where to eat in NYC. I heard off a website about a website about someone who ate at Nyonya. So did some research and thought, well I love Malay food. Malay folk said it was good, so why not give it a try.

Quite a trendy joint, strangely enough in Little Italy (although that seems to have shrunk to one street nowadays) which baffled us, but hey ho. Nice lighting, nice colours, nice vibe.

I already knew what I wanted and Lina the same. Only took us enough time to read the menu and make sure they were on it. Voila. Beef Rendang, and Nasi Lemak were ordered. Two Tsing Tao beers were to accompany our curry delite.

A rushed off his feet waiter tried to give us a Hainan chicken, which I like but even in Singapore I found it kinda bland. Well it is only poached chicken after all. Now I’m on every Singaporeans hit list. Sorry, but it’s true.

First up was the Roti Canai. We love Roti. We have walked all around Penang sampling Roti’s to find the best. We are quite sad I know. The Roti here was a little dry and not as greasy as I love it. It was def pre made and left lying around till ordered. Shame. The portion of chicken curry however was heaven sent. God I had missed a good curry sauce. Nice taste, nice thickness. NICE.

The mains arrived. My Beef Rendang was nice in colour, texture and taste. The meat was succulent as it should be, the sauce as thick as I know it to be. It was great but lacked one essential thing. HEAT. Beef Rendang contains a bucket full of chilli’s. Obviously one thing the Malay’s think the American market can’t handle. Maybe true. As I know a lot of English folk brag they like heat, but they really don’t. I know it had no heat, as eating in the land of no-chilli Colombia. My body was craving that pain of the chilli. It did not come. 

Lina’s Nasi Lemak was nye on perfect, a few different twists on the norm, like the dried fish being in a sauce (good but different), and a veggie side containing bits of pineapple (different but not so good). Where did that come from, but Malaysia is a diverse country, so maybe the chef’s region uses pineapple. Only thing to bitch about was the non inclusion of peanuts. Where’s the texture man. We missed the peanuts.

All in all after nearly a year of no spice it was a good meal. But I wonder if we’d just come from England if it would’ve been good or just OK. We shall never know. But good on the night.

Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak is without doubt the best breakfast dish ever, although Malaysians eat it anytime of the day. It's the national dish of Malaysia, (unofficially of course) it's a national institution, an obsession, rather like how Laksa is in some 

states. It is available everywhere, from roadside stalls, bus station cafes to food courts, restaurants and even 5 star hotels. In some hotels we have stayed in, we have had to put it together ourselves at breakfast time.

It's a very simple dish consisting of a few core ingredients. Rice cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with pandanus leaf, ginger and lemongrass for fragrance. It is also served with fried anchovies, fried peanuts,  a hard boiled egg, a slice or two of cucumber, a dollop of chilli sambal. Some places we found serve it with fried chicken, a meat curry or even prawns. Malaysians sometimes have it with fried cows lungs in chilli and chicken liver curry. Not seen those yet. One place we were at, the waiter came back to us to apologise that the chicken curry was off but they had beef randang if we were interested. Of course we were. 

Once the Nasi Lemak is made, it's presentation time. Somehow, people have managed to wrap it up into a banana leaf, no idea how, whilst others have simply been piled together on a single plate and for the artistically gifted they have been presented on a plate, like a piece of art. Gordon Ramsey eat yer heart out. 

It has overtaken noodle soup as my favourite way to start the day.