A Malaysian Pasam Malam

 For me the best foodie places in the world especially for street food are Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Penang however ranks as the number one street food destination in the world. There is something about the hawker stands that just makes eating out so good. They take pride in their work. For them this is their little restaurant, it’s not about earning a quick buck or scamming their customers, like some street food stalls I have seen in other countries, including my own.

So I was dead excited to hear there was going to be a Malaysia Pasam Malam or night market in Trafalgar Square on Friday night. Memories came flooding back of all those hawker stalls in Penang selling top quality food to eager and happy people.

When Friday came, I even left the new girls birthday drinks at the pub early so I could go. Rude I know. But hey, I have priorities.

So when we arrived to Trafalgar Square, I was amazed, but not surprised by the quantity of people who had turned up before me. All I could see was a sea of people. Damn we were late. Very.

The stalls, which from what I could make out, were mainly from restaurants serving up their signature dishes. Not like a proper pasam malar, but it’s a start

The stalls were all ringed around the outside of the square, and the left hand side had at least 50 deep of people queuing. We were very late. Very.

We wandered over to the other side, where the queues were less, but only slightly. Thoughts were running through my mind of beef randang, roti canai and nasi lemak. These were wetting my appetite for a good night of feasting.

Unfortunately something went wrong. Of all the queues we joined by the time we got to the front we were confronted by “No Food”. They had run out. How cold this have happened. Damn how late were we. Oh so very late. 

It was a bit of a shambles really. I guess they had not thought that Londoners would flock there in droves on a Friday night for good Malaysian food.

For starters to do an event like this on only one day was a bit of a stupid idea. This should have been a weekend event showcasing the wonders of Malaysian food. Instead we were left with a mad scramble once everyone left work to get something to eat.

I was very disappointed but still kinda happy that it was a success in a way. If a little chaotic. So with everyone else we decided to goto China Town for some nosh.

As we were leaving we saw a girl popping some chicken drumsticks into warm oil to fry. I would have loved to have eaten that. I don’t want to think how they would have tasted.

A disappointing night, but it did have its upside. We discovered Leong’s Legends Continue…… More on that soon…..