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THE MAKING OF A FOOD EMPIRE In food-mad London, Malaysian menus are the new symbol of cool. Overseas Malaysian restaurateurs and gourmets are teaming up to build a colony of satay, laksa and curry, 14,600km from home. Text Tracy You Photos Sebastian Allan
Hawker food restaurant C&R is tucked away on a backstreet in Chinatown goingplaces august2013
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Satay House's partner Fatizah Shawal (right) with executive chef Junus Wahab Chinatown is a good starting point to hunt for good Malaysian food in London
A hot plate of Mee Goreng about to be served at Satay House
goingplaces august2013
ood reviewer Ong Yee Gan is leading me to the best Malaysian dishes in London. In the lantern-laden labyrinth of London's Chinatown, the 44-year-old whizzed through throngs of tourists on Shaftesbury Avenue, took a few sudden turns and ended up on a dim-lit backstreet that's no wider than three meters. “This is one of my favourite Malaysian restaurants in London,” said the bespectacled Hokkien, pointing to basic canteen-style eatery C&R Restaurant on Rupert Court. “It makes good Malaysian 'hawker' food.” A doctor by day and a hobby food critic by night, Ong is a walking GPS of Malaysian food in the British capital. Since he started reviewing restaurants on Yelp.com in 2007, the Kuala Lumpur native has submitted nearly 2,000 commentaries, posted 4,837 food photos and organised regular Malaysian food tours via the service review website. “After this meal, I will take you to the secret rice noodle factory in a murder-scene-like lane just around the corner, and then to Roti King on Charing Cross Road, the only stall I know of in London that makes roti canai in front of your eyes,” said Ong passionately, while his hands were fiercely mimicking the gesture of tossing a flatbread dough. “Bunga Raya in Thornton Heath does a great Malaysian buffet, but shame that they don't do it on Monday.” And we were yet to sit down for our first meal. After a quick browse through the menu at C&R, Ong placed the order in the fast-paced English unique to South East Asia: “Penang assam laksa, char kway teow, beef rendang, rojak and five spice loh bak.” He then asked for a glass of cendol off the menu. “Char kway teow is my benchmark dish in assessing the quality of a Malaysian restaurant,” he continued, “and theirs is as good as what you can get in London.” C&R is one of the few places in London that serves the Penang-style fish laksa instead of the more popular Singaporean laksa, said Ong. The formidable foodie left hometown KL for boarding school in England in 1981 and has stayed in Britain since. He said compared to other Asian cuisines, such as Chinese, Thai and Japanese, Malaysian food has been “slow to grow” and is less established in Britain because “British people don't know much about Malaysian dishes and how diverse it is”. “The other problem is the dish names,” he continued. “Thai people just call their curry 'green curry' or 'red curry'; but for us all dish names are in Malay or Chinese dialects, so it's hard for the Brits to understand what they are and to order.” But British Malaysian restaurateurs have stepped up their game. In the wake of a hot wave of restaurant opening about five years ago, Londoners can now find fairly authentic Malaysian food in a number of venues, especially around Paddington, which has a large Malaysian community due to its proximity to the Malaysian Hall. Satay House is a forerunner in the area.
Food reviewer Ong knows the top Malaysian food in town
Malaysian-style fruit salad Rojak
First opened in 1973 by the Shawal family, the two-storey business was one of the first Malaysian restaurants in London, serving a mixture of all Malaysian staples with a lean towards Penang plates. “We get a lot of customers coming in and said: 'We are going to go to Malaysia and we just want to try the food',” said the restaurant's current partner Fatizah Shawal. “Or they just came back from Malaysia and loved the food there so they want to try their favourite food here.” Daughter to the restaurant's founding couple, Fatizah, 38, was born in Malaysia but brought up at this restaurant. One of her earliest memories were sitting at the table folding napkins for her parents. Just like the cuisine, Satay House's serving team is a true melting pot with members drawn from nearly 10 nationalities. Head waitress Adriana is a blond and blue-eyed Slovakian who often surprises customers with her conversational Malay. In the kitchen, Libyan chef Nain – having worked under a seasoned Malaysian master for 10 years at Satay House – cooks mesmerising nasi lemak and chicken satay that would fool any native Malaysian. >>
Londoners can now find fairly authentic Malaysian food in a number of venues
Top Malaysian restaurants in Greater London C&R Restaurant: Chinatown branch: 4-5 Rupert Court Opens 12-11pm Tel +44 20 7434 1128 Bayswater branch: 52 Westbourne Grove Opens 12-10.30pm, Wed-Mon Tel +44 20 7221 7979 cnrrestaurant.com Satay House: 13 Sale Place Paddington Opens 12-3pm, 6-11pm, daily Tel +44 20 7723 6763 satay-house.co.uk Rasa Sayang: 5 Macclesfield Street Opens 12-11pm, daily Tel +44 20 7734 1382 rasasayangfood.com
Roti King: 69 Charing Cross Road Opens 11am-11pm. daily Tel +44 7966 093467 facebook.com/ rotikinglondon Tukdin: 41 Craven Road Opens 12-10.30pm, Sat-Thu; 6-10.30pm, Fri Tel +44 20 7723 6955 tukdin.co.uk Bunga Raya: 785-787 London Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey Opens 6-11pm, Wed-Thu; 6pm12am, Fri-Sat; 12pm-late, Sun Tel +44 20 8689 4612 bunga.co.uk
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Teddy Chen (far left) and his three musketeers at Rasa Sayang Crispy, savoury and oh-so-yummy Loh Bak
Ipohnite Sugan makes roti canai on-site near Chinatown
Chillies are essential in Joannes Riviere Malaysian Cuisine Wat cooking Damnak at the old market in Siem Reap
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“A lot of people think that Malaysian food can only be cooked by Malaysian hands. We proved otherwise,” explained Fatizah. “I'm so proud and passionate about this family business that I want to teach my team everything about the culture because it's not just about being on the payroll, it's about immersing yourself in the culture.” Satay House was awarded the Best Malaysian Restaurant in 2011 by Asian Curry Award, a Londonbased organisation established to celebrate and honour the oriental curry culture in Britain. Until a couple of years ago, the award was dominated by better-known curry styles like Indian and Thai. “Most people never consider Malaysia at the thought of curry until we join forces with Indian, Bangladesh and Thai curry promoters,” said Teddy Chen, 71, co-chairman of Asian Curry Award and president of Malaysian Restaurant Association UK. Chen, who came to London some 50 years ago from Ipoh, is a key player in the Malaysian food movement in Britain. He is also deeply involved with the Malaysian Kitchen Programme, an initiative launched in 2006 by the Government of Malaysia aimed at expanding Malaysian restaurants overseas. “I'm trying my best to promote Malaysian cuisine,” said Chen in heavily Cantonese-accented English while enjoying a bowl of Ipoh hor fun at Rasa Sayang, the Malaysian restaurant he owns in Chinatown. “It's not easy because in the whole United Kingdom, there are only about 100 Malaysian restaurants.” Following Chen's ongoing endeavour championing Malaysian food on the British Isles, including a largescale outdoor festival, Malaysian Night, in Trafalgar Square every autumn, British diners today are more and more familiar with Malaysian cuisine and are happy to push up their spicy meter. Chen concluded the most important thing in promoting his homeland food in Britain is “to feel Western people's palate.” That's why on Rasa Sayang's menu, there are eye-opening fusion dishes such as Guinness chicken wings and Marmite king prawns. It is through the combined effort of foodies like Ong Yee Gan, restaurateurs like Fatizah Shawal and seasoned promoters like Teddy Chen that the Malaysian culinary culture is blooming fast across the ocean. “I'd like to think that we can get as popular as Chinese, Indian and Thai,” said Fatizah Shawal, “because we have the best of all these cultures put together plus our own culture. We're the original fusion food before the tag is created.” Fatizah waved me off at Satay House. Behind her slim figure, Libyan chef Nain was checking ingredients for the night while Slovakian waitress Adraina is again impressing a table of Malaysian businessmen with her chitchat in Malay – a good sign of the beginning of a new food empire.
Joannes Riviere Cuisine Wat Damnak at the old market in Siem Reap