54 review - Malaysian restaurant at Farringdon, serving Straits food in a club chinois setting

I was looking through Toptable for a straits food restaurant which I missed. I was pretty confident that I had tried everything worth trying but was proved wrong!

54 proclaims itself as London's premier Malaysian restaurant and bar. Its pricing is also easily the most expensive among the straits restaurants I have tried. Their 7 course promotion is going at £24.50 while their ala carte main courses are going at an average of £14 each.

Compare this to Sedap which serves decent Malaysian food at around £7 per main course. Was it because 54 uses "naturally reared beef & lamb, seasonal fruit and vegetables where possible and organic produce where possible"? They have European dishes (roast pork belly, pan-fried sea bass etc) alongside their Malaysian specialties. Can a restaurant do both cuisines well? I have always been rather skeptical of restaurants which dabs at an array of cuisines. Nevertheless, curiosity got the better of me and I made a reservation that very night.

54 is tucked away in quiet corner of Farringdon. It is a very small restaurant, with timber Balinese like furnishings. The music overwhelmed me the moment I stepped in. It was very loud, too loud. I had no idea why. Was it meant to be a bar more than a restaurant? I had a headache within minutes of arrival. My dinner date and I had to shout at each over over the din to get ourselves heard. Hardly the place for a quiet dinner. No other Singaporean or Malaysian customers in sight as well. Does that say something about the food?


Malaysian Straits food served under loud music

With trepidation, we placed our orders. We forgo the set menu in favour of ala carte choices . I went for ayam maska kicap (free range-chicken in thick soy sauce, ginger and lemongrass at £12.50 ). Dinner Date went for rendang daging atau kambing (beef rendang in spicey coconut) at £14.50. I was relieved to find that the food was pretty good, surpassing our expectations. My chicken was tender and aromatic while Dinner Date declared his rendang satisfactory - tender with the right tinge of spice, The service was excellent - attentive without being overwhelming. We did not stay for desert however. We were rather full by the time we were done with the mains and the music was annoying me. It got to the point that it was a relief to leave the restaurant.

I can't say that I will return to the restaurant again. While the food was good, the atmosphere was just not for me. And if you are going for the food, I am not convinced that the quality while good, justifies the price. But that's just me. You might just like your straits food served with a buzz.

Address: 54 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3BL
Tel: 020 7336 0603
Nearest Tube station: Farringdon

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £25 pp
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: ****
Service: ***
Ambience: **
Suitable for: groups sampling a variety of dishes and don't mind loud thumping music

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Soseki review - exquisite Japanese cuisine in London

I had too much of a meat fest lately and decided that I needed something delicate for a change. I decided that what I really needed was Japanese food, but where can I get decent Japanese food in London? A quick search through Squaremeal brought Soseki to my attention.

According to Soseki's website, their menu "is inspired by the Japanese concept of 'kaiseki – kappo', a style of cooking which originated in high-class restaurants for the wealthy merchants living in Osaka in the nineteenth century" and "ordering is done on the "omakase' principle: diners will not find a list of itemised dishes on the menus, but will rather entrust our Japanese chefs to create a menu according to the classic principles of Japanese cooking." Sounds promising and with the carrot of 50% off the price of their kaiseki-kappo sets (the usual average price being a staggering £50 per set) (a Squaremeal promotion), I was sold.

The restaurant is on the first floor of a nondescript building set in the shadow of the Gherkin. I walked up a flight of rickety wooden steps to be greeted by a smiling waitress at the entrance of the restaurant and was shown to my seat at the sushi counter. Directly opposite the sushi counter were little booths with window views and it seemed that if you walked the length of the restaurant, you would come to one of their "pagodas' (apparently private rooms but I fail to understand why they are so called as they do not resemble their namesake at all). Soseki's website boasts that critics described it as one of the most beautiful restaurants in London. Soseki had its charms, but beautiful it was not,at least not from where I was seated.

We ordered the Hanashi menu (usual price £60 per set). The appetiser was chawanmushi. The custard was wonderfully soft with some crunchy roe providing a delightful contrast in texture. I like my chawanmushi steaming hot, a pity that the dish was only lukewarm. According to the menu, what I was supposed to have next was the wan mono soup. What I had instead was a morsel of beef with half a quail egg on the side. I figured that it was the omakase principle in operation, but I didn't mind a single bit as that little morsel was exquisite.

Sashimi came next (fresh and meaty as should be the case), followed by the appetite cleanser which turned out be a scoop of melon infused ice (which I found really refreshing).

The food had so far come in small portions and there was a time lapse between each course. I am not complaining about the time lapse as the food should be prepared fresh but both of us were frankly starving despite having been served 4 courses. We were speculating in hushed tones (the cook is preparing the dishes in front of us) whether we were going to go home hungry when we were served buta no kakuni (Japanese braised pork). Yes, I was meant to be on a detox diet but who can resist this when its cousin (five spiced braised fatty pork) has been THE comfort food your entire childhood? Sadly, the kabuni did not live up to expectations. The meat did not crumble on touch (it really should) and the accompanying broth was underwhelming.

Sushi was next and it did much better. The meat was sweet and succulent and more importantly it filled us up! Desert was a scoop of nice creamy ice-cream with little squares of matcha sponge cake and respberries on the side. Not a traditional Japanese desert, but I loved it, in particular, the matcha sponge cake. Fluffy with just a light touch of the matcha bitterness, it was the perfect end for our meal.

A word about being seated at the sushi bar. The last time I tried it was at the Tokyo fish market in a very small sushi restaurant. There would be a row of chefs busy rolling sushi right in front of you, not to mention the pieces of recently alive seafood wriggling in front of you (they are that fresh!) so there was plenty to watch. This time round, I found it rather awkward as you not only looked into the sushi preparation area but also the kitchen beyond. With only 4 chefs, 2 in the kitchen beyond with the remaining 2 (presumably the more senior chefs) at the sushi counter, you do not get the same sense of activity.

Strangely I did not happen to see sushi prepared in front of me. I saw the chef handling the fish, using a blow torch on the beef, just not individual sushi being prepared in front of me! I am not a purist but those who expect to see the chef making individual sushi on the spot would be disappointed. I am not sure whether the chef did adjust our menu according to his observations of our likes and dislikes (supposedly one of the advantages about being seated at the sushi counter) as he did not speak and hardly made contact with us. His assistant at the sushi bar was cheerier, smiling and waving us goodbye at the end of the meal.

Another thing to note is that the pricing and the menu options available are different from those listed on the website. Their website lists Japanese western food as an option, but it is no longer available. Time for Soseki to update their website.

Would I go back to Soseki again? Yes, but only if the promotion is still available. The price while good is not exceptional and I would make it a point to sit in the booths instead.

Address: 20 Bury Street 1F, London, EC3A 5AX
Tel: 020 7621 9211
Nearest Tube station: Liverpool Street / Aldgate

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £30 pp (with 50% discount promotion)
Service charge: 12.5%

Taste: ****
Service: ***
Ambience: ***
Suitable for: meals with clients or colleagues and strictly for small groups only.

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Glo rice and noodle bar (London) review - more cheap than cheery

Tired of the £4 meals served in the canteen, we decided to head out for a stroll during lunch and hopefully able to find something appetizing along the way. Not knowing why, I felt drawn to Swiss Re Building (otherwise known as The Gherkin), probably because that's one architecture feat that dominates London's skyline for miles beyond.

Before long, we were standing in the shadow of the Gherkin and was wondering around the vicinity famished until something caught our eye. Something green actually.

Glo - rice and noodle café, has opened up a store in Central London. Offering affordable fast food, it adopts the layout that at the first glance reminds us of Wagamama: clean setup with simple long canteen style tables. Glo offers a spread of asian cuisine, ranging from the Thai green curry, Japanese katsu chicken, Chinese dim sum to Malaysian beef rendang and even Korean prawn skewers, most of which are going for below £7. We got a beef rendang with rice and chicken tom yam with noodles.

My lunch mate stared at her tom yam noodles (£5.50), gave it a few jabs with her chopsticks and proclaimed that they looked just like those served at E.A.T. The only difference was that Glo's came in a ceramic bowl. Not a very good sign. The soup was obviously brewed using MSG, which was not unexpected given the price. Bits of chicken floated in the tom yam broth didn't cheer her up much.

My beef rendang (£6.75) looked rather mushy and unappetizing. Instead of soften chunks of beef, the meat was mashed up and mixed in the thick curry, which tasted more sweet than spicy. To give Glo some credit, the beef rendang did go fine with the rice that came with it.

I am not sure whether my lunch mate would return for a meal, but to be honest, I am not in a hurry to do so. However, if you are looking for a (relatively) cheap lunch that fills up your stomach quickly, Glo's the place to go. Hey, that rhymes. Hmm…






Address: 25 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8AA
Tel: 020 7623 1776
Nearest Tube station: Liverpool Street

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £10 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: *
Service: **
Ambience: **
Suitable for: those going for quantity over quality... and on a budget too.

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Crane & Tortoise review - more of a bar than a Japanese restaurant

Every time Wife and I return from Singapore to London we will haul along a number of Japanese TV serials DVD. One of our favourite ones is this quirky piece "Lunch Queen". Those who are familiar with the title will know that the entire story is built on a single dish - the humble omelette rice (オムライス).

For the uninitiated, omelette rice is essentially fried rice wrapped in a very thin film of beaten eggs. Flavoured with ketchup, the rice is normally fried with chicken cubes. For omelette rice, being able to wrap the fried rice within the thin film of egg is a skill that has to be acquired. Naturally, the opening of the egg film should be tucked below the dish and hidden from view.



Imagine our excitement when we saw a brochure being distributed at a store in Liverpool Street station featuring a new Japanese restaurant at Holborn and a picture of omelette rice in the article. We called up Crane & Tortoise (a very Zen name indeed) and got a table on the very same evening.

Crane & Tortoise was a 10 minute walk from Chancery Lane tube station. We nearly walked past it as its façade turned out to be very different from what we expected. Instead of a full fledged Japanese restaurant, it looked more like a bar with an open concept layout and a bar dominating the floor area. Maybe it was supposed to be a bar. Served us right for getting all worked up over a Japanese language brochure with a picture of an omelette rice.

We were greeted at the bar by an elderly Japanese gentleman, who looked more at home in front of a classroom than serving in a restaurant, and were led into the back room of the bar/restaurant. There were a couple of tables in the room, all empty save for one, which is occupied by six men in jackets discussing business over glasses of wine. Being teetotallers, we were obviously out of place. Never mind, I thought, the omelette rice would make it all worthwhile.

We became more depressed when presented with the menu - a B5 size paper with a grand total of seven items (one of which was pickles) written (not typed) on it. Omelette rice was nowhere to be found. Dismayed, some words written on the wall behind me caught my eye - "オムライス"! It appeared they did serve omelette rice though it wasn't on the regular menu. Looked like my sporadic Japanese language lessons paid off after all. We ordered an omelette rice each with agadashi tofu, bite size steak and takoyaki for starters after agonizing over the miniscule menu.



Unlike those served in Japan or Singapore, the agadashi tofu (£4) over at Crane & Tortoise was prepared using dried tofu, instead of the soft variety, which was a disappointment really. Otherwise, the dish was nicely done and presented in a small bowl doused in light soy sauce.

The bite size steaks (£4) tasted boiled instead of grilled. In fact, I could taste water as I popped it into my mouth. There was no trace of any meat juice in it and it should only be ordered if your tongue was already numbed with alcohol.







Surprisingly, the tokoyaki (£4) turned out to be the redeeming dish for the evening. Its tough exterior contrasted nicely with its soft and mushy interior dotted with octopus bits. They were every bit the same as those I had in Osaka.

We looked at eat other in dismay when the omelette rice (£7.50) arrived. For one, the egg, which layered the fried rice, was barely beaten with yolk and white still discernable. Also, instead of wrapping the rice entirely, it was clear that the rice was added on top of the egg before flipping half of the egg layer over it. In other words, the chef took the easy way out and the result looked nothing like the one depicted on their brochure.



Though the rice fried with chicken bits in tomato sauce base went well with the beef sauce that came with it, I couldn't help but feel that the dish was let down by its presentation and was definitely not worth the price.

Clearly, with a limited menu, Crane & Tortoise was not meant to be a restaurant in the first place and was more suitable for after work drinks. Meanwhile, the search for a good omelette rice in London continues.

Address: 39-41 Gray Inns Road, London WC1X 8PR
Tel: 0207 242 9094
Nearest Tube station: Chancery Lane

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £15 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: **
Service: **
Ambience: **
Suitable for: after-work drinks and finger food with your colleagues

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Satay House Malaysian Restaurant review - does it serve the best satay in London?

After staying for some time in London, satay has become a delicacy and my willingness to pay a premium for good ones is getting a bit absurd. Over here in London, I would not bat an eyelid paying for £6 - £7 for six sticks of satay while paying for more than S$1 (40p) per stick back home is almost unheard of.

Last weekend, I had a sudden craving for satay. Though I am more than satisfied with Puji Puji's lamb satay, I thought I would give Satay House Malaysian Restaurant a try for two very simple reasons: it's the first name that turn up on Google with the keywords "satay London", and I have heard rave reviews of the restaurant from my friends who had been there.

Our party of four arrived at Satay House Malaysian Restaurant on Sunday evening. Although the restaurant is in the vicinity of Paddington, the closet Tube station is Edgware Road, which is a mere 5 minutes stroll away. Along the way we passed through many Muslim theme stalls, which reminded me of Geylang Serai back in Singapore - it did look like the Satay House might be the real deal after all.

We were greeted with a friendly waitress when we stepped into Satay House who asked us whether we made a reservation. Even though only two of the tables were occupied (there were around six tables on the ground floor and more in the basement), it seemed that more customers were expected later. Upon hearing that we didn't make one, the waitress showed us to a table that was set beside some lighted incense, presumably giving out whiffs of appetite inducing aroma. As one of us was sensitive to incense smoke, we requested to have it removed and it was done without any fuss.

Satay House's menu looked rather extensive but our attention was obviously focused on two items: satay and murtabak. After confirming with the waitress that the murtabak was freshly made and not prepared from frozen packs, we ordered the satay, murtabak, mee goreng, nasi lemak, nasi goreng kampung, sago gula melaka and bubur pulut hitam. And yes, we were hungry.



The lamb satay (6 sticks at £6.10), which cheaper than Puji Puji's, were also smaller in comparison. I was rather disappointed to find that it was not grilled over charcoal (unlike Puji Puji) thus lacking that 'smoky' taste. Also, the peanut sauce that came with it was rather watery and the peanuts were too finely grounded to be appreciated.

The murtabak (£6.30), however, was not too bad. The meat fillings was amply packed into freshly pan fried dough. Though it wasn't the best that I have tasted, it did bear some semblance to the murtabak back home. The teh tarik (£2.60) was average tasting and could do with a bit more foam.

Mee goreng (£6.60) was served in a relatively large portion. With some prawns and a sprinkle of vegetables at the top, it did remind me of the hawker fare in Malaysia. Kudos to the chef for recreating the 'smoky' taste as well.



The nasi lemak at £7.80 was one of the pricier main dish on the menu. The rice dish came with half a hard boiled egg, a smattering of crunchy peanuts and ikan bilis, cucumber slices and sambal prawns. As I ploughed through the dish, it was apparent the I was paying mostly for the sambal prawns (four of them to be exact). The sambal spice was obviously toned down and I didn't even break a sweat even gulping down an entire spoonful of it. There was a whiff of coconut fragrance in the rice and that was it.

There must be something about fried rice here in London that is distinctly different from back home. I suspect it is the rice that is used. The nasi goreng kampung (£6.30) was prepared using long grain rice, which came across as thinner and tougher as compared to the Thai fragrant rice that we were used to. However, being drier, the long grain rice that Satay House used was more suitable for fried rice (nasi goreng). When asked how his rice tasted, my dinner mate replied, "Ok lor…". That wasn't too enthusiastic, was it?

The dessert turned out to be a treat. The sago gula melaka (£4.40) came in a sizable portion. Instead of having the sago dispersed in gula melaka, it was served as a circular jelly. That went well with the gula melaka, which sweetness was just to my liking. Bubur pulut hitam (£4.40) was one of the better ones that I had tasted in London. Its consistency was not too watery and much thicker as compared to the one served at Bonda Café. That said, considering the difference in price (almost double), I guess that the better quality was to be expected.

Though the meal at Satay House Malaysian Restaurant was overall more than satisfactory, it fell short of expectations considering the rave reviews given, especially with its satay, which gave the restaurant its name. In fact, if you are gunning for satay in London, you would definitely be better off going to Puji Puji instead. However, given Satay House's proximity to Paddington train station, it would probably remained as one of London's favourite places for satay. Its extensive menu alone is well worth a visit even if you're not heading there for its satay.

Address: 13 Sale Pl, London, W2 1PX
Tel: 020 7723 6763
Nearest Tube station: Edgware Road

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £15 pp
Service charge: 12.5%

Taste: ***
Service: ****
Ambience: ***
Suitable for: group gatherings and a sampling taste of the Malaysian cuisine

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