Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 72 and Version 71 of Oriental City

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Oriental City was a large South-East Asian mall and community centre in North London, reasonably close to [[Colindale Station]]. It closed for redevelopment on 1 June 2008, though as of early 2010 the redevelopment appears unlikely to actually happen. Former tenants held [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8514213.stm/ a protest in February 2010] over the continued closure of the site. A [http://www.orientalcityreopening.co.uk/ campaign to revive Oriental City] has started. The new [[Pacific Plaza]] in [[Locale Wembley|Wembley]] looks much more promising.
Oriental City was a large South-East Asian mall and community centre in North London, reasonably close to [[Colindale Station]]. It closed for redevelopment on 1 June 2008, though as of early 2010 the redevelopment appears unlikely to actually happen, and the new [[Pacific Plaza]] in [[Locale Wembley|Wembley]] looks much more promising.

Oriental City was a large South-East Asian mall and community centre in North London, reasonably close to Colindale Station. It closed for redevelopment on 1 June 2008, though as of early 2010 the redevelopment appears unlikely to actually happen, and the new Pacific Plaza in Wembley looks much more promising.

Below is a partial list of where the Oriental City traders have moved to; please let us know if you know of any others.

Places already confirmed/reviewed on RGL (view them on a map):

Places not yet confirmed/reviewed:

  • China City (restaurant upstairs) is moving to the Wing Yip at Staples Corner/Cricklewood, according to a comment on dimsum.co.uk. They also have other branches at Leicester Square and at Russell Square
  • Hamazaki Bakery may have moved to 82 Totteridge Lane, N20 8QG, near Totteridge and Whetstone Station, according to Wikipedia.
  • The jewellery shop has moved to 8-10 Princess Arcade, SW1Y 6DS, according to a comment on dimsum.co.uk.
  • The roti stall was relocated in early 2009 as TasteMalaysia, 32 High Road, Willesden Green, NW10 2QD. However, there were lease problems with the landlord, and they had to close again. They did a short stint at Java Stop near Waterloo Station, but this was a time-limited promotion and they have now moved on. As of October 2009, they are looking for new premises and new investors.
  • Royal Lido, one of the dim sum places in the food court, has reopened as Taste Of China, 172-174 Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2RH according to a comment on dimsum.co.uk.
  • The chef from Shangri-La Hunan Cuisine (restaurant upstairs) has moved to Local Friends, 28 North End Road, NW11 7PT, according to a comment on Chowhound.

Moved outside London:

  • Lemongrass (Malaysian stall) has been renamed to The Malaysian Restaurant and has moved to 100 High Street, Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, MK11 1AH. Phone 01908 260 026, fax 01908 260 024, opening hours 10:30am-10:30pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-10:30pm Sun, from Monday 9 February 2009 — thanks Su-Lin!

Still unknown:

  • the durian stall
  • Yong Tofu
  • "the lovely nic nac kitchen shop with the lady from Singapore"
  • Zen Tian Di (Zen CX), the Chinese buffet place with the crab legs.

By August 2008 nothing had happened to the site. Development Securities were due to sell it to Peter Virdee on 30 June 2008. The date was extended to September 2008 and then until November due to lack of money, and Property Week say it is likely to be extended into 2009.

The info below is retained for people who want to know what Oriental City used to be like.

Food court

The (covered) food court on the ground floor is a proper food court, with stalls arranged around the edges, and chairs and tables in the middle. You can have Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Indian, you name it. Select your favourite dishes from as many stalls as you like, and collect them when your number comes up.

Specific recommendations: there are two dim sum places, and the one that's called "Dim Sum House" has a better selection than the other, the "Royal Lido". (Although their "Shanghai style" pork dumplings are not in fact soup dumplings; my quest continues. --Kake)

Highlights

  • The food court, of course!
  • Other food places, including a cafe that does bubble tea, and a sushi bar.
  • The Japanese crockery shop.
  • The Japanese supermarket — all kinds of interesting vegetables, sushi-grade fish, meats, noodles, rice, spices, oils, vinegars, exciting things in packets.
  • The durian shop. Located outside the main building, for reasons that will be obvious to anyone who's ever come within smelling distance of durian.

Getting here

Colindale Station is closest; Burnt Oak Station is also within walking distance, but as it's one stop further out than Colindale it's probably less useful. If you're driving, it's worth knowing that they have a free car park.

See also

Other people's writeups, news reports, etc:

Last visited by Ewan, Sarah and others, 1 June 2008. Food court opening hours verified from notice outside, September 2007.

Comment added by Anonymous: Does anyone know what has happened to the beauty salon which was on the same side as the crockery shop?

Reply by Kake: Not sure, sorry; but there's a beauty salon of some kind in Pacific Plaza, if that helps.

Comment added by Dom: Hello, I mainly remember this place as the Yaohan Plaza. I don't know if it closed down years before Oriental City took over, but I'm sure there used to be a high-class Japanese cake stall called Minamoto Kitchoan. This is now at 44 Piccadilly - http://www.kitchoan.com/E/LDN-StoreInfo_e.pdf

Reply by Kake: Hi Dom, Minamoto Kitchoan is also on RGL — Minamoto Kitchoan, W1J 0DS. I'm not sure when it moved away from Oriental City, but it was some time before the place closed.


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