Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 83 and Version 82 of Oriental City

Version 83 Version 82
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* <b>Roti Stall</b> has moved to [East Ham Market Hall,Myrtle Road, E6 1HY, London].
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summary='Now closed; used to be a South-East Asian mall, community centre, and food court in North London. This page lists the new homes of the various traders who used to be there.' website='' summary='Now closed; used to be a South-East Asian mall, community centre, and food court in North London. This page lists the new homes of the various traders who used to be there.'
summary='Now closed; used to be a South-East Asian mall, community centre, and food court in North London. This page lists the new homes of the various traders who used to be there.' website=''

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 news reports say the site is in the hands of administrators. Former tenants held a protest in February 2010 over the continued closure of the site.

Another similar site, Pacific Plaza, opened up in Wembley around the end of 2009, but closed in Spring 2011.

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
  • The jewellery shop has moved to 8-10 Princess Arcade, SW1Y 6DS, according to a comment on dimsum.co.uk.
  • MODA Hair Studio has moved to Wing Yip Business Centre in Cricklewood.
  • 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 and to a commenter on this page, who adds: "The food is the same as before and the quality maintained."
  • Utsuwa-No-Yakata (the Japanese crockery shop) rebranded to Doki Limited and moved to Pacific Plaza; when Pacific Plaza closed, it moved again to 12 South Ealing Road, W5 4QA.

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!

Probably not coming back (or came back and then vanished again):

  • Hamazaki Bakery was going to reopen at 82 Totteridge Lane, N20 8QG, near Totteridge and Whetstone Station, according to Wikipedia. However, when Kake went for a look in September 2010, this address appeared to be a residential one, and the shop below it was a newsagents.
  • Oriental City Supermarket moved to Oriental City Supermarket, W2 3RX, but closed and turned into a Costcutter in late 2009.
  • 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.
  • Yummy Yummy Thai from the food court moved to Yummy Tai Chi, HA6 1LU, but closed some time around the end of 2009. According to a comment on Flickr, the staff intended to move on to run a juice bar in Pacific Plaza, but we're not sure whether this actually happened before Pacific Plaza closed.

Still unknown:

  • the durian stall
  • Yong Tofu
  • "the lovely nic nac kitchen shop with the lady from Singapore"
  • Zen (the Japanese one, not the Chinese place called Zen Tian Di/Zen CX) reopened as Shan in the Pacific Plaza food court, but we don't know where they went after Pacific Plaza closed.
  • Zen Tian Di (Zen CX), the Chinese buffet place with the crab legs.

Moved before the closure:

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 ROTI STALL: ROTI STALL @ East Ham Market Hall, E6 1HY London. AUTHENTIC MALAYSIAN CUISINE. (formerly located in Oriental City)


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