Randomness Guide to London Menu

Chinese-Malaysian restaurant in Colindale, the new home of the Oriental Garden stall which used to be in Oriental City. They also do takeaway and delivery. Note that they're closed on Wednesdays.

It's not large; there's seating for about 36 people at cafe-style tables with shiny metallic tops and semicircular red place mats. The floor is covered with large shiny tiles, and there are a couple of flatscreens on the wall.

The menu is quite extensive, partly because it offers the usual "British Chinese restaurant" stuff (crispy seaweed, sesame prawn toast, meat X in sauce Y) as well as a Chef's Special section including "Malaysia, Singapore, Thai & Vietnamese Speciality" with dishes such as roti canai, kerabu salad, nasi lemak, curry laksa, and Hainanese chicken rice. (The Vietnamese dishes seem to be limited to spring rolls and summer rolls.) They also have a huge soft drinks menu, again illustrated by photos of the brightly-coloured fruity concoctions on offer.

Kake visited on a Friday late lunchtime in September 2009. The flatscreens were showing some kind of parade, with the sound off. Music was playing quietly. There were a few other customers, including a group of six who seemed to have booked in advance, but there was plenty of room and I got my choice of table. A bowl of prawn crackers was brought shortly after I sat down, though I would have preferred the dish of pickles that the chap on the table next to me got instead.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the menu, and I was on my own so was limited in the number of dishes I could try. I went for the Penang char kway teow (£6.80) photo. The waitress warned me that it contained Chinese sausage and was quite spicy; neither of these is a problem as far as I'm concerned.

The char kway teow was tasty enough, and correctly served on a piece of banana leaf (although this wasn't evident until I ate enough to uncover it). It had the right level of spice for me, and there was just enough oil used to stop the noodles clumping without being overly greasy. I liked the crisply-fried onions scattered on top, but I failed to detect any of the promised sausage. The prawns were nice and big, with a decent texture. Fish cake slices were present but not in overwhelming numbers. Squid was alas a bit chewy. Overall, it was fine without being something I'd specifically come back for.

Tap water was brought promptly when I asked for it (at room temperature with no ice, though this was fine as it wasn't a particularly warm day), and topped up later without me having to ask. Service was friendly, though they seemed to have a knack for asking me things when I had my mouth full of squid.

Kake's verdict: I probably wouldn't go back on my own, but I'd like to go in the evening with a group and try a range of the Malaysian dishes.

Accessibility: Shallow step up to get in. On one level once you're in. The single toilet cubicle isn't overly large.

See also:

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