Picture of Sedap, EC1V 9AY

Historical version 9 of Sedap, EC1V 9AY (view current version)

Malaysian restaurant on Old Street, near the junction with Whitecross Street. It opened in Spring 2009 on the old location of Yat San, and it's the new home of the chefs from now-closed Nyonya in Notting Hill.

In style, it's a little like a smart cafe, with an all-glass frontage, pale hardwood floor, and black tables and chairs (bellaphon's review, linked below, has some interior photos). The front part seats about 30 if that, but there's also a back room with more seating. They also offer takeaway and delivery.

Kake visited late on a Monday lunchtime in April 2009. There were a few other customers just finishing up their lunches when I arrived, but by 2pm everyone else had gone back to their offices and I was on my own. I decided to go for their lunch special offer; £5.65 for one of three starters plus a main. The waiter helpfully went through the menu with me and explained that they have separate vegetarian versions of some of the dishes, and that some of the cheaper mains come with two starters instead of one in the lunch offer.

I started with the kerabu vegetable salad photo, which was really fantastic — slivers of cucumber in a sweet-and-sour lime-mint dressing, with a few bits of cloud ear fungus for colour and a small chilli kick at the finish. I'm still dreaming about this salad, and I don't even like cucumber.

My main was sambal brinjal photo; this was again full of flavour, with just the right amount of prawn and chilli in the sambal and a melting texture to the aubergine. My only criticisms would be that the aubergine skin was a little tough (though this may be the necessary price for the texture of the centre), and the accompanying rice was very slightly undercooked for my taste (though this is a personal preference).

Kake's verdict: I would happily come back, preferably with more people so I can try more things.

See also:

Last visited by Kake, 6 April 2009. Opening hours taken from the Sedap website, October 2009.
OS X co-ord: 532357 OS Y co-ord: 182360 (Latitude: 51.524143 Longitude: -0.091918)
This is version 9 (as of 2009-10-15 17:37:41). View current version. List all versions.