Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 2 and Version 1 of Warisan Cafe, W2 1TU

Malaysian cafe near Paddington Station.

It's a very simple space — a small half-basement with a white-tiled floor and white-painted walls and ceiling. Plain wooden chairs to seat 32 are drawn up at varnished wooden tables, and a few colourful paintings and blown-up photos relieve the whiteness of the walls. A fridge in one corner holds cans of soft drinks, with a large flatscreen mounted on the wall next to it.

Kake visited on a Tuesday afternoon in September 2019. There were six other customers when I arrived around 2pm, and three more turned up while I was there. No music was playing, and the flatscreen was turned off, but there was a good buzz of conversation.

Nasi lemak (£6.50) photo initially looked like a rather small portion, but turned out to be plenty in the end. The rice was soft but not too soft, and had a subtle coconut flavour, enlivened with slivers of ginger. It was topped with some very good dried anchovies and peanuts. Boiled egg on the side was OK, though the yolk had a faint grey line and half of it was unaccountably missing. The sambal was flavourful, and there was plenty of it. Perhaps the star of the plate, though, was the chicken; hot and freshly fried, with a crisp well-seasoned coating and tender meat inside.

Curry puffs (£2.50 for three) were fried to an even, crisp brown, and served warm. They certainly seemed to be house-made, with a hand-crimped shell that was more like shortcrust than puff pastry, The filling was primarily potato, with no other vegetables obviously identifiable. Spicing and seasoning were both good.

Service was friendly and welcoming. Tap water came on request in a rather small glass. No service charge was added to the bill.

Accessibility: It's in a basement, accessed via a dozen steps with a handrail on one side, then a 90-degree turn and another step to get in. No steps to the toilets once you're in.

See also:

• Photos of the menu as of September 2019: page 1, page 2
• Hungry Onion thread
• Bellaphon's video
• Halal Girl About Town review
• Su-Lin's brief review

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