Sedap, London, UK

I have been walking past Sedap several times on old street. From outside it is not an extremely attractive restaurant but I noticed that it was always very busy. After some research I found out that this Malaysian Chinese restaurant had very good reviews and decided to go and see by myself. 

I went for dinner with R. and we sampled a couple of their most famous dishes. To be honest, I had to restrain myself from ordering everything on the appetizing menu.

Penang Char Kway Teow :  stir-fried flat rice noodles with prawn, beansprout, sausage, egg, fish cake, soy sauce, chive and chili paste

These fried noodles were very tasty and had a nice sticky texture. Probably thanks to the large amount of oil used to fry them. But there is no fat-free lunch: apart from some rare exceptions the fatter/sweeter the better.

Transparent beef rolls

The beef wrapped in rice paper was a nice change from the traditional spring/summer rolls with shrimps. It was not very easy to eat though.

Seafood crab

The crab stuffed with seafod was sweet and rich.

Tow Yu Bak: tender pork stewed for hours in a sweet thick soya sauce

This pork dish was similar to my mum's braised pork belly in soy sauce and five spices. Very tasty again and very oily too. Anyway, Malaysian food IS oily.

Sambal okra

Okra or "lady finger" is a funny vegetable. It looks vaguely like a zucchini, but the main feature of okra is its slimy texture, which may not be pleasant for everyone. It was cooked with a fragant and hot sambal (chili paste).

I went another time to Sedap for lunch with L. and we ordered two "classics": Nasi Lemak and Hainanese chicken rice.

Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak is Malaysia national dish and is usually eaten there for breakfast. It usually comes as a platter with rice, meat or fish, a hard-boiled egg, peanuts, cucumber and sambal.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Even if the Hainanese Chicken Rice may look bland on the picture, it had a very good taste. I tried once to make chicken rice with a chicken rice paste bought in an Asian supermarket but it came no where as good as Sedap's chicken rice.

Despite the richness of some of the dishes, I really enjoyed eating at Sedap. I think the best is to go there with some friends and order plenty of dishes to share, to taste the versality of Sedap's Malaysian Chinese cuisine.

Cost: £6-£8 per dish