Imagine my surprise when tootling along on the 38 bus the
other day I saw what looked like umbrellas outside a shop on balls pond road
with people drinking refreshing beverages in what appeared to be a bustling
restaurant....next to the bathroom supply store.
Being the saddo restaurant fiend that I am I immediately
called my husband to tell him we were going to try this place immediately. That
was two weeks ago. We’ve been back twice (once for takeaway).
This is the first ‘proper’ restaurant for the family that
ran the eponymous satay stand at the now closed down Oriental City. Their claim
to the best satay sauce in London may be a bit suspect, given my experiences at
Kiasu and on Rupert Court, but the sauces that came with the satay sticks and
the one for the gado gado, while different in texture and ferocity, were both
excellent. The setup is really around the satay 'bar' and I would recommend both the vegetarian and the lamb versions so far.
I have to say the condiment queen in me was excited by the
sticky chilli jam that came with the wonton parcels that my husband had - wish I knew what it was so I could recreate...or maybe I should just ask them next time.
Best dishes so far though were the whole sea bass roasted in
banana leaf that came with tamarind sauce and the seriously divine and sticky Aubergine
stir fry. Both Nasi Gorengs- Temak (with
yummy crispy anchovy) and 'regular' with satay were good (although I still like the Rick
Stein one I make). I don't know so much about Malaysian food but I do know that Nasi Goreng is at least as much Indonesian as it is Malay.
While I usually NEVER have dessert at asian restaurants, I
was still a tad hungry the first time we went and the banana fritters went down an
absolute treat, despite or perhaps because of the rather budget supermarket ice-cream.
I haven’t had the laksa or a rendang curry yet but plan to on my
next two visits. There are some weird missing items for example - there is no rojak on the menu but one of the salads really is that dish which I remember from other Malaysian places.
The only real complaint is that the food is a touch anglicised (e.g. not as
spicy as I would like) but the atmosphere compares favorably to Kiasu and the
location (for me at least) is unbeatable. So – its good, but not outstanding
but cheap and crucially in this city BYO .
If you happen to live in the area
its fantastic, but in reality, this place is seriously in the middle of
nowhere. This worries me in that I think the food is amazing and the staff
really brilliant, but you wonder if they will struggle to survive and I am already an addict.
So the upshot is that I wouldn’t necessarily say rush right over if you live
south west but if you’re in the general neighborhood (Dalston, DeBeauvoir,
Islington), definitely make a small detour to by.
Puji Puji
122, Ball's Pond Road, Islington,
About £10 a head, even if you succumb to the lure of the fritter plus whatever you spend on beer at the costcutter.
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