| Restaurant Reviews |
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3 July 2000
C&R Restaurant When people go to Chinatown for a meal, most people gravitate towards the bright reds and golds of elaborately decorated Chinese restaurants on Gerard Street. But tucked away in a small alleyway opposite the Piccadilly Circus end of Gerard Street is a small restaurant serving Singaporean Street Food. C&R Restaurant is simple, bustling, authentic and full of Singaporeans. The menu is easy to understand. It is broadly split into rice dishes and noodle dishes most costing just 5. It is possible to order appetisers and deserts too but Street or Hawker food is usually a one dish and drink affair. Drinks are not inspiring but there is freshly-made soy-bean milk and sugar cane juice at 1.50 a glass. Favourites among expatriate Singaporeans there are: Nasi Lemak - a traditional Malay dish of fragrant coconut rice served with small amounts of chicken curry, achar (vegetable pickle), peanuts, Asian anchovies (less salty and smelly than the Italian version), and fried omelette. Hainanese Chicken Rice - although this dish originates from Hainan, an island province of China, it was the overseas Singaporean and Malaysian Hainanese who perfected this dish. It is chicken steeped till it is just cooked and served with fragrant rice cooked in the chicken's stock. A delicious and healthy meal. Laksa - Thick rice noodles served in a spicy coconut soup with prawn balls, fish cake, chicken and bean sprouts. Of course the Laksa here cannot be compared to the ones served at my old army camp in Bukit Gombak or at our old church local at Bedok corner, but the Laksa at the C&R is the real stuff. So to those of you who have been eating Sainsburys' Laksa, for heaven's sake try the real thing. Other dishes that we saw other a number of customers eating but didn't try ourselves: Char Kuay Teow (Fried broad rice noodles), Mee Hoon Goreng (Fried vermicelli Malay-style), Nasi Goreng (Spicy Malay fried rice). A meal and a drink will cost approximately 6.50, and a three course meal about 10-12. Nearest tube, Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus. The restaurant is in the alleyway behind Pizza Express. The Thai Garden A small Thai restaurant in Bethnal Green serving simple home-cooked vegetarian, prawn and fish dishes. The portions are not large but the prices are very reasonable. More importantly, the food is well-cooked, authentic and fresh. A budget set menu at 7 is available all day which gives you any appetizer and a main course plus a portion of rice. The decor isn't great but the service is pleasant. Wines start at 8 a bottle, and take-away is available. Look out for the fried pomfret with a sweet and sour sauce (6.95), prawn green curry with Thai golf-ball aubergines(5.50), and the assorted mixed starter which comprises Thai samosas, barbecued prawns, mushroom satay, spring rolls, potato and vegetable cups, and more (9.00). Appetizers at 3-4 Vegetable dishes at 4-5 Prawn dishes at 5-6 Fish dishes at 6-7 Between two people, we had the mixed starter, 3 main dishes, rice, pudding and a bottle of Chenin Blanc which all came up to approximately 45 including VAT and service charge. Getting there: 5 minutes from Bethnal Green Tube. Go down Roman Road when you come out of the Tube station. The part of Globe Road you want is on the left, and the restaurant is behind the London Buddhist Temple.
When you walk into this basement eatery, you are instantly transported to Malaysia. Not the polished Malaysia you see in on the holiday programs, but the real homely Malaysia. The tables are covered in no-nonsense plastic, there is a great big counter of food ready to serve, a steady stream of Malaysian students or ex-pats come and go, and they sell Indonesian clove cigarettes! The food is authentic, aromatic and good value. When you come in you grab a tray and just point to what you want. The staff are very friendly are more than willing to explain things or even help you choose. Each dish in the counter is about 2-3 and is served up with rice. You could have Malay fried chicken, sambal fish, beef rendang (a dry curry), chicken curry, lamb curry, sambal prawns, and much more. Obviously, the food is spicy! For those of us with a more chili sensitive palette, the kitchen cooks us a variety of traditional Malay dishes (about $4-6) from Nasi Goreng (fried rice), and Mee Goreng (fried noodles) to Taohu Goreng (fried tofu and salad with a peanut dressing). They do two deals. The first is a all-on-one-plate deal. Three things on one plate with rice at about 4.50. The other deal comprises a whole dish of something and a plate of rice at about 3.50. So a meal for two with any of the deals would cost you less than 10. But a la carte, an average meal for two with drinks would be between 15 and 20. Getting there: The nearest tube is Edgware Road station. You must head down Edgware Road on the right side towards Marble Arch. You will see a neon light saying "Mawar" (note: it may not be lit). If you reach Safeway, you have gone too far.
New World Chinese Restaurant
There's none of that embarrassment when you are handed menus written in Chinese. The waiting staff come round and you point to the dimsum you want. Easy peasy. Dimsum is served from noon to 5pm and is very crowded around lunchtime. They do all the usual dimsum from chickens' feet to won ton noodles, and egg tarts to sticky rice dumplings. Typically, dimsum for two with Chinese tea is about 15. Getting there: 3 minutes from Leicester Square tube. Head for Chinatown. New World is nearer the Pagoda-hut end of the street. You'll find the restaurant opposite the fire station. You can't miss it.
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We review restaurants and good eating places that we have been to. You won't find expensive 3, 2 or even 1 Michelin star restaurants here. But what you will find is good, affordable, authentic food. 
Mawar Restaurant
For those of you who live in London, enough said. For those of you who are visiting London and want a good value, standard dimsum restaurant, then we recommend this one. The dimsum of course cannot be compared to the stuff you get at 5 star Hong Kong or Singapore hotels, or even to the dimsum served at good Chinese restaurants here in the UK. But New World has the advantage of value, and one other very important factor for those of us who can't speak Cantonese or Mandarin: all the food comes round on trolleys.
