Rasa Sayang is one of the more interesting eateries in Chinatown, specialising as it does in the Straits cuisine of Malaysia and Singapore. Notwithstanding the odd rogue dish, most of what they do is pretty decent; favourites of mine include fried fish rice vermicelli (魚頭米粉) and beef rendang.
So I was quite excited when I came across Rasa Sayang Express on Oxford St. As the name suggests, this is a stripped-down version of the original that aims to serve food swiftly to time-poor shoppers, wage-slaves, and tourists alike. The menu is a lot shorter when compared to the parent restaurant, but classics such as Hainan chicken rice, nasi lemak, and laksa are all present and correct. These dishes, and in fact all of the 'one-dish' meals, are uniformly priced at £5.99.
Now for this sort of price, I didn't expect five-star cooking and my roti canai with curry chicken was OK without pulling up any trees. It should also be pointed out that much of the food seems to be pre-cooked and merely dished up to ensure express service.
That said it's good to see Straits cuisine become more common and as fast food goes, Rasa Sayang Express is a cut above the 'shit-in-a box' merchants.
Rasa Sayang Express, 50 Oxford Street, London, W1D 1BG
Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road
Hah, targeting the Southeast Asians who are flocking into Oxford Street taking advantage of the weak pound. The roti canai looks, well, decent I guess. But many would still baulk at forking out £5.99 for something that would cost probably half of that back home. Then again...
ReplyDeleteIt's always a bit of a shame when places resort to precooked food being reheated, all in order to get more mouths through the gate. Still, as you say, it's good to see that sort of food on OS. Maybe one day there will be some decent (even good) express food joints on that hellish stretch of road. Maybe they could import some street stalls from Bangkok or Penang.
ReplyDeleteLChow - they may baulk at spending £5.99, but it's hardly wallet-busting. And besides popping to a food court in KL or SG isn't really an option if you're on holiday in London!
ReplyDeleteGworm - I take your point but Rasa Sayang Express has no pretensions to being anything other than a fast food joint relying on quick customer turnover. Besides, stuff like curries can be prepared in advanced, kept warm, and be served up without suffering too much in the process. That said other dishes may not take so kindly to this kind of treatment...
£5.95 is a bargain. still laughing at your description of "shit in a box" merchants
ReplyDeleteI think you described a lot of the other merchants very well. Actually you got them spot on..
ReplyDeleteYou got a point there. A quick question: is that roti canai made from scratch (as in flipped) or oven baked from frozen packs? As far as I know, only Awana makes them from scratch.
ReplyDeleteGChick - it is a bargain and I can imagine popping in here frequently if I worked nearby.
ReplyDeleteMzungu - the stretch of Oxford St between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Rd is one of those parts of London that is full of these 'merchants'. It really doesn't take much for anywhere to shine...
LChow - I can't be sure but I doubt very much if the roti is made from scratch. Especially given how quickly my lunch was served up.
Will definitely go check out although I find roti canai don't keep that well. My local canai stall when I lived in KL would occasionally make a batch up whilst it was quiet and if I saw him reaching for the container lid I'd switch my order to a dosai.
ReplyDeleteJoshua - I fear that you might be a little disappointed if you compare this to the stuff you ate when you lived in KL. My suspicions are that the roti is out of packet although I can't be sure.
ReplyDeleteCheers. I'm happy to give it a little leeway due to location so will give it a go.
ReplyDeleteJust popped down to RSE.
ReplyDeleteSteered clear of the roti canai but thought the nasi goreng was a nice little lunch for £5.99 so will be returning.
Joshua - glad you liked it. I think its niche is as a quick pitstop.
ReplyDeleteWhat a disappointment. Singapore Vermicelli took 15 mins for a take away and was 95% noodles and tasteless. And as for the dried out tiny portion of Chicken Satay for a special 99p it was 90p too expensive. I'll never go again
ReplyDeleteGus - that's a shame.
ReplyDeleteSteer Clear of this place....had the Nasi Goreng and very much regretted it 24hrs later when I became very unwell...I KNEW I shouldn't have eaten it because it wasn't cooked properly..WILL NOT be going back!
ReplyDeleteI would KILL to have this no matter what! Visiting London and may pop in there after shopping as you said! Can't wait. Thx for your honest writeup. Loving all your reviews, which is your fav? Popping you an email.
ReplyDelete