Two Discoveries and One Farewell

I was in London today for sanity check. Just joking.

Nik Rahini's farewell lunch

Yo! Sushi

Met up with the ex-Chevening scholar, Nik Rahini for lunch in London before she returns to Malaysia for good. We had our lunch in Yo! Sushi in Harrods. It was my first time eating in Yo! and there's really nothing to shout about in terms of variety, taste, presentation, portion and authenticity. Perhaps the only things I can think about Yo! representing anything Japanese were the conveyor belt, Kikkoman soy sauce, pickled ginger, disposable chopsticks and self-service water tap which I unknowingly paid 1 quid for a glass of water! Don't make the same mistake as I have! If I can ever put a point to Yo!, I'd give it 2 out of 10. 1 for location, and the other for Kikkoman. Maybe a bonus point out of respect for Nik's farewell! Haha! Sorry for being so mean..I think unless you really have to down a plate of sashimi or California Roll, avoid Yo! at all cost.

Nik Rahini with Kak Pa and Sharifah

Further inside Harrods is the more expensive and authentic Japanese cuisine. Harrods even imported all the staff at the counter from Japan! Even waitresses! They must be really serious! I checked the menu and took a quick glance at the right column for price...unsurprisingly expensive. Oh well, that's the sort of price one would expect from Harrods anyway...

The better Japanese cuisine inside Harrods. Served by Japanese chefs.

As I thought, a simple plate of salmon sashimi for example, cost 8 quid, 2.5 times the price in Yo! No wonder...but that's exactly the type of quality, variety and authenticity that Japanese food lovers should be expecting or would normally get in Japan. Anyway...

I have discovered the "Low Yat" equivalent for London in Tottenham Court Road. Like Low Yat, this place is the mecca for computer and electronics for shoppers and bargain hunters. If Low Yat is housed in a multi-storey fully air-conditioned building, the shops in TCR is like putting all the shops in Low Yat onto high-street shopping, that's what you'll get....

Imagine stripping out all the shops in Low Yat and putting them on the high-street

The second thing I discovered today is Oriental City, the place to do Chinese grocery shopping and get great Asian food, all under one roof. It's not a place where everyone would be familiar with. In fact it's located in London's Zone 4 on the Northern Line. The nearest tube station is Colindale but even that is a 12-minute walk to the place. I went for dinner there with Bettina and Winson.

Dinner at Oriental City with Winson and Bettina

We were surprised by the variety of foodstuff available in OC; Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Malaysian, you name it.

Chinese grocer, Oriental City, with huge floor space like Tesco

Japanese top-grade rice is also found here! Imagine my excitement when I saw Koshihikari. It reminded me of what I did with the rice when I was in Japan

There's no need to craze for Maggi Mee and Milo...I can get them here as well! Just a little more expensive...ermm, alot more actually...

The food court itself is an attraction. Just like the grocer, the food court serves Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian food. I also noticed they have Singaporean, Taiwanese and Vietnamese food.

Clockwise from top-left: Fried Carrot Cake, Nasi Briyani with Rendang Daging and Char Kuay Teow

This place is like a hidden gem, far from the knowledge of many people. However the massive turnout at the food court tells another story. It seemed like it's serving a huge population of Asian community who've been here for a very long time and who want to stay away from the areas commonly known to tourists. I felt like I was in Malaysia or Singapore! Even the sight of "mat salleh" was rare.

After this evening, I'd probably think that anyone who tells me that good Asian food can only be found in Chinatown or Bayswater, is probably either a tourist in London or still unaware of Oriental City.

But I prefer to keep mum about their recommendation, probably nod my head when told about Bays and Chinatown, and not mention anything about OC to anyone, except to good friends! Call it Kiasu or selfish, I'm happy for it to stay unnoticed because I can't imagine the volume of tourist in Chinatown or Bayswater flocking over to this foodcourt. It is already bursting to its seams during peak hours, as we noticed.

Foodcourt bursting at its seams during dinner peak hour

Then again, what an idiot am I to blog this out...