A visit to London’s colorful and festive Chinatown isn’t complete without a stop at Rasa Sayang, a Malaysian and Singaporean restaurant that offers a nice variety of savory dishes at an affordable price. Most of the dishes cost around £15 ($20) and arrive with fast service. The restaurant is about a four-minute walk from Leicester Square station.
Upon entering, the atmosphere is inviting, as a host immediately greets us and guides us to a table. The restaurant feels small at first until I discover a larger mirror-lined area with a bar downstairs.
The menu consists of rice dishes, stir-fried noodles, soups, BBQ, vegetables, sides and desserts. Customers can choose from a variety of chicken, beef, crab, prawn and vegetable cooking styles, from slow-poached meats and slow-cooked coconut curries to wok-fried, stir-fried or deep-fried entrees.
Rasa Saying offers a second menu for those with dietary restrictions that shows dishes with potentially troubling ingredients, such as nuts, milk and meat.
The firecracker popcorn chicken as a starter is Rasa Saying’s most popular small plate. The chicken has a nice crunchy outside with a soft juicy inside topped with savory spices accompanied by sweet and sour sauce.
My main course, Hainanese chicken rice, was unfamiliar to me, but I ordered it because it comes highly recommended on the London Chinatown website. I was not disappointed. The dish came with a cup of broth, sauce, rice and chicken on the side. The chicken was perfectly poached with a juicy garlic taste, and the rice was cooked in chicken broth to make it moist, pairing well with the chicken.
My companion ordered the grilled chicken satay with a side of egg-fried rice, and the chicken had a surprisingly nutty flavor to it.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the broth, but after I took one sip, I couldn’t stop drinking it. The portions were large enough that I had to take most of the food home in a reusable “takeaway” box.
Out of the handful of Chinatown restaurants I’ve sampled so far, Rasa Saying is by far the best.
