Review of 'Old Chang Kee'

A personal favourite

I love Malaysian cuisine and while, technically, “Old Chang Kee” is Singaporean it serves up wonderful Malaysian street food as well. It's speciality is “curry puffs” which are small deep-fried pies filled with any number of things but their speciality is chicken, so how was it? Read on…

The Covent Garden location is on a small cut-through road “New Road” between Covent Garden and Leicester Square, opposite what was at the time we visited, a rather rowdy pub. The small yellow restaurant, I suppose, could easily be missed but is well worth a look into. With a few tables inside for dining and a couple more on the pavement outside the primary business here is in delivery and takeout. The menu is a whose-who of Malaysian street dining: Rendang, Nasi Lemak (the first place I have seen this offered in the UK), Laksa and, of course, their trademark puffs. We visited late on a Friday (they close at 8 Wednesday to Saturday, 6 Sunday to Tuesday) and were asked if we really wanted to order with only 15 minutes before closing time…we did and we are glad we did so. After ordering we had a seat outside and waited for it to be cooked and brought to our table.

The menu is simple with only a few dishes on offer: “Meals”, “Specials”, “Puffs” and “Snacks” (which vary daily). The prices are reasonable with the puffs all £3 and the meals in the £7 region. Drinks are unremarkable with (UK) canned soft drinks (£1.30 or £1 with a main) though they do have coconut water (£3) which I gave a try (nice with the coconut bits at the bottom).

I had to have the “Signature Singapore Chicken Curry” (“Chicken thigh and potatoes in an aromatic curry broth. With jasmine rice.”; £6.90) which was served in a small cardboard bowl with the curry in a plastic sleeve above the rice in the bowl beneath. The curry was spicy but full of flavour with large pieces of chicken and potato with plenty of sauce to go round.

My companion had the “Dry Chicken Curry (GF, DF)” (“Chicken stir fried in curry leaf spices. With jasmine rice.”; £6.90) which was served in the same way but I found the most flavoursome of the two dishes with a good amount of finely chopped chicken and vegetables though with no curry sauce.

Of course, I had to try the “Signature Chicken Curry Puff” (“Our signature puff. Filled with chicken, potatoes and our secret spices.”; £3) which was really tasty with a fried wonton-like wrapper but a bit lighter and the filling is chocked with flavour. Though it looks small it is a bit deceptive as this is VERY filling…

At £20.80 for the two of us, it is a bit of a bargain in the area. Very tasty and we will be back to work our way through the rest of the menu. Great to see authentic Malaysian street food in the heart of London!

Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”

Review Date: 2021-07-09

Cuisine: Malaysian

Address: 15a New Row, London WC2N 4PD ENGLAND

Public Transport: Leicester Square

Location: London (England) - Covent Garden

Map:

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7379 9235

URL: https://oldchangkee.co.uk/