So as we had announced a few months ago, on Friday 25th September, Trafalgar Sqaure held a real night hawker food market. The stalls lined either side of the square, the crowds congressed around the stomach-rumbling wafts of Malay food, the floor was damp from the afternoon rain; but this was no monsoon downpour, in fact, that was where the similarity ended. The grey, cool London evening drew a more tame crowd. A stage was erected with traditional Malaysian dancing and other entertainment but there was a distinct lack of spirit.
The Malaysian Kitchen has launched a year-long campaign to encourage British consumers to try Malaysian cuisine, and it was a lovely surprise to see how many people turned up to this free event. However, organizers underestimated just exactly how many would turn up and there was a lack of food by the prime eating time of about 7pm. Not quite a night market then.
Having said that, a good number of stalls were set up by Malaysian restaurants around London. There were many dishes available from curry laksa to beef rendang to deliciously sickly sweet desserts and exotic drinks. Portion sizes were on the shy side of large and prices of about £5 a dish were far removed from the SE Asian street prices, but we didn’t see that affecting the hungry crowd.
Hopefully, this event will draw more people to Malaysian cuisine. Despite the lukewarm festival, our love of Malaysian food has been reignited and we are looking forward to trying London’s Malay restaurants and even rustling up a few dishes of our own.
The Food Pot 