Northern Malay delights arrive in Bayswater, London

(Right) Some of the items offered at Noor Azlina’s restaurant in Berjaya Eden Park Hotel in Bayswater, London. (Far right) Noor Azlina busy at work at one of her restaurants.

THE most popular spot in London for Malaysians has to be Bayswater. It is where the famous Malaysia Hall is located.

The best Chinese restaurants, especially those serving roast duck such as Gold Mine and Four Seasons, are located along the main street. Then, there is Mandarin Kitchen, which arguably serves the best lobster noodles in London.

There is also a halal Malaysian Chinese restaurant, Noodle Oodle, frequented by many Malaysian students, especially the Muslims.

The new kid on the block is Malaysian restaurateur Noor Azlina Zainal Abidin. She just started operating a Malaysian food outlet at the Berjaya Eden Park Hotel in Bayswater.

But she has an impressive track record as this is her second Malaysian food outlet. Her main outlet, Café Rasa Malaysia, is at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford in East London. She is also contemplating opening a new outlet at the other Westfield mall at Shepherd’s Bush.

The Penangite’s northern style Malay cooking has become a talking point among the Malaysian diaspora in London.

“I like to invite Malaysians and the locals, who are familiar with Malaysian food, to try my roti canai. While most restaurants use the processed roti canai, where they just heat it up, I personally prepare the roti canai fresh.

Some of the items offered at Noor Azlina’s restaurant in Berjaya Eden Park Hotel in Bayswater, London.

“Anyone can tell the difference between one that is freshly cooked, as it is crunchy, and one that is taken out of the oven,” she said.

And she knows that Malaysians can be demanding when it came to food, especially the homesick ones.

The Berjaya Restaurant, which previously served Malaysian food by an internal chef, has been outsourced to Noor Azlina, a Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) graduate, who has lived in London with English husband, Mohd Ridzwan Greville Peter Mills, for over a decade.

She first came to London in 2006, and her passion for cooking made her venture into catering and to open her first café, Lemon Grass, in 2011. The first one was in Bow and the next one in Whitechapel in East London.

“We were operating these two outlets in libraries and we felt it was rather small. So we decided to open Café Rasa Malaysia in 2011 in a big mall.

“Initially many Britons had no idea what was Malaysian food and the first few months were challenging but we believed in our food. Now, the cafe is popular.”

Recalling her early years, Noor Azlina, who is known as cili padi, said when she first moved to London: “I faced difficulty in finding halal food, and I found that frustrating. So, I decided to ask my husband to consider investing in the food business,” she said.

The mother of a six-year-old boy attended secondary school at the Mara Junior College (MRSM) in Balik Pulau, Penang. She later pursued tertiary education at UiTM in Lendu, Melaka.

Noor Azlina also participated in many Malaysian food festivals including the annual Nottingham University Food Festival among other national catering events.

Since taking over the operations of the Berjaya Eden Park restaurant, she has introduced a buffet breakfast including the all-time Malaysian favourite, nasi lemak, to hotel guests.

The comprehensive menu includes nasi briyani, either chicken or lamb, in clay pot. To the surprise of Malaysians, she is offering London Chilli Lobster and Singapore Chilli Crab.

“Most Malaysians prefer to take away these two dishes,” she said, laughing when asked if that was because Malaysians felt uncomfortable eating crabs with their hands with the mat sallehs looking at them.

She also offers mee goreng mamak with lobster, insisting that Malaysians should try the special dish, as the crustaceans came from the icy, deep seas, which made their flesh firm and solid.

Noor Azlina said when she first told her husband of her decision to be an entrepreneur, he was not convinced.

“When I was a child, I helped my grandmother sell nasi lemak in Bukit Mertajam. She was selling this food for 50 years, and she was well known.

“I always felt that I must continue her legacy and to make her nasi lemak famous all over the world one day,” said Noor Azlina.

Noor Azlina’s restaurant is at 35-39, Inverness Terrace, London W 3JS. Tel: [phone].