Warung Padang London

I’m not doing a very good job of writing up everywhere I’ve eaten recently; there’s just not enough time in the day and I’ve had to prioritise my writing a little. Was the restaurant meh? – well, that one can wait. One place though that did make a bit of an impact was Warung Padang London, which I visited a couple weeks ago. Now, you may remember my writing up an Indonesian stall in Chinatown a few years ago. That place is currently under refurbishment (or is it being destroyed? I have no idea) and it and the Malaysian cafe that was also housed in the centre have had to relocate. I found the Malaysian place recently serving street food lunches in Spitalfields. And now I’ve found the Indonesian place too – in a proper bricks and mortar building in Bermondsey.

At the corner of Scott Lidgett Crescent is the very unassuming joint that is Warung Padang London – and it’s not just a cafe/restaurant but it’s also a bit of a hostel at the back. It’s a casual restaurant that also offers takeaway and a (very) few Indonesian groceries. It was freezing that afternoon and we headed for the large shared table at the back of the restaurant, away from the door.

For our lunch, we first shared a vegetable rissole, which was a smashed croquette (I think the smashing wasn’t deliberate) which must have been introduced during the Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia. This was tasty with a flavour I cannot put my finger on…. but it was clear this wasn’t a Dutch kroket.

My ayam penyet was a smashed (deliberately) and fried spiced chicken leg smeared with a very hot sambal made with plenty of belacan, that wonderfully fragrant and pungent fermented shrimp paste. This was excellent! And you can’t tell from the photo but it was huge!

My friend had her eye on a vegetarian rice meal but they’d run out of tempe and were expecting some more to be shipped in. She had to change her order to a soto ayam but she was very pleased with this replacement. The thin spiced broth was chock full of lontong (pressed rice cakes), chicken and vermicelli. The condiments also presented to her allowed her to customise it to her liking – it all went in!

We were stuffed but my friend was pushing for a little dessert, which was how we ended up sharing a steamed banana cake. This turned out to be banana in sticky rice, all wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. And it was served hot with a scoop of ice cream and some palm sugar.

Service is a little slow (perhaps one could call it ‘relaxed’) but friendly. And, of course, I cannot vouch for the hostel in the back! But I know I’ll return to try the rest of their menu – I have my eye on their nasi Padang (rice with dishes), nasi goreng (fried rice), and pisang goreng (fried banana)!

Warung Padang London
Prince of Wales P H
Scott Lidgett Crescent
London SE16 4XF

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