My interest in Oriental City was sparked when I saw Ching He-Huang(Of Ching's kitchen) recommending it on T.V. recently.
Having lived in South East Asia for a long time, I'm very familiar with the food courts in South East Asia and it's one of the things I miss most now. I've been craving ... Read review
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Advantages: Only place I know in London to have a food court like this. Disadvantages: The whole place needs a bit of buzz
My interest in Oriental City was sparked when I saw Ching He-Huang(Of Ching's kitchen) recommending it on T.V. recently.
Having lived in South East Asia for a long time, I'm very familiar with the food courts in South East Asia and it's one of the things I miss most now. I've been craving proper Asian Food like Chicken Rice, Mee Siam and Laksa for ages now, so I couldn't wait to go.
It was relatively easy to get there. ... ...walk from the station to Oriental City. It's a huge building so, not too hard to miss. If I remember correctly, it's flanked at the entrance by two stone lions.
We were there on a weekday, so it was quite quiet. The moment you step into the food court, you are dazzled not by its size (for it's not very big), but by the incredible choice and staggering array of food available. A good cross-section of Asian cuisine is represented in ... more
My interest in Oriental City was sparked when I saw Ching He-Huang(Of Ching's kitchen) recommending it on T.V. recently.
Having lived in South East Asia for a long time, I'm very familiar with the food courts in South East Asia and it's one of the things I miss most now. I've been craving proper Asian Food like Chicken Rice, Mee Siam and Laksa for ages now, so I couldn't wait to go.
It was relatively easy to get there. We stopped at Colindale Underground Station and it was a short 10 minute walk from the station to Oriental City. It's a huge building so, not too hard to miss. If I remember correctly, it's flanked at the entrance by two stone lions.
We were there on a weekday, so it was quite quiet. The moment you step into the food court, you are dazzled not by its size (for it's not very big), but by the incredible choice and staggering array of food available. A good cross-section of Asian cuisine is represented in the food court. Chinese, Korean, Malaysian, Singaporean, Malaysian, Thai, Japanese, Indian and a Dim Sum Stall. You can get a complete meal here for £4.50 to £5.50 and if you don't want anything fancy for a drink, you can get a chrysanthemum tea, ordinary tea or pineapple juice for about £1 to £1.50.
Sample dishes you can savour include : Roti Prata, Roti Canai, Chee Cheong Fun, Sweet and Sour Pork, Japanese Bento boxes, curries in all shapes and sizes, stir-fries in myriad combinations. Examples of drinks available include tapioca bubble tea in a variety of flavours, cendol, longan iced drink, lychee iced drink, ice-kachang, mango milkshake, teh tarik and - use your imagination. If you can imagine it, they probably have it or can make it.
There are dozens of photos of beautifully presented dishes plastered across the stalls. We walked round three times trying to decide from the incredible menu and were still stumped. Greed started taking over and I just wanted to try everything! At one point I was so overwhelmed by the number of choices available that I even felt like giving up and not getting anything at all! In the end, we decided to go for the safe and boring option.
My original intention was to have crispy duck noodles, but after changing our minds about twenty times, I finally chose Crispy Noodles with Black Bean Chicken (£4.50) and my husband chose Vietnamese Special Fried Rice (£4.60). It's a self-service system of course; you go up to the stall, place your order and are given a ticket number. The ticket number is eventually flashed on a screen above the stall or called out by the stall owner.
My dish was pretty decent - it definitely wasn't sauce out of a packet, but had actual salted black beans in the sauce. The chicken pieces were generous and tender and there was a fair amount of peppers and onions in my dish. The egg noodles were springy and were crispy without being dry. My husband's dish comprised a yellow rice with dried shrimps (not a bad thing in Asian cooking) and fish cake. It looked quite plain, but was delectable. What really impressed me however, was the fruit cocktail drink I chose which cost £3.00. It was decorated in true cocktail fashion with mango and watermelon flower shapes and was chock-full of fresh papaya, fresh mango, fresh watermelon and fresh pineapple. Imagine my delight when I unearthed a juicy lychee and a succulent longan at the bottom of my drink. They could've stinged and used tinned fruit, but they didn't and that made all the difference. It was real value for money. The drink itself was lovely and had the distinctly tropical taste of lemongrass in it. To top off the lovely meal were toothpicks to ensure good dental hygiene!
It would've been nice to have had a fresh fruit counter, a satay (grilled meat on sticks) and grilled seafood stall perhaps, and unlike the food courts in Asia which serve tasty AND cheap food, the prices here were really high - about three times what a similar dish would cost in Asia. However, we have to take into consideration the fact that these are London prices and the stall holders pay London rates as well. So, other things being equal, the prices are, for London, very reasonable.
Right next to the food court is an Asian Supermarket, a Japanese sushi-type restaurant with a counter and high stools, a bakery, a little café and a shop selling traditional Asian goodies like preserved fruit, tiger cake, pandan chiffon cake and wife cake. Other shops sold pretty porcelain glassware, kitchen accessories and stationery products. There are also other restaurants in the building. The Asian Supermarket sells a good variety of fresh fish and vegetables, and also packaged foods from Japan, Korea and South East Asia, but it didn't wow me like the Wing Yip Superstore in Croydon, Surrey which stocks an amazing variety of food products.
All in all, the only reason I might possibly return is to try another one of the delicious drinks on offer or to do my shopping at ASDA which is a 5 minute walk away. To be fair, it was a weekday afternoon but I have to admit I was really a little disappointed with the lifelessness of the whole place. I expected something more bustling, more happening, but the entire building had a dated feel about it. It reminded me of a 70s shopping centre in South East Asia where haggling is still the norm and at any moment, I expected Canto pop from 1983 to blast through the PA system. I think the place would benefit from a greater variety of shops as there seems to be lots of empty space; a small cinema screening Asian films perhaps, specialist oriental bookshops and maybe more little cafes. But I'm not complaining - it would be great if London had more of these food courts around, then I wouldn't have to stuff McDonalds or Burger King all the time.
Advantages: Great selection of different oriental food mostly delicious, Reasonable prices, Rowdy Atmosphere Disadvantages: Not really a shopping centre, Rowdy Atmosphere
The idea of an indoor oriental food street with loads of food stalls doesn’t seemed to have caught on here as well as places such as the far east and in American cities where people swarm to such places for lunch or dinner. What am I talking about? Well, if you've been to a huge shopping mall such as Bluewater, Lakeside or Meadowhall, you we have notice how they always have a food hall where people eat their lunch/dinner taking a break from their ... ...dishes from all sorts of oriental cuisine? That’s what Oriental City is.
Opened in the early 90's Oriental City based in Colindale, North London has been renowned for the shopping centre of oriental food. It started life as YaoHan named after the south-east Asia shopping/hotel consortium. YaoHan went bankrupt in the mid-90's and the Colindale location faced closure but a group of Japanese businessmen decided that it was too good to shut down, so ...
rayliu 20.08.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oriental City, London
Advantages: cheap, tasty, big dishes, wide variety of different styles of food Disadvantages: None
Oriental City is based in Colindale North London next to the Asda on the A5.
It does not only do food but has shops and small cafes and a few restuarants inside too. It is a big long complex based on two floors.
The buffet section is on the ground floor and has many different huts serving different types of Chinese food. I love Chinese and so does my partner, considering he is from a Chinese background it helps because he has an idea of what I ... ...Now back on to Oriental City.
The buffet has many diiferent small huts ranging from Thai, Dim Sum, Vietemise, Malyasian and many more. Each serving their own dishes. Now Dim Sum you may never of heard of because I didn't until he introduced me to it. Dim Sum is dumplings filled with minced meat, crab, prawns and is steamed. It is great tasting and great value at Oriental City. You get 4 and they are quite big. Prices are between £1.70 and £2.20 ...
coolchanty 13.04.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oriental City, London
Advantages: Great value and great food Disadvantages: The supermarket is a little expensive
Oriental City is situated on Edgawre Road in Colindale, next to Asda. The complex comprises of mainly eating places where you can order from a large selection of Oriental food, including Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Singapore and so on. Once you order, you sit down and wait for your order to be called out and go over to pick up the food. The food is of an excellent standard - my favourite is Malaysian. The prices are also very good. I tend to go ... ...floor selling a variety of Oriental goods (furniture, clothes, books) and food. There is also a supermarket where you can purchase anything from Chinese Tea to rice cookers. I do find the supermarket a little expensive in comparison with your usual Tescos and Sainsburys but it is a good source for items not available in Tescos and others.
Overall I think this is an excellent place for the lover of Chinese food. ...
Manics 23.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oriental City, London
Advantages: Variety, activity, and uniqueness Disadvantages: Nothing fancy, but that's not why you go here!
...are a furniture store, an oriental (mainly japanese) plate/cup/mug/bowl store, and some other random asian shops. The plate store is very reasonable and has a lot of handmade and unique items in it.
The food court is as I said the main thing you'd come here for most likely. Available are:
Thai, Korean, Japanese (including sushi), Chinese (several regional varieties), Malaysian, Vietnamese, and some Indian, Pakistani, and Caribbean foods as well.
... ...authentic dishes and SEE them, there are picture menus at each of the restaurants. You order by number, sit in a common food court area, and wait for your number to appear to get your food. The atmosphere is buzzy (not sure what previous reviewer was talking about saying it needs a buzz) and active, this is not the place for a romantic meal (although there are nice restaurants upstairs for that!). It's a good place for cheap eats (2-10 quid depending) ...
phalangid 02.02.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oriental City, London
Value for Money
Standard of Menu
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Quick review of Oriental City, London
As Oriental City has, tragically, closed down some 7 months ago this can hardly be a conventional review! I really loved the place, it had a great atmosphere in what was and still is a particularly rundown and depressing area of NW London. WHY did it have to close? The site will remain vacant for YEARS to come! We dont know what we have lost til its gone !! I took my future wife on our first date there. Perhaps this as much as anything else is why I feel so strongly about its closure. What will come ints place? Another DIY store, or office building destined to remain unoccupied? ...
Orientalover 11.01.2009
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oriental City, London
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