Cuisine that is touted as ‘sharing food,’ inspires in me a quiet unease. Tapas dishes, gastro pub sharing platters, even ample buffets intended to feed a significant number of guests, trigger usually dormant internal anxieties. I don’t think of myself as a greedy person, but ultimately I do begrudge sharing my food if the possibility could arise that another consumer were to enjoy a larger or more varied portion than myself.
Luckily for me, (and my guest) the Malaysian fare at Suka at The Sanderson Hotel was bountiful, dispelling any misgivings about sharing I may have arrived with. Offering a culinary journey through the street-food capitals of Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Tawau, Suka’s talented chef Ahmad Shuib has selected dishes that lend themselves to the traditional sharing style of dining, perfect for a quick pre-theatre nibble with friends. Or, if you’re like me, an excuse to enjoy a lengthy banquet of dishes arriving on your table as and when they are ready to be devoured. The menu is available for a limited time only however, so you had better get your skates on.
After a delightfully warm welcome, which sets the tone for the rest of the evening’s attentive service, we are lead past the famous Long Bar – its gleaming 80 foot surface dotted with the colourful cocktails of the fashionable crowd that flock here for an after-work tipple – to our seats. Walking into the restaurant’s main space we are immediately embraced by a luxurious balminess, generated by the tall heaters placed throughout the room like lofty warmth-emitting trees. Combined with the huge splashing fountain and the ceiling-high foliage languishing against shimmering draped walls, you would be mistaken for thinking you had stepped into an oasis.
With a little help from our knowledgeable waiter Steven, we begin to tackle the menu. Everything looks incredible, but that may be because I purposefully rejected lunch (all but a coffee and two Oreos) in order to do this Malaysian feast full justice. We decide on six dishes, one from each section of the menu, and congratulate ourselves on our dedication to sampling all possible forms of Malaysian street-food, while sipping our complimentary cup of iced ‘Ahmed’s Mum’s Tea.’ This is a refreshingly fragrant concoction of lemongrass and sugar cane, the perfect palate cleanser with stomach settling properties, Steven tells us, no doubt pitying our soon-to-be-bursting bellies.
Before long, our first dish arrives. A firm favourite; king prawn satay with homemade peanut sauce. A dumpling-filled duck broth with shitake mushrooms and baby bok choi swiftly follows, with enormous tamarind and soy tiger prawns in tow. Impossibly fresh crispy squid with coriander and ginger vies for our attention, as a yellow coconut curry and wok fried noodles with beef land on our buckling table. This amount of food just really isn’t ladylike. But it is delicious.
As we both tuck in, my eyes rove over different dishes that are conveyed to neighbouring tables, (for research purposes only of course) and all look equally as sensational in presentation, and sheer palatability, as those before us. I doubt there is a dud dish on the menu, but if you do get lost amongst the Karis and Wonton Sups, the waiting staff are always on hand to advise. Steven’s recommendation – the crispy squid – is quite possibly the best I have ever tasted. I would have been perfectly happy with six portions of it alone.
The cocktails at Suka are almost meals in themselves, so varied are their flavours. The Vesuvio, a fiery mix of ginger, chilli, lemongrass and sugar, with a jaunty chilli pepper perched on the side of the glass, is literally lip tingling, while the fruity Oriental Daiquiri soothes sizzling tongues.
The only quibble I had? The near impossibility of tackling the succulent chicken legs in the yellow coconut curry with chopsticks as my only tools of combat. Not that this prevented me from trying. I even quelled my inner anxieties and shared my winnings with my guest.
The Sanderson, 50 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NG
www.sandersonlondon.com
