Malaysia Kopi Tiam

Convenient Malaysian restaurant if you are in central London. Food passable for price and for cafe standards. Let down by poor serice. Waiters uninterested, lethargic and at times rude. walked out of there last night owing to rudeness whilst ordering and wont be returning. Not to be recommended.
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3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I am a Malaysian and have lived in UK for over 35 years. I wanted to introduce a taste of the Malaysian food to my American and English friends. When we arrived we were ushered upstairs and when we asked for a larger table, we were told that it was not possible. The service was poor and was disappointed with the dishes. We ordered Char Kwa teow, satay, spring rolls, fried mee, boiled rice and noodle soup etc. Nothing authentic and nothing Malaysian about the dishes. I did not feel or taste anything Malaysian. The waiters appeared lethargic, unmotivated and showed no interest to the customers. I will not recommend this place.
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Venu
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

This is a reliable place with quick service, which does a very tasty chicken curry laksa soup. The soup is a little messy as the noodles and bean sprouts can be springy and the chicken portions are bone-in, so beware if wearing white or fine clothes! Other recommendations are the char kway teow, a vermicelli with stir fried extras including quite tender cuttlefish pieces, and a nicely hot and sour prawn assam noodle soup served on Mondays. I have been here for lunch quite a few times and not had a bad meal. There is quite clear and above average regional pop music often playing, I think they have facilities for pop videos and karaoke in evenings here. They also do a Thai menu at lunchtime - but I have no idea as Mantanah in Norwood Junction is too hard to beat on that type of food.
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Bill
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 16, 2010

Went to this place last night - I had always passed by the restaurants on this strip as to be honest their location made me a bit nervous about the quality of the food, but after reading the good reviews I thought I'd give it a go and I have to say that I had a really good meal! My friend and I started with the Thai dim sum, which was tasty, then had a couple of roti canais which were absolutely delicious!! For a main course, I just picked my dinner with a pin as I really don't know Malaysian cuisine but all the dishes passing our table looked great! I had the home-made Hakka Mee which was great and plentiful - this is a really good place to go when you've got an empty stomach and an empty purse, I can't wait to go back!
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Elizabeth_T
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, July 07, 2010

If you visit Kopi Tiam with relatively low expectations then you should leave with reasonably high rewards. But do it the other way around and you could be severely disappointed. After all, Kopi Tiam is just a simple Malaysian coffee shop - somewhere for people to relax and watch a bit of television if that is what you want to do while you eat. It doesn't pretend to be anything else.

My two favourite dishes are their nasi lemak and Hainan chicken rice. Both have always been served with minimum fuss and maximum speed. With the latter, you can even specify the part of the chicken you would like. For the more discerning diner, the roti prata is well worth a try. It's a great way to tickle your pallet before delving into your main course.

For a quick meal at lunchtime, Kopi Tiam should be a destination of choice. But be warned, other diners are thinking along the same lines too. So, you may have get behind me in the queue for a table.
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Dragon - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Visited Malaysia Kopi Tiam for dinner late yesterday evening (14 Nov 09). As it was close to 11pm, there weren't many other diners around so service was very prompt.

Being Malaysian and having read all the glowing reviews of the restaurant prior to heading there, I could not stop myself from being too excited about the food I was going to have. Sadly, the restaurant sort of fell at the first hurdle - both my favourites, assam laksa and prawn mee were only available on Sunday and Mondays so couldn't taste either of the dishes.

Settled instead for a seafood curry laksa which was pretty average. You could easily buy Tean's Gourmet Curry Laksa paste from Chinatown - it's far tastier and quite authentic if you tart it up with all the usual trimmings. My husband had the char kway teow which was also quite average. It arrived within minutes of us ordering it so made us wonder if it had been pre-prepared. It certainly was not cooked over the usual high-flame woks used by Malaysian street vendors as the noodles were still flat instead of wrinkly. I was also greedy when ordering and we asked for a yong tofu to share - again, nothing to write home about.

On the bright side, prices are competitive for a location in London - most dishes range from £5.50 to £7.00. The drinks menu also has the kind of variety Malaysians are used to seeing and range from £1.80 to £3.00.

Overall, not all that impressed though I wonder if maybe their true specialty is the assam laksa, which seems to have been reviewed very well by a number of people. I wouldn't head back in a hurry for now but keeping an optimistic mind about the assam laksa.
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Jackish
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, November 15, 2009

What a gem! My husband and I went for a meal on the 12/09/09. We ordered satay, nasi goreng, assam laksa and ABC ice kachang

The food was delicious, really reminded me of hawkers food from Ipoh(my hometown) and Penang in Malaysia.

We will definetely be going back there again soon to try other malaysian specialities on the menu.

Very highly recommended for malaysian food, which is of high quality, good taste and good value. The serving staff was also very friendly.
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Abby Kaur-Forde
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, September 13, 2009

I visited Malaysia Kopi Tiam last night. Situated on Charing Cross Road, among tired looking cheap Asian buffets, you don't enter the place with very high expectations. (Not the place to take a first date!) Your low expectations appear justified, as the restaurant has little atmosphere: furnishings are sparse, think simple tables on a granite tiled floor, with some tired Malaysian-themed decorations on the wall. There is even a TV on the wall showing Chinese/western karaoke tunes, which softly play as you eat.

That said, we did not go for the decor. The staff were friendly and the service good. We arrived after 9.30pm and were immediately shown a table.

I ordered a Nasi Lemak with a Tiger Beer (surely the litmus test of any Malaysian restaurant) and my girlfriend ordered king prawns in garlic and ginger sauce with a glass of house white.

The food arrived swiftly, and it was good. The Nasi Lemak was the standout for me. The sambal was delicious and while spicy, it was not too hot (die-hard fans of this dish may not appreciate). The ikan bilis were adequate but admittedly not the freshest I have tasted. The rice was lightly flavoured with coconut, and the cucumber and peanuts fresh. The meat accompaniment was a chicken leg in curry sauce. I was quite full after finishing.

Overall I felt the dish was highly satisfactory - for £6.95, I consider that a good deal. I would go to Kopi Tiam again. For around £6-7 for a main, and drinks £3, It represents good value for money in Soho. PS. Avoid the house white.
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Tom
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Great food and excellent service.

Food prices were also very reasonable.

Its not the type of place you would linger all night but if you are in this part of town - which notoriously serves overpriced, bad food - this place is heaven sent.

Highly recommended.
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chris
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 13, 2009

Kopi Tiam has had more reincarnations than the fabled phoenix. But it still ranks as one of the best places to have Malaysian food, especially Hawkers' style food which Penang & Ipoh are famous for. Our visiting Malaysian relatives attest to this. Their Assam Laksa is very authentic, but is only available once a week. The use spices like Bunge Gantan which probably separates the genuine from the imitators. Their M. Jackson (Ice Kachang) is the perfect dessert for a hot afternoon. All the usual Malaysian food they serve are good to excellent. Pity they do not have a large Kueh dessert plate. Definitely a cafe for Malaysian food fans. Probably the best cafe for all food tastes, not just Malaysian. C&R will have to vacate their top spot to Kopi Tiam. And value for money to boot!!
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food critique
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 10
Friday, July 24, 2009