Kiasu

The great thing about this place is that you’ll probably want to eat everything that’s on the menu. So no surprises with repeat visits.

The cooking and flavourings of the dishes are pretty much spot on and authentic. Service can be hectic when it gets busy; in fact come to think of it I don’t think this place is ever quiet.

Great value palatable tuck and a great refreshing alternative to the usual chicken chow mein or chicken tikka masala.
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bellaphon
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Monday, September 01, 2008

Highly recommended! The hainan chicken rice, char kwei teow and roti were all delicious and good value, the best Malay/Singaporian restaurant in London I've been to so far. Way better than C&R.
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SG - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, August 08, 2008

Don't bother...We first went to Kiasu about a year ago and absolutely raved about it. The food was excellent (best south east asian food yet in London) and really good value for money - absolutely loved the Chai Tau Kueh. We subsequently went there many times.

However over the past 6 months things have declined dramatically and we've gone there less and less. At first we thought the food standard had dropped because we were visiting at peak times and the restaurant couldn't cope with its popularity. Most recently we thought we'd give Kiasu one last try at redemption and sorry to say, there's no going back.

It was one thing for the restaurant to start cutting their portion sizes (I suppose this is typical of new resturants), but the standard of the food to drop to non-edible was the last straw. The restaurant wasn't even busy (and this was a friday) so I can't blame over-stressed kitchen staff.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Monday, July 28, 2008

Went on Tuesday lunchtime. Had Taehu Goreng (excellent), Mee Goreng (ok) and desert (good). Its fast, its cheap and the food is decent, the variety is strong. So go
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james
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Kiasu is one of my favourite restaurants when I lived in Bayswater. I feel bad to read the severe criticism on the service of this restaurant. I still remember once I asked the waiter to give me some chilli sauce since I love eating extremely spicy food. The boss overheard our conversation, came over and offered to give me some "in-house chilli". He was very friendly and we started chatting with each other.

I agree that the waiters do respond in a very blunt way sometimes, but I don't feel offended at all as I seriously believe that this is the way Singaporeans talk. This is their culture. Just like, you would not expect the same style of service from a Japanese restaurant and an Italian restaurant. Generally, I rate the service of this restaurant to be satisfactory.

Food is nice and the price is reasonable. Perhaps, different people have different degree of tolerance. I still hope that other readers will still give them an opportunity.
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Food Fever - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Friday, May 02, 2008

Having had my 1st meal at Kiasu and also a Straits born chinese from birth, the food isn't up to scratch. My order of Kon Lo Mee a noodle dish with very dry char siu was lacking in taste, too oily.
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Mrs Lee Shin Tan
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Saturday, March 22, 2008

Being a Malaysian in London, finding an authentic watering hole is a must. My wife and I went to Kiasu for Sunday lunch. Kiasu is a small cafetaria style restaurant. Reservations appear to be the order of the day, as we had to wait to be seated, which is unusual for a Malaysian/Singaporean restaurant.

We ordered Chai Tau Kueh (Penang style), Acar, Vegetable Fry with Tofu, and Char Koay Teow (Penang style), washed down with Teh Tarik and Kopi Tarik.

The Chai Tau Kueh (fried steamed radish/rice cake) was excellent. Fried to the correct slightly charred consistency, and with spring onions and diced turnips. This is a favorite dish of mine and quite difficult to obtain in the UK (first I've seen it in 10 years in the UK). Hopefully more restaurants will take this up. It was good enough for me to order an extra portion to take out. Not too expensive at £4.50.

The Acar was a bit on the soft side. Acar I expect to be a bit fresher and crispier, being somewhat like a salad type dish.

The Char Koay Teow was fried properly, and had a good mix. Could do with less chinese sausage - tended to overwhelm the dish somewhat.

The Vegetable Fry was seasoned well and cooked well but the variety in the mix was not great.

The teh tarik was fine. The kopi tarik was just coffee with creamer powder, not condensed milk as would be expected (weakens taste).

On the downside, serving sizes were a bit small compared to the norm. Bad news for us expecting UK sizes. Service was slow, and seating was tight. Would definitely come back though.
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Khoo - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Saturday, January 26, 2008

Service - The staff speak like some of us back in Singapore, pretty abruptly. They gave one-word replies which might appear rude. Actually, they didn't mean to. So if you like to get a sneek into how we talk or behave, Kiasu is a great place to go ;) Food was served quite fast. We waited less than 15min for our main courses.

Food - Highly recommend the fried carrot cake. Ask for more "chai po"! Try the soya bean milk drink, preferrably hot. Nasi Lemak rice is awesome, huge and plenty for two people even though it's for one. Ask for a plate of Cha Siu, Siu York and duck. They are not in the menu but just ask for it. They will get it from the opposite restaurant Kam Tong which also owns Kiasu. It's absolutely worth trying, far better than Four Seasons (just few doors down). One unique meal which is only available in Singapore but finally made available by Kiasu is Bak Cho Mee. It's like spaghetti with mince pork and mushrooms, only tastier.
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Su-May
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

After reading the rave reviews on the shop window, I had lunch there and left very disappointed

I ordered laksa and my friend the wat tan ho. The laksa was subpar - noodles were not smooth, fishcake starchy and gravy thin. The wat tan ho was positively digusting - reeked of msg, over-fried and clumpy

The staff is insufferable - rude, abrupt and unfriendly

We would never return

There are much better malaysian restaurants in london

Indeed, for Kiasu to be on Queensway which arguably boasts the best Chinese restaurants in London is a disgrace
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Jack
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Saturday, November 03, 2007

We read a very positive review on Kiasu in Time Out. It happen to rain when we were around and we decided to drop by. A 4 pm there was only one table occupied and we were seated immediately. There was no offer to order a drink first. Nevertheless we insisted on green tea (it was cold outside) and start browsing the menu. At this point they opened the front door and began delivery of heavy boxes through the dining room. When it continued for 15 minutes and we were frozen, we complained, and were moved farther away from the door but it did not really help. Finally we ordered a starter of 6 tarts filled with veges. One prawn, split into 6 pieces, was on the top of those. Very basic thing though.

Braised duck and pork was nothing to remember about, and the rib soup was a disaster. Ribs with meat thoroughly cut off were put in a stinky liquid, in the best case made out of dry soup base, with addition of two Chinese dried mushrooms. Ribs were cold inside and positively did not belong to the soup.

The washroom adventure was breathtaking and dangerous. If you manage not to fell down the spiral double-decker like stairs, VERY slippery and greasy, you deserve a triumph monument.

It stopped raining and we immediately left. There are some nice coffee places around, so we could finally get warmer and fill ourselves with a decent smell. Will never return!
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Serge P, Canada
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Thursday, October 25, 2007