Lagenda Malaysian Restaurant

Being a Malaysian in London, finding an authentic watering hole is a must. My wife and I went to Lagenda for Saturday lunch. The restaurant is the inhouse restaurant for Holiday Villa, one of a chain of restaurants with a KL HQ.

We ordered Mee Goreng Mamak, Nasi Lemak and Assam Laksa, washed down with Kopi Tarik and Teh Tarik.

The Nasi Lemak was excellent, with fried chicken as the main meat (would have preferred curry chicken/beef) but the sambal was authentic. A chefs special on the menu.

The Mee Goreng Mamak was a bit soft and overcooked. Mee Goreng should be al dente and friend with a little charring to caramelise properly. Slightly liberal use of chilis.

The Assam laksa was disappointing. Proper Assam laksa is rather difficult to get outside of Penang but this was a poor show. The colour was not right (it was grey rather than the deep brown) and it was not particularly pungent. I guess it is the sparing use of prawn paste but I did ask if it was an authentically pungent and was assured that it was. All things relative I guess.

The Kopi Tarik and Teh Tarik were fine. The entire bill came to just over £30. A service charge of 10% is automatically added to the bill.

All in all, it was not quite up to expectations. Given the relative profusion of Malaysian restaurants in the area (Malaysia Hall, Kia-su, Nyonya, Makan and Nahar to name a few), we were disinclined to try the other items on the menu. Service was prompt and courteous (we were the only diners there at the time).
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Khoo - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Saturday, January 26, 2008

I lived in Malaysia for 5 years and often go to Legenda to get some Malaysian food, mostly the buffet on Friday. I like it a lot there as I find that the food is quite good, reasonably authentic and, for London, value for money. The staff are very friendly and if you go there regularly will always try and chat with you.
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Tony
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, January 04, 2008

Good restaurant. Good food. Good service. Not bad all round...
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Me
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Lagenda restaurant serves authentic Malaysian food in a typically Malaysian setting. The food is deliciously yummy and there is always a good selection in the buffet to suit every individual. The wide array of food reflects the multi cultural dishes of the country. There is always something to suit every palate.

My husband, son and I visit the restaurant whenever we can and the management are happy to cater for parties at short notice as they did for our 25th wedding anniversary. The restaurant is a child friendly place which is important to us us we have a son and our friends have children too - so parents can relax in lovely surroundings and have a lovely meal at reasonable prices in the West End.

The staff are very warm, welcoming, friendly and approachable.
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Mary Ann DAVID
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 15, 2007

My wife & I returned to the Lagenga on our last trip to London in May and was, as always, very appreciative with the food and service. We had lunch, I ordered fried kway teow with chicken, very tasty & not too greasy, the taste was excellent, very similar to the food I tasted when we were last in Malaysia for a holiday. My wife had Penang laksa, the ingredients put into it was very authentic and if she could eat more, she would have ordered another bowl. Just looking at her polishing off the soup & relishing every last morsel made me realise how lucky we are to have found this gem of a restaurant, the Lagenda. Each time we are in London for a short holiday, we will always pay a visit as it is not always easy to find a restaurant that serves such authentic Malaysian food. We will in the near future be arranging for a family meal soon.
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John Wheeler
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, June 08, 2007

I travel frequently and the Lagenda is the only Hotel whose Restaurant I use, Breakfast, lunch and dinner if I can. I have introduced Malaysian freinds as well as those who have lived in, or travelled to Malaysia and they all go back. The Malaysian food is excellent and the staff exceedingly helpful, friendly and efficient. Chef Shawal is a superb cook and his beef rendang the best I have had. All the other food is also of top quality and choosing is difficult, we always order too much! Anyone eating there should also try the teh tarik, it is as good as any in Malaysia. I should mention I am British living in Norway after some years in nSouth East Asia and coming to the Holiday Villa and the Lagenda is like coming home. The Friday and Saturday evening Buffet should not be missed either.
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Charles Barton - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Had the buffet on a Friday evening. A very wide selection of authentic good quality food which was value for money. The restaurant was very busy but the service was very curteous and prompt. Would recommend this place to anyone interested in good quality Malaysian food.
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Mr Parvez Taher
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, May 25, 2007

Stayed at Holiday Villa London for a whole week & ate a few times in their Malaysian restaurant named 'lagenda'. Their nasi goreng kampong & mee mamak was delicious. Food was authenthic & reasonably price as well! Ask Chef Shawal for his recommendations.
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adrian low
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, March 07, 2007

I've never ordered from their ala carte menu. Always going for their buffet at weekends and during Ramadhan. The buffet spread varies and they do put in an effort with their desserts, though it could do with some refining.

They also have steamboat nights which has proven to be popular amongst its regulars.

The staff attitude depends on how busy the restaurant is.
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Tigger - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

I'm a malaysian. So i was quite excited after reading the reviews here and promptly made dinner reservations for 3 of us last saturday night. Depending on what you order, NOT all the dishes are authentic. We had the Beef Rendang which was quite true to form, though the beef was still not tender enough (in my opinion). The Kangkung belacan was perhaps the best dish that we had. While the sambal prawns were appalling. It was more like sweet & sour prawns with pieces of tomatoes thrown in. When the Curry Chicken dish arrived, i was shocked to see that there were only 3 (small) pieces of chicken in it with 3 pieces of potatoes. Would you pay £7.95 for this dish? Not to mention, all the dishes that we ordered came out cold. I won't be dining there again.
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Suzanne
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, April 05, 2006