What: Old Chang Kee
In a nutshell: Singapore curry puff specialist
Summing it all up: Singapore's famous curry puff house is opening its first UK restaurant in Covent Garden serving up the signature puffs alongside curry and laksa.
The low-down
The last time they popped up in London, Singapore curry puff specialists Old Chang Kee saw queues around the block in Kentish Town. Fans of their signature puffs flocked to north London and the popup sold out in just four hours each day. Buoyed by that response Old Chang Kee spent the intervening months searching for a suitable site to open permanent in London and it seems they've just found it.
They'll be opening on 15A New Row in Covent Garden (property agency Shelley Sandzer did the deal). The diminutive space will be mainly grab and go and designed like an old-style Asian coffee shop - to give Londoners a taste of the history of the brand which first opened in Singapore back in 1956. For those of you who don't know much about it - and we'll hold our hands up that we don't either - the curry puff apparently came about when Hainanese chefs working for the British during Singapore’s colonial era took traditional British pasties and injected them with local flavour and spice. Old Chang Kee started life as a popular curry puff street food stall outside a cinema. Now their restaurants sell over 35,000 curry puffs a day.
Alongside the puffs in London which come in flavours ranging from Singapore chilli crab to curry potato, you'll also be able to buy Singapore chicken curry, laksa, and nasi lemak as well as finger food. Based on the prices they charged at the Kentish Town pop-up you could see one signature chicken curry puff for £2.50 or two for £4.50.
“Our curry puffs have a rich heritage as early ‘fusion food’," explains the company's UK director Sandra Leong. "We are thrilled to bring them back to Britain along with the very best of our snacks and meals."
More about Old Chang Kee
Where is it? 15a New Row, London WC2N 4LD
When does it open? 2 June 2018
Find out more: On their website or follow them on Facebook or Instagram @oldchangkeeuk
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