Asian Food at Uli

Of all the ethnic restaurants here in London, I seem to most often end up at Asian places. This week I celebrated a friend's birthday with some Malaysian food at Uli in Notting Hill.

The restaurant's owners resurrected this popular eatery in Notting Hill recently after high rents on the All Saints Road forced them to close it down three years ago. And I can see why Notting Hillers were delighted to find their much loved local Asian restaurant reinstated.

The restaurant is very snug and cosy, but their is a decked area for alfresco dining, which we welcomed on the night we went. The decor is very soothing with lots of calming whites and blues. That lovely lemony jasmine scent that you only smell at Thai restaurants wafts through the air. That and the sticky London summer weather made it feel as if we were dining somewhere in KL.

The staff were incredibly nice and accommodating. They didn't even flinch when we moved tables twice and even apologised for not clearing the table within 5 minutes of us finishing our meals.

The food was delightful. The menu consists of a collection of different ethnically Asia dishes ranging from Japanese gyoza, Chinese duck pancakes to Malaysian curries.

We kicked off with a portion of the gyoza and some veggie spring rolls while we waited for our entire party to arrive, washing it down with some not so Asian prosecco.

For my main I opted for the grilled fish kampong with galangal. I was warned beforehand but the waitress that it was going to be a spicy affair, but I figured I could handle a bit of a sting. It was a big sting, but I managed to eat all of it, albeit with a sweaty forehead and a runny nose.

I also ordered a side of sweet and spicy Thai aubergines which were sprinkled with chillies and sesame seeds.

I tried a little bit of my friend's pan fried cod with black bean which was very tasty as well.

We didn't go for dessert, as we had other plans for that, but if they're as good as their starters and mains, then I am sure they will be delicious too.