[Restaurant Review] - Ekachai

Ekachai

Ekachai is a Southeast Asian restaurant which was established in 1999. Their first site was in Liverpool Street., where I dined, but they now have four independent restaurants across London and Birmingham. Each restaurant has a slightly different menu, but it’s all highly affordable and most importantly delicious.

http://www.ekachai.co.uk/about-us/

The Brief

Address: 9-10 Arcade Liverpool Street, London EC2M

Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 11:30am – 10:00pm. Closed on the weekends.

Nearest Station: Liverpool Street (Central, Overground, Circle, District, Metropolitan)

Average Price of Meal (ex-drinks): £15-20 (Main meal with side dish)

Rating: 4.5/5

Full Report

My good Singaporean friend recommended this as our place to dine, and she raved about how good it was so I was looking forward to trying it for myself!

The interior of the restaurant itself is airy and light with a slight Southeast Asian feel.

The waiters were friendly and attentive. What I loved was that the glasses of tap water were huge! Like 500ml at least, so we didn’t have to ask for more glasses.

The Food

I ordered a selection of starters, because variety is my weakspot when it comes to eating out.

Duck Spring Rolls

 These were the duck spring rolls and they were great! The pastry was very crispy with a real bite to it and the filling had a depth of flavour. Enough to share between 2 people happily, though of course I ate all of these on my own. Hehehe

Cost: £5.70

Deep Fried Soft Shelled Crab

I was a little disappointed to only get one soft shelled crab in my order. For the price I would have expected or hoped for at least two. The batter was a little thick on this, but the crabmeat itself was delectable. I also loved the sambal chilli sauce that it came with, this wasn’t too spicy and enhanced the flavour of the crab without overwhelming it.
Cost: £6.90

Prawn and Crab Siu Mai

My third starter dish was the prawn and crab siu mai dumplings. These were a lot thicker than the ones I usually get in china town and were packed with flavour. They weren’t the best siu mai I’ve had in my life but were delicious. The sauce it came with was slightly sweet and was a nice contrast to the sambal sauce I had with the crab.
Cost: £4.80

Seafood Curry Laksa

My Singaporean friend ordered the seafood curry laksa, and when it arrived I’m unashamed to say that I had real food envy. Look at it. It looks so good. She kindly let me try some of the broth and it had a fragrant flavour to it and wasn’t overly creamy. There’s a hint of chilli which adds heat to the meal.
Cost: £9.50

Kang Kung Goreng

We also shared a portion of Kang Kung Goreng (morning glory) which added much needed greens to the meal! I loved these, it tasted garlicy and fresh. My Singaporean friend was a little disappointed that it wasn’t fried with the chilli, though this was a boon for me and my low spice tolerance!
Cost: £5.80

I also had the “Red Juice” as my drink order and it was very fresh and sweet! I could really taste all of the fruit in it and added to the illusion that I was having a healthy meal. Ignoring the fact that it was all basically fried. J
Cost £4.00

Altogether I really enjoyed my meal at Ekachai. It’s very decent pricing for the quality of the food that you get. It feels authentic and the service is attentive.

It’s a shame that they don’t do dessert and the crab batter was too thick. Which is why my rating is a 4.5/5. Would highly recommend you give this hidden gem a try!

Love 

Sophie 

xxx