Oriental Canteen, London

Oriental Canteen is a tiny restaurant near the South Kensington tube station. I stumbled upon this place when I was at The Kensington Creperie, but didn’t give it much thought as my aim was to eat crepes. But my chinaman brother wanted to eat rice, after 4 days of sandwiches and kebab. From its name “canteen”, it is not the best place to go to when you’re on a date. Expect to touch elbows with other diners as the place is cramped, with un-lacquered wooden stools and tables.Our food came quickly. My duck chow mein (£5) was a decent-size plate of noodles, sprouts and roast duck. It didn’t look like chow mein to me – it’s almost like our kon-loh wantan noodles. The noodles tasted decent, albeit slightly on the salty side. I would have preferred the duck thigh and drumstick, but they gave me the breast – not a fan of breast meat, as I find them a bit too lean and dry.My brother’s siew yuk rice (£4.50) was nothing to shout about. The siew yuk was dry and the skin wasn’t at its crispy best. If there’s anyone in who can out-eat me, it’s probably my brother. He eats rice like nobody’s business. We ordered ½ a roast duck (£8.50) to share, and he asked for another BIG bowl of rice to go with it. *_* Like Four Seasons and Gold Mine (wait for my blog post on those two places!), the roast duck here was deboned before it was served. It tasted alright – not bad, but nothing memorable either. The duck was meaty, but it lacked crispy skin and melt-in-the-mouth fat.

Cramped eating spaces, plain decor

This is one of the cheapest (and decent tasting) Chinese places in South Kensington. Food wasn’t fantastic and the ambiance wasn’t great, but they did mention it’s a “canteen”. Don’t expect to be able to stay long, you might get shoo-ed away. Go there, sit down, stuff your face, and be on your way.

Ambiance: 5/10
Price: 6.5/10
Food: 5.5/10 (non-halal)
Verdict: If you’re craving looking for a quick bite or Malaysian/Chinese food, try this place.

2A Exhibition Road,
South Kensington,
London,
SW7 2HF
020 7581 8831