Updated 11/2/20 with menu
What: NASI Economy Rice
In a nutshell: Takeaway rice boxes in Holloway
Summing it all up: Sambal Shiok in Holloway has been a huge success, with the warming bowls of laksa being a big draw in Holloway and beyond. Now owner Mandy Yin expands next door with a takeaway serving up affordable Malaysian rice boxes.
The low-down
Late last year we saw pizza slingers Zia Lucia opening a brand new restaurant next door to their original restaurant on Holloway Road. Now, just a few doors down, Sambal Shiok is doing the same. Right beside the Sambal Shiok, they're opening NASI Economy Rice takeaway shop. They're looking to serve "home-style comfort food from the heart, cooked fresh, daily".
After the success of Sambal Shiok and its popular Malaysian laksa, this is the next step for Sambal Shiok owner Mandy Yin. It goes right back to how she started out, serving out lunchtime rice boxes at street food markets, all inspired by economy rice eateries in Malaysia.
The concept's pretty simple - you choose a base - rice or salad - then pick a dish and add in extras. The dishes include a large vegan selection - such as black bean fried tofu puffs or greens with garlic and also soy with sesame tofu (all of which cost a fiver) and then there are also three meat options - a spicy coconut chicken, chicken curry and soy ginger chicken. Sides include spiced potato cakes and tomabot sambal and if all that's too much choice for a quick grab at lunchtime, there also do a range of set lunches ranging in price from £6.50 to £11 that you can grab and go.
Here's what Mandy herself has to say:
My mission in life is to introduce as many people as possible to Malaysian food. I think I have done my job with laksa, now it is the turn of Economy Rice with its wide variety of hearty Malay, Chinese and Indian dishes resulting in an endless combination of flavours going on in one meal. It is exactly the food I want to have when I finish work. Food that my mum would cook for me, but that I don't have to cook myself. I want to feed people a convenient but highly nutritious balanced meal, at an affordable cost.
More about NASI Economy Rice
Where is it? 169 Holloway Road, London N7 8LX
When does it open? 12 March 2019
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @nasilondon.
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