A Malaysian meal in London (and a hotel or two)

I'd love to blog freely tonight but let's just say my internet connection leaves much to be desired.

I just wanted to share my dinner... Satay House at 13 Sale Place near Paddington A delicious Malaysian restaurant located just off of Sussex Gardens. I had a delicious dinner there... Udang Galah Goreng - king prawns sauteed in chilies, peppers, lime leaves, turmeric and coconut milk. Very good flavor - not at all spicy (despite what the waitress told me). Let's face it - spicy in the UK is not spicy in Texas. I also tried a Monarch beer (nice beer from Singapore) and some kind of special Malaysian coffee which tasted like... coffee. If you can, try to get seated in the basement... it is much nicer and hipper than the ground level. Trust me - it's like two different restaurants. Next door was a Lebanese place called Rotana... looked kind of plain and a bit empty but some reviews I found looked good.

By the way, I ended up really liking my Paddington area hotel... what a convenient neighborhood. There are dozens upon dozens around here, ranging in quality to meh to extremely nice (Hilton over Paddington). No idea what it was like but the Stylotel looked kind of call. Most of these hotels are small establishments and there all lined up like toy soldiers... one after the other. Usually train station areas are sketchy but this one seemed fine. There are probably 3-4 dozen alone along Sussex Gardens, not to mention other side street hotels.

Oh... and if you're in the area and want to try something different, walk along Edgware Road. It won't take long to realize that the area is a Middle Eastern community... stores selling Arab wares, food, services to Middle Eastern clients and many Persian and Lebanese restaurants, many of which have hookahs available for their primarily ethnic clientele.