Bang Bang (@bangbangoriental) is a wonderful food hall that is full of some delicious eats especially from the far east and south east part of the world. I remember back in my uni days (a long time ago) this used to be a tacky food court kind of setting (and I use tacky in a positive way – meaning charming and homely). It felt like one of those cheap, cheerful and delicious food courts you find in south east Asia. Nothing fancy, maybe even slightly dirty, but guaranteed deliciousness. It has turned on its head now. Completely. It is a modern, clean food hall serving up a variety of a different cuisines in an accessible fancy food court type of setting. This post will highlight your halal options.
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1. Coconut Tree. It’s the first shop when you enter and they’ve been around since the beginning I think? They offer a massive Malaysian menu. Literally like an Argos catalogue displayed on the front window of the shop. So many options. We’ve tried them on a previous visit and got a few dishes that time round: Assam Laksa, Nasi Lemak and Char Kway Teow. Everything was delicious that time around maybe except for the Assam Laksa (which I’ve only had a good version of in Penang). This time round we got the Char Kway Teow again. It was delicious. This is one of our favourite noodle dishes: it has that nice and smoky flavour. And this is probably the best one we’ve had in London. From what we’ve tried there, they’ve always hit top marks. A proper safe “you can’t go wrong” kind of spot this one.
2. Yaki Ya. A fully halal Japanese street food spot is hard to come by, so having this here is a treat for us. We’ve done a special post on them separately. This spot right here and especially the Yaki Udon became our favourite dish in the whole food hall!
3. In the opposite corner to Coconut Tree, you’ll find an Indian street food spot and a dessert spot that is run by the people behind Yaki Ya. So, they’re also fully halal. We didn’t try them, but we’ve heard the Indian place does halal momos which is hard to get in London and the dessert place has some wonderful unique Asian desserts. Definitely need to go back for their desserts. If their Japanese food is anything to go by, these two are also going to be top tier.
4. Kokkiri Ricedog. Anyone who likes Korean corndogs (we do!), must try this place. They use a unique rice based batter and therefore the name. Innovative, fun, creative and I would think delicious. Haven’t tried it yet.
5. Opposite Kokkiri there’s a Filipino spot, that had a halal sign too. We only took a glimpse at this spot and did notice one of our favourite breakfasts, tapislog there. Haven’t seen this place being promoted or visited much. So, it may be a hidden gem that needs exploring. Would like to try them on my next visit.
Most of the other spots we questioned about the halal status, mentioned that they had halal chicken (but no halal sign), but I was apprehensive of their cross contamination measures because of the size of the kitchen. To be fair I didn’t ask as I knew where I wanted to visit. You can of course ask them to clarify.
Dessert, drinks, bakery and a shop
We had mango sticky rice from Thai Silk. Their menu isn’t halal, but this dessert is of course suitable for the halal diet. And it is one of our favourite desserts. Whenever we see this on a menu we are definitely getting it. No visit to an asian food hall is complete without some interesting drinks. There’s a drinks spot right next to the dessert place run by Yaki Ya. They’ve got a wide variety of drinks to choose from and I am sure you will find something to suit your tastebuds and tickle your intrigue.
We love an Asian bakery and shop. And so we love that there’s one of each right there. The bakery has some authentic Asian goodies and we picked up a Japanese cheesecake and a pineapple bun. Both were suitable for the halal diet. And if you know pineapple buns you’d know two things: they are delicious and they are hard to find halal because lard is a common ingredient used to make it. This one didn’t use lard. Thankfully. Then we have the Asian shop. This is always fun. You always find interesting drinks, snacks, crisps and chocolate here.
Getting there
Nearest station: Colindale
Nearest mosque: Islamic Centre Edgware
Parking: free in the connected supermarket car park
Google Maps link
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