The stylish area around Kensington High Street is home to numerous embassies and cultural institutions and diverse restaurants, which reflect the area’s international feel.

It’s a great shopping street with a mix of luxury boutiques, high street brands, and smaller independent shops. And it’s also just a short work to the peaceful greenery of Hyde Park.

Today our culinary destination is the Bugis Kitchen which is in the Copthorne Tara Hotel, just a short walk from Kensington High Street tube station. It’s a pleasant walk along the elegant street typical of the area lined with grand Victorian architecture and towering trees.

The restaurant’s pan-Asian menu draws inspiration from the streets of Singapore and beyond – it’s even named after the city’s iconic culinary area. It’s a melting pot of Malay, Chinese and Thai cuisine.

Starters include a classic chicken satay. It’s a dish I’ve tried all over the world and this is a good one. Perfectly cooked skewers with a little char and a spicy peanut sauce. We also sample the Mongolian prawns which come in a very light batter and coated with a sweet, savoury and peppery sauce. My dining companion declares them some of the best prawns he’s ever sampled.

Mains encompass a mix of classics and more slightly unusual dishes. The Hainanese chicken is poached to perfection and comes with three signature sauces – sesame and soy, ginger and chili, rice and a bowl of broth. Delicious. There’s also slow-cooked beef Rendang, chicken curry Malay style, chili crab and Singapore Laska. And a selection of rice and noodle dishes including that flavourful Malaysian classic Nasi
Goreng.

There’s no doubt the menu at Bugis Kitchen transports you to the streets of Singapore and Malaysia with its authentic flavours. And there’s no jet-lag involved, just a little meander through Kensington.

https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/london/copthorne-tara-hotel-london-kensington/bugis-kitchen/

Words by Sandy Cadiz-Smith