Zheng (Malaysian) – Chelsea

Zheng Chelsea Malaysian Halal Restaurant in knightsbridge

Basement

Zheng in Chelsea is a restaurant whose menu, while Malaysian in its roots, focuses on fusion to dish up dishes that are perhaps as eclectic in nature as the famous 14th century Chinese explorer it is named after.

Admiral Zheng was a mariner who, though born into a Muslim family, was said to have adopted a more all-embracing world view in later life.

Halal Certificate

At the helm of this restaurant, and a man who warmly welcomed us, and everyone else for that matter, with equal enthusiasm, was the general manager, Adam Abdallah – a graduate of Taipei’s Michelin-starred Din Tai Fung.

Zheng had only been open just over two months when we visited, and so had that fresh feel and newness about it.

With black dominating the interior – from the walls and the chairs to the heavy slate-top tables lit by low hanging lights – the place was more than spacious enough to allow for the dark ambience to lend a level intimate enclosure without any sense of confinement.

Hence, while the ground floor has a capacity of 55, the basement, which houses the bar and which will be open in August, can accommodate 40.

The restaurant itself, however, is somewhat strangley located just off Fulham Road.

Given its relatively small shopfront sign and the manner in which it appears to seamlessly blend in with the rest of the similar looking houses on the street, we’ll forgive you for also driving right past as we did.

COMPLEMENTARY

Complementary Thai popadums and orange juice.

Yet, given the pedigree of the place, we weren’t expecting the crunchy popadums along with the sweet and sour sauce to be so, how can we put this, ordinary (the former, as one Lion put it, “Tastes like packet crackers!”)

As for the orange, then it is what it is and fresh at that.

DRINKS

Pina Colada (left), Mojito (right) – £6.95 each

The mocktails were a little underwhelming, particularly the Pina Colada which, in spite of an attractive frothy top, was more pineapple than anything else, lacking, as it did, in cream and coconut.

As for the still Mojito, then, despite being marginally better, it required a stronger squeeze of lime to balance things out.

APPETISER

Platter Zheng Chelsea Malaysian Halal Restaurant in knightsbridge

Platter £12 per head

Fresh Seaweed SaladSesame Prawn ToastChilli Salt & PepperChicken Satay SkewerVegetarian Mini Spring Rolls

Seaweed Salad Zheng Chelsea Malaysian Halal Restaurant in knightsbridge

Fresh Seaweed Salad £6.90

First up, and the best of the lot, was this Fresh Seaweed Salad, which was uniquely different as a salad.

Dressed in a mild tasting fish sauce, the chewy textures of the seaweed interspersed by the thin crunchy slithers of a vibrantly orange carrot, and topped with broad beans, were addictively good. Just wish there was more of it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Sesame Prawn Toast £9.90

Crunchy and flavourful Sesame Prawn Toast filled with a soft prawn paste which we’d order again for sure.

Chilli Salt & Pepper £9.90

If there was a word to describe this fried Chilli Salt & Pepper dish, it would be ‘flat’. What’s more, these had a chewiness to them that bordered seemingly on the stale.

And though the chilliness came though, it lacked any distinct pepperiness.

Chicken Satay Skewer (n) – Chargrilled marinated skewers served with peanut sauce and cucumber, £8.90

The ever popular Malaysian street food – Chicken Satay Skewer – while being decent enough, wasn’t exactly out of the top draw.

With a sweet undertone, it was lightly chargrilled, and was accompanied by a peanut sauce that was equally average.

Vegetarian Mini Spring Roll £6.90

Crunchy pastry encasing a salty filling, that assured a good amount of heat, defined these good tasting Vegetarian Mini Spring Rolls.

SEAFOOD

King Prawns Zheng Chelsea Malaysian Halal Restaurant in knightsbridge

Crispy Cereal King Prawns – King prawns with chilli, curry leaves and oats, £15.90

Quintessentially a modern Malaysian-Chinese creation, Zheng’s presentation of Crispy Cereal King Prawns was an intriguing one, with well cooked chilli coated prawns dusted in sweet, crispy oat flakes. Yummy textures and flavours here.

VEGETABLES

Green Beans – Green beans with dried chillies & minced chicken, £8.90

These Green Beans were tossed in a sauce which, while pungently strong, had enough sprinkling of sea salt to make this a thoroughly enjoyable little dish.

Though the peel of the dry chillies wasn’t too pleasant to chew on, the combination of the crunchy beans and the dispersal of the soft chicken made for a good combination.

Aubergine Zheng Chelsea Malaysian Halal Restaurant in knightsbridge

Stewed Aubergine – Aubergine stewed with chillies, £8.90

Arguably one of the dishes of the evening.

While the aubergine was soft enough without being overly so, it was the deep, rich intensity of the beef chilli sauce, with just the right level of heat, that made this Stewed Aubergine such a surprisingly delicious dish to devour.

In the end, our spoons were parrying and riposting for the last few morsals!

BEEF & LAMB

Cumin Spicy Beef – Lamb stir fried with cumin, fresh pepper, chilli & onion, £15.90

This Cumin Spicy Beef had the unmistakable fragrance of the cumin coming through followed behind strongly by the pepper and chilli heat.

The meat had a tender chewiness to it that made the entire dish a decent enough eat.

It won’t exactly leave you reeling; but it was good in its own right.

CHICKEN

Rendang Chicken £13.90

Rendang Chicken is, of course, a classic Malay dish.

The chicken was tender and soft, and said to be “slow cooked”.

But it was the sweet coconut-based spicy sauce, which had such body to it, and which managed to deliver enough heat to counter the sweetness of the coconut, that we all enjoyed.

And given the generous quantity, it went perfectly with the well cooked, fragrant rice that accompanied it.

Fried Chicken Zheng Chelsea Malaysian Halal Restaurant in knightsbridge

Fried Boneless Chicken (n) – Chicken stir fried with dried chillies, cashew nuts & Szechuan pepper, £13.90

The fairly succulent nuggets of Fried Boneless Chicken were nice and crispy, and worked well alongside the crunchiness of the cashew nuts.

And although a hint of spice was assured, we again did not appreciate the chewy exterior of the dried chilli cases left therein.

RICE PLATES, NOODLES & ROTI

Noodles Zheng Chelsea Malaysian Halal Restaurant in knightsbridge

Char Kuey Teow – Flat rice noodles stir fried with eggs, prawns and sambal on the side, £13.90

Char Kuey Teow is said to be a specialty of Penang Island – “the food heaven of Malaysia”.

The flat rice noodles were expertly cooked – soft and just on the right side of al dente, if you will – and all the textures well accounted for.

The sauces that made up this dish were pungent and lively, while the prawns meaty and succulent.

DUCK

Crispy Aromatic Duck – Served with pancakes, hoisin sauce & salad. Quarter – £12.90, Half – £23.90, Whole – £44.90

We were left fairly disappointed with, what should have been, arguably one of, if not, the stand out dishes of this review.

But, in the end, it seems our expectations got the better of us, for although this duck was indeed crispy and relatively aromatic, it turned out bone dry.

Not even the addition of the salad and the superb quality of the sweet and salty hoisin sauce, which had a surprising zinginess to it and slight bitter-sweet aftertaste, could ultimately mask the resultant chewiness of the meat.

DESSERTS & HOT BEVERAGES

Kuiti Ketayap £6.95

Set against the dark plate, these Kuiti Ketayap certainly looked inviting enough.

Texture-wise, these were both soft on the inside and the out.

The coconut interior had a sticky sweet filling that was tasty without being overly sweet.

This may be the way it is traditionally meant to be, but perhaps a contrasting textural exterior might have made this more of an interesting dish.

Bubur Hitam £6.95

The Bubur Hitam is a traditional Malay dessert which, despite its weird purple-pink appearance, was in essence well cooked, and not too sweet, black glutinous rice.

Sagu Melaka £6.95

Sweetened by the palm sugar sauce, the rose water globules that made up the rather large and attractive sagu wasn’t overly strong in its rose water flavour.

As such, this Sagu Melaka was a delightful little penultimate end to the evening.

Chinese Tea (Oolong) £1.95

The Chinese Tea (Oolong) is a very subtle tasting green tea which didn’t quite deliver on the soothing nature of some other green teas we’ve had.

Teh Tarik hot £3.95 (left), Zheng Ice Coffee £4.95 (right)

This version of the classic Teh Tarik (hot) was, perhaps, a little more bitter than Tek Tariks usually are. While it had a good body to it, we all agreed in having ours sweeter.

As for the Zheng Ice Coffee, then we enjoyed it for its depth of flavour and strength, and the fact that it allowed for the sweetness to come through later.