London - Awana
Winter 07/08
Frank's view 
' saved by Ken '
What were they thinking of?
The Michelin Guide talks of a ‘stylish’ cocktail bar’ and The ‘Which Good Food Guide’ describes it as ‘A Keystone of Malaysian Cooking’ with ‘Jacket and tie required.’
The exterior looked in keeping with the impressions created by the experts, but through the looking glass was a totally different world.
A pin board greeted all arrivals, together with a box carrying large yellow free badges to celebrate ‘Malaysia 2007.’ Combined with the decor of cheap wooden panelled walls, I was whisked back to days of university bars and eateries.
The bar is simply a holding area for diners whilst they wait for a free table. ‘Stylish’, it is not.
Most extraordinary, are the plasma screens, strategically positioned around the restaurant, which relay very poor quality images of the kitchen making bread and satay. If they are going to go down this route, they should at least sharpen up the picture quality. Fuzzy, low resolution, almost black and white footage of food preparation is not appetising.
The food was very average and in keeping with the fairly low prices. You get what you pay for.
On the positive side, the staff tried harder than any waiting staff we have ever encountered anywhere. Ken, our squeaky voiced, shaven headed female waitress (who I suspect was actually part of the management team), is definitely a candidate for most attentive restaurant person on the planet.
Ken introduced us to Eddie Lim, the Managing Director of Awana (who also have restaurants in Beijing and Hyderabad, India). Eddie chatted for a minute or so and is clearly a good ambassador for his restaurants.
Having overcome the misleading preconception that Awana is a fine dining, romantic evening out, we were eased into the real Awana experience by Ken.
If a group of you are looking for an inexpensive night out, in your t-shirts and jeans, with reasonable (but not exceptional) Asian food and (slightly overpriced) wine, Awana is a good option.
Awana
85 Sloane Avenue
London
020 7584 6188
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
