Sudu, located in Queens Park, is being launched by brother and sister Fatizah and Irqam Shawal, whose parents opened Satay House in Paddington in 1973. Three years in the making, the menu for Sudu was created in 2019 but the pair switched to focus their attention on Satay House and its takeaway menu when lockdown struck.
The new restaurant will serve Malaysian dishes for a new generation of diners as well as some classics served at Satay House. The menu will riff on Malaysian street food but with a London twist, with dishes to include whole grilled mackerel flavoured with turmeric, ginger and garlic and served with a tamarind dip; mee George Town, a yellow wheat noodle stir-fried with tofu, prawn, beef, peanut, egg and potato; laksa; and char kway teow, a dish consisting of flat rice noodles stir-fried in a hot wok with prawns, squid, egg, mustard green, chives and beansprouts.
These will sit alongside more traditional Malaysian dishes such as beef rendang; nasi goreng; nasi lemak; and nasi cam cam.
“There’s no way we could carry on our parents’ legacy and not serve up my dad’s [traditional dishes],” says the siblings.
“These recipes have been in our family for nearly 50 years, and we would have done a disservice to Sudu by not including them on the menu because they’re so delicious and so popular.”
Sudu will borrow its design from the Malaysian style ‘kopitiam’ - traditional coffee shops found mostly in Southeast Asia - mixing old charm with contemporary features and exposed brick walls.
The pair are also working on a Malaysian breakfast menu as well as a speakeasy-style bar in the basement that will serve classic cocktails with an Asian twist and Malaysian snacks.
“We like to think of Sudu has a ‘cool younger sister’ to Satay House. We’ve had so much fun creating the menu and we hope it shows,” the pair add.
“We’ve been dreaming of Sudu and a new incarnation of Satay House for a number of years. We knuckled down and the seed of an idea for Sudu was born. We’ve never been more ready for a new project.”
