Day 10: London continued

We had lunch here at myhotelchelsea with Susan Ware, a friend from Cambridge, who was also stranded in London with  her husband. They had come for the opening of Hair and were 'forced' to stay on for more theater and good food. Her lunch included Diet Coke in a bottle.







For what we hope is our last meal in London before heading to Damascus, I found Awana, a Malaysian place, in the neighborhood. I must admit that I don’t know much about the cuisine of Malaysia—except that it influenced food in South Africa a while back. Awana’s menu may take the prize for the most confusing 12 or 14 pages I’ve encountered in quite some time. Starters and main courses are scattered over four or five pages with various special menus, specialties of the house, and vegetarian versions of the same. Fortunately our wait person was adept at thumbing through the pages and pointed us in a good direction. Pai ti, a shrimp salad in little pastry cups served in tiny glasses to support the cups. Tofu sumbat, fried tofu stuffed with mushrooms with two spicy sauces on the side. Rendang, a slow-cooked beef which turned out to be a little stringy and dry in a tasty brown sauce. Garlic roti, a naan-type bread which soaked up all the delicious sauce.

Dessert was Dadar, green pancakes filled with a sweet coconut mixture with a tiny scoop of coconut ice cream on the side. It was a lovely way to end our stay.