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Family-run restaurant Ekachai are bringing authentic SE Asian hawker food to Kings Cross in January 2018. This will be their fifth location since launching in 1999 and taking one of the final spaces in the Granary Square development.

Ekachai are particularly proud of their “Wok Hei” (breath of the wok). Often used as a measure of chefs’ skill it takes many years of practice to master the art of imparting the flavour of the wok to dishes. The wok-cooking skill is fundamental to their menu because as the Chinese travelled across SE Asia so did the wok and this casual-dining restaurant serves the best of these overlapping street food dishes that span Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

Dish highlights include:

Hong Kong:
Handmade XLB – Soup filled dumplings with minced prawn and pork hand wrapped in a light wheat flour pastry. The broth is set with jelly so that it melts inside once steamed. (Owner’s favourite) HK Beef Brisket Noodle Soup – Cantonese specialty of braised tender beef brisket, fine egg noodles, white radish and pak choi in a clear

Malaysia:
Hainan Chicken Rice – Slow poached corn-fed chicken with aromatic rice cooked in chicken stock. Served with spicy chilli vinegar dip and spring onion, ginger sauce and cucumber garnish. Tempe Soup (Vegan) – Vermicelli rice noodles in clear soup vegetable broth with fried tempe, tofu, spinach and beansprouts.

Thailand:
Kai Krapow – Classic Thai dish of ground chicken with chilli, fine beans and fragrant lime leaves, holy basil. Traditionally eaten in Thailand with a fried egg. Nua Nam Prik Pao – Beef slices wok fried with a fiery Thai chilli paste with fine beans, lime leaves and dried shrimp. The 50-cover restaurant will open from 11.30 to 10pm every day of the week on York Way serving SE Asian comfort-food to the many types of people who pass through this busy hub, an area where food of this origin is difficult to find.

Editor’s Notes:

Menu highlights and prices
Hong Kong:
Handmade XLB – Soup filled dumplings with minced prawn and pork handwrapped in a light wheat flour pastry. The broth is set with jelly so that it melts inside once steamed. £5.25 HK Beef Brisket Noodle Soup – Cantonese specialty of braised tender beef brisket, fine egg noodles, white radish and pak choi in a clear soup £9.75.
Malaysia:
Hainan Chicken Rice – Slow poached corn-fed chicken with aromatic rice cooked in chicken stock. Served with spicy chilli vinegar dip and spring onion, ginger sauce and cucumber garnish. £9.50 Tempe Soup (Vegan) – Vermicelli rice noodles in clear soup vegetable broth with fried tempe, tofu, spinach and beansprouts £8.95.
Thailand:
Kai Krapow – Classic Thai dish of ground chicken with chilli, fine beans and fragrant lime leaves, holy basil. Traditionally eaten in Thailand with a fried egg. £8.25 Nua Nam Prik Pao – Beef slices wok fried with a fiery Thai chilli paste with fine beans, lime leaves and dried shrimp £8.25.
Pricing: mains start from £8.95 and starters from £4.95. Address Ekachai King’s Cross 62-67 York Way London, N1 9AG
kingscross@ekachai.co.uk
Covers: 50
Opening: Mid January 2018 (date to be confirmed)
Head Chef: CY Lim

Website & Social Handles:

ekachai.co.uk
instagram.com/ekachai_uk
twitter.com/ekachai_uk
facebook.com/ekachai.uk

About Ekachai:

Ekachai was established in Liverpool Street in 1999 by schoolfriends Thomas Tjong and Sidney Tsang from Hong Kong who could not find their favourite street food dishes in London. Ekachai have steadily built a reputation for their authentic and keenly priced streetfood focused around wok-cooking. Ekachai currently have four locations (Liverpool Street, Wandsworth, Selfridges and Flat Iron Square) with the fifth to open in King’s Cross.

Kings Cross:

Eater London reports: “2017 has been a slow-burning year for restaurant development in King’s Cross. Eater London has reported on whispers surrounding Ekachai’s place in the Granary Square puzzle, which already has one of Richard Caring’s latest projects locked in amidst rumours of some of London’s biggest players, the likes of Barrafina and El Pastor. Ekachai’s opening is the first confirmation for a few months, possibly reflecting caution in the market during increasingly turbulent times”