Kawan by Uncle Roger Review

Kawan is the first restaurant using the Uncle Roger branding in London’s Chinatown. Uncle Roger is Nigel NG’s alter ego, a Malaysian influencer and comedian known for critiquing celebrity and online chefs’ attempts at Asian cooking, with catchphrases that have entered youth culture. The restaurant’s menu and branding include in-jokes tied to those critiques, including labels like “uncle or auntie” and “nephew or niece.” The restaurant’s name means “friend” or “companion.” MSG proselytiser Ng opened the 58-cover restaurant with restaurateur Keng Yew and Malaysian executive chef Daren Liew. The menu draws on many Asian cuisines and family-style dishes reinterpreted through a modern British lens, featuring an “Uncle Gordon Ramsey”-inspired Chinese Wellington with duck leg, puff pastry, tomato chili, and Teochew butter olive mushroom.

"Kawan by Uncle Roger is the first restaurant bearing the branding of the eponymous Youtube star. But who is Uncle Roger and why has he opened his first restaurant in London's Chinatown? Uncle Roger is the alter ego of Malaysian influencer, stand-up comedian and now restaurateur Nigel NG. He has achieved a global audience of 5 million for his Uncle Roger videos in which he critiques celebrity and online chefs' attempts to cook Asian food. They are very funny if repetitive and his catchphrases Fuiyoooh! (a sign of approval) and Haiyaa! (the opposite) have embedded themselves into youth culture."

"Jamie Oliver is a particular bête noire, whereas Gordon Ramsey gets off easily. Chefs who get it right are labelled 'uncle or auntie' and young pretenders 'nephew or niece'. Why does any of this matter? Well, the restaurant's menu and branding are full of in-jokes which you will miss if you aren't up to speed."

"MSG proselytiser Ng has taken the plunge, putting his own culinary reputation on the line with the opening of Kawan, which means 'friend' or 'companion'. Sensibly, for the 58-cover restaurant, Ng is collaborating with experienced restaurateur Keng Yew (co-founder of YiQi, SanHao, Dozo and The Eight) and Malaysian Executive Chef Daren Liew (Nanyang Blossom, San Hao, Duddels and Hakkasan Group), who was very present the day I went. Unlike Uncle Roger's video takedowns in which Asian cooking wannabes are shredded for their lack of authenticity, the Kawan menu 'draws on a wide range of Asian cuisines and family-style dishes, reinterpreted through a modern British lens'."

"The signature dish is an 'Uncle Gordon Ramsey'- inspired Chinese Wellington, puff pastry crusted duck leg, tomato chilli and Teochew butter olive mushroom. We went in for an early lunch a couple of days after the restaurant opened so there was only a limited menu on offer, but still plenty to choose from. There's a well put together cocktail list that, for no"

Read at London Unattached