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  Images: KOLAE/BEN BROOMFIELD; MAMBOW/CAITLIN ISOLA; @PAPOSBAGELS 

 

 

 

[What's New](/life/food/whats-new)

 /  20 August 2024  

#  My Life In Food: Abby Lee, Mambow  


Abby Lee is the head chef and owner of Mambow in Clapton, where she shines a light on Malaysian cooking. Here, she shares her favourite places to eat, top entertaining tips, and the one meal she always goes back to…  


ByHeather Steele

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[ Save To My Favourites ](/user/login?destination=/markdownify/node/42829)

 

  Images: KOLAE/BEN BROOMFIELD; MAMBOW/CAITLIN ISOLA; @PAPOSBAGELS 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

**The restaurant from my childhood that will always stay me is** [**Lei Garden**](https://leigarden.hk/) **in Singapore.** We used to go for dim sum on a Sunday, which was the only day my parents were free to spend time with us, so they were particularly memorable times.

**The first dish I learned to cook was my granny’s tau yew bak (braised pork belly in soy sauce).** It’s a relatively simple dish, but for me there’s probably nothing more comforting than this dish. Nailing the simplest dishes first was what my aunt would teach me – it was essential for her to show me how to balance the sweet, salty, spices and fat.

**The restaurant I probably revisit most often is** [**Planque**](https://planque.co.uk/) **in Haggerston.** It serves the kind of food I want to eat on my days off and be inspired by. I love peering into the open kitchen. The menu has been different every time I’ve been, but the razor clam tartlets and head chef Seb Myers’ desserts are a must-try. He’s probably my favourite chef at the moment.

 

 My dream dinner party guest would be ANTHONY BOURDAIN. I truly admired everything he had to say about FOOD and LIFE.  
 

 



 

 

**A recent opening I loved was** [**Kolae**](https://kolae.com/)**.** It’s so nice to see more southern Thai-focused cooking, that’s also bordering Malaysian, in London. I love the familiarity and comfort of those dishes. When I went, we pretty much ordered the whole menu. My favourite dishes were the grilled mussel skewers, crispy prawn heads, venison black pepper curry and the sour mango salad with dried fish.

**My most memorable meal has to be the river prawn noodles I had in Sibu, Sarawak.** They came with the most incredible spicy prawn broth that had such a distinct flavour, and they were paired with bouncy yellow noodles specific to that region too.

**On the rare occasions I get a Sunday off, it’s important that I spend time with my partner and housemates.** We usually go for a very long walk. We’ll start by getting a late breakfast at [Bake Street](https://www.instagram.com/bakestreetldn/?hl=en) for the Nashville hot chicken sandwich and crème brulêe cookies or [Papo’s Bagels](https://paposbagels.com/) for the salmon lox bagel. We’ll then do something cultural, like head to an exhibition at the [Barbican](https://www.barbican.org.uk/), before heading into Chinatown to get snacks from Chinatown Bakery and settling into the [Prince Charles Cinema](https://princecharlescinema.com/) to watch a Wong Kar Wai movie. I’m not really into roasts – I’d much rather eat dim sum. Some of my favourite spots are [Saikei](https://saikei-restaurant.com/), [Yi-Ban](https://yi-ban.co.uk/) and [Dim Sum Duck](https://www.instagram.com/dimsumandduck/?hl=en).

**For date night, I love** [**Yuki Bar**](https://www.instagram.com/yukibar.london/?hl=en)**.** It’s low key, yet refined, with good music and it just has a good energy about it. You can have an amazing glass of wine from its curated list or some very comforting Japanese snacks like the pan-fried onigiri. A perfect place to get to know someone.

 

 [ ![](https://media.sheerluxe.com/n59gHklWoAslUpAmvE_N3usyxHQ=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2024%2F08%2Fsl-my-life-in-food-mambow-2.png?itok=PJS417mx)

 

 ](https://www.instagram.com/mambow_ldn/?hl=en) 

 Toad Bakery; @Mambow_Ldn 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 [ ![](https://media.sheerluxe.com/Xu-9Gw1ERGlGEQQ2EBDrnotJ89U=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2024%2F08%2Fsl-my-life-in-food-mambow-1.png?itok=uQ6lgLPb)

 

 ](https://www.instagram.com/mambow_ldn/?hl=en) 

 @Mambow_Ldn 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

**After a long, late shift I’ll usually make a good broth or stew.** Either a winter melon and pork rib soup, or kimchi jjigae (a pork belly and kimchi stew). Failing that, it will be an extremely loaded mortadella and provolone sandwich or speedy scallion oil noodles.

**One of my favourite places to buy ingredients is** [London Starnight](https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/374013703334555/london-starnight/) on Mare Street for all the Southeast Asian and East Asian ingredients I need. If not, the Turkish off-licences around me sell a great range of herbs and vegetables for good value. My most-used ingredient is lots of chillis!

**My favourite dining companions are my Malaysian friends.** We all have a very similar palate and get to share the dishes my Western friends perhaps would not be up for typically trying. The last place we all went to together was [Café TPT](http://www.cafetpt.com/) in Chinatown, which was great.

**My dream dinner party guest would be Anthony Bourdain.** I truly admired everything he had to say about food and life.

**My signature drink if I have people over** is a umeshu negroni. Umeshu, a Japanese plum wine, is one of my favourite flavours.

**If I’m out and about, my drink of choice is Guinness.** [Biddle Bros](https://www.instagram.com/biddlebros/?hl=en) does a really good one, especially after service (and it’s just a few doors down from [Mambow](https://www.mambow.co.uk/)).

**The secret to hosting a good dinner party is** choosing dishes and drinks that can be prepped the day before – and those that taste even better the next day. Then it’s just a case of simply reheating on the night so you can relax and focus on creating the vibes through good music, games and lighting.

 

 

 

 

 [ ![Kolae](https://media.sheerluxe.com/Nu5MuFF94S3gBrTcMszKC46DLg0=/1920x0/smart/filters:no_upscale()/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2024%2F08%2Fkolae-ground-room.png?itok=iQNEdIrf)

 

 ](https://kolae.com/) 

 Kolae, Ben Broomfield 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 [ ![Mambow](https://media.sheerluxe.com/mM-eTv3tLCZ_ljsa5pxGzUY4Hl4=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2024%2F08%2Fmambow-caitlin-isola.png?itok=GbDQYqYg)

 

 ](https://www.mambow.co.uk/) 

 Mambow, Caitlin Isola 

 



 

 

 

 

 

**My Chinese New Year party last year was an especially good one.** We had steamboat, where different kinds of broths are put in the middle and everyone dips in a range of meats, seafood and noodles. I did a Sichuan style spicy beef broth, a healing chicken, red date and ginger one, and a coconut laksa style broth. With lots of sparkling sake!

**My go-to food on the go is all kinds of fried chicken.** I love it all, from American-style Popeyes to Korean or Vietnamese fish sauce caramel wings.

**I’m a sucker for oysters.** I love a casual late-morning walk to [Richard Haward’s Oysters](https://richardhawardsoysters.shop/), a stall in Borough Market that sells just oysters. And then I’ll chuck back a dozen by myself.

**The most decadent meal I've ever had was the Kaiseki menu** I had in Kyoto at [Gion Matayoshi](https://www.tableall.com/restaurant/75). Every course is a work of art, and it was all made with the best seafood I’ve ever tasted.

 

 I love a CASUAL LATE-MORNING WALK to Richard Haward’s Oysters... And then I’ll chuck back a dozen by myself.  
 

 



 

 

**My death-row dinner would be** a sashimi platter of scallop, salmon belly and yellow tail. Followed by lobster, ginger and spring onion crispy noodles, with lemon meringue pie to finish things off.

**My food hell?** A restaurant or pub that serves ‘pan-Asian’ dishes.

**Finally, for the ultimate weekend brunch, I love to make a homemade version of the Sausage McMuffin.** I’m quite a purist and would usually just go for HP sauce. If I’d like to switch things up a bit, I would a garlic chilli sauce from Singapore called ‘Woh Hup’, which is the best.

*Mambow, 78 Lower Clapton Road, Clapton, E5 0RN*

*For more, visit* [MAMBOW.CO.UK](https://www.mambow.co.uk/) *&amp; follow at* [@MAMBOW\_LDN](https://www.instagram.com/mambow_ldn/?hl=en)

 

 

 

 

  

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