Raya Asian Street Food

Raya Asian Street Food sits in the shadow of Five Guys and Turtle Bay, a love heart floats above the ‘i’ in ‘Asian’, and pictures of food are plastered on the glass. But this isn’t your average high street fast food chain. Inside a bus driver snacks on curry puffs while their bus is on the stand at Walthamstow Central station, a mum pauses their shopping trip to sip frothy, sweet teh tarik, and a diner, tucked in the corner table, FaceTimes someone between bites of flavoursome beef rendang. The room is simple and the seats are the kind you find in waiting rooms. But knick-knacks have been added—plants, a bike wheel for absolutely no reason—to bring some character. The dishes here flit from Thai tom yum to Malaysian nasi goreng, but despite the broad South East Asian range, we’re nearly always left satisfied. Come for a low-key, solo meal—one where you pretend to watch the TV and stay long enough that the steam from bowls of laksa and phở cloud the window.

photo credit: Raya Asian Street Food

photo credit: Raya Asian Street Food

Food Rundown

photo credit: Raya Asian Street Food

Roti Canai

If ever there was a dish to hunker down with on your own, it’s this. The dough is layered and flaky with the perfect chewy, stretchy texture to hold up against XL scoops of a mild, moreish, creamy dahl.

photo credit: Raya Asian Street Food

Beef Rendang

Slow-cooked, braised meat that we wish we knew about during all our previous heartaches. It’s comforting and rich but we wish it was spicier.