Modern Malaysian Restaurant Curtailed by COVID-19 Will Revive Itself in Peckham

Chef Abby Lee will open Mambow, a self-described “modern Malaysian” restaurant, at the Market Peckham complex which houses SE15 favourite Forza Wine this June. It’s a new lease of life for Lee’s cooking, whose opening in Shoreditch was abruptly curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Then billed as “bowl food,” with a global pantry feel, the new menu is more self-consciously Malaysian, with a focus on Nyonya dishes and varied curries from the different parts of the country. A black pepper chicken curry from the Perak region will lean on the fragrance of Sarawak peppercorn, alongside the tamarind-sour, bracing heat of asam pedas, which derives from Minangkabau and Malay cuisines. There’s also a potentially nifty modish touch to some of the dishes: A Hainanese chicken sando, only available at lunch, which features poached chicken, ginger & spring onion oil, kewpie mayo, chicken fat chilli vinegar, fried onions, and cucumber; and the “M Wing,” deep-fried chicken tossed in a pungent anchovy sambal.

Lee will pair her food with a natural wine list, put together by noted importer Les Caves de Pyrene, with a focus on zesty, juicy, and rich flavour profiles.

More soon.