New Asian food hall and cultural hub to open in North London

A new Asian food hall called Bang Bang Oriental will open in Northwest London in July, on the site of the old Oriental City, the Asian market that was once an important retail hub and meeting place for the British capital's Chinese community.

Billed as the capital's largest Asian food hall, the new development near Colindale in the London Borough of Brent will house 33 kiosks serving Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Taiwanese and Malaysian cuisine in a 450-seat food court. The Golden Dragon, a London restaurant that is a mainstay of Soho's Chinatown and known for its dim sum, will also open a 300-seat branch in the new food hall.

The hall is scheduled to open in the first week of July.

Bang Bang Oriental will be operated by Edgware Capital Ltd and the site will be managed by commercial property agent Stiles Harold Williams Partnership. The hall was designed by architects Stiff + Trevillion.

Muhammed Butt, the leader of Brent Council, told China Daily: "Oriental City was an iconic landmark. It placed Colindale on the map. I used to go there with my family quite regularly. It helped bring in employment in the area, and other shops opened up around it - it was a catalyst. Having another brand coming, like Bang Bang, in the area is going to spur growth and confidence."

Oriental City once attracted 10,000 people a week to its shops, restaurants, health services and social events. It was considered by many in London's Chinese community to be the city's true Chinatown- less of a tourist trap and more of an area in which people could shop and meet. Following a change of ownership, the site was redeveloped in 2008 and demolished in 2014.

Bang Bang Oriental plans to hold community events, including cookery classes and traditional lion-dancing performances, and there will be a Chinese massage parlor, a herbal medicine shop, and nail and beauty salons.

Stiff + Trevillion director Richard Blandy said: "The Bang Bang concept layers a contemporary filter over the Pan-Asian culinary experience. The design emphasis is on clean lines and Eastern minimalism."

The venue will feature a biofuel cylinder in which food waste will be collected and used for energy regeneration, delivering low-emission electricity back into the facility.