The South East Asian Community within the UK has grown dramatically within the past 15 years with the Chinese and Filipino communities leading the way in sheer numbers.

Longdan, a supermarket specialising in Chinese and South East Asian food products is set to change the face of Asian food in the capital and build on the success of their vibrant stores in Elephant & Castle, Kingston, Leyton and Shoreditch with extensive expansion plans. The concept is to bring the South East Asian supermarket to the British high street, supplying a vast array of hand selected authentic speciality foods to meet customers’ needs.

Adjoining Longdan’s recently opened supermarket in Elephant & Castle there is also a restaurant to showcase Vietnamese Street Food, which is increasingly popular in the UK. Healthy, fresh and light, Vietnamese cuisine is a diet free of dairy and wheat products, using little fat or sugar, simply cooked to retain and optimise all of the inherent nutritional qualities of the foods.

A spokesman for Longdan said: “Due to the heavy South East Asian presence in London there is great demand from the public. Longdan has capitalised on this greater interest in Chinese and South East Asian cuisine from the broader public and we hope to develop this growing interest. Our aim is to make Chinese and South East Asian food products accessible to all.”

The UK and in particular London and the South East are amazingly multicultural with over 360 languages spoken in the Capital alone. This and the English people’s adventurous curiosity and greater exposure to travel means they are keen to try and even adopt different world cuisines.