Oriental City was a shopping centre containing a large oriental supermarket, now relocated to Bayswater, and a food court with a range of foods from different areas of South-East Asia. The food court was immensely popular with surrounding office workers and the North London community; and often became very crowded at weekends.
Aside from the food outlets, the complex also contained a number of small shops and stalls. Over its history there was a high turnover of shops, with only one remaining original tenant in the facility, the Japanese tableware store, Utsuwa-No-Yataka. The centre also previously housed a shop selling video games and toys imported from Japan, a Sanrio boutique, and one of the largest Japanese bookshops in Europe, called Asahiya Shoten. These have been closed down since 2003. In the period shortly before the centre closed down, shoppers could find a tailor's shop, a jeweller, a hairdresser, a beauty shop, Chinese medicine shops, a martial arts store, and a large furniture store. Oriental City was also host to a Sega Dome arcade which has been a feature since the complex's opening in 1993. The arcade's outer façade was highly noticeable for the large picture of Sonic the Hedgehog attached to it, which had been on the complex since the early 1990s. The centre was a focal point for the Oriental community, often hosting weeks which promoted the cultural identity of different South East Asian countries. These events typically consisted of various performing arts, and the promotion of that country's particular cuisine.
I believe the entire site has been demolished since I visited.
First Visit
As a huge fan of the cult horror film Dawn of the Dead I'd always wanted to see Oriental City for myself but was a little put off by stories of a violent security guard carrying a baseball bat. I never got round to bothering until I read extreme_ironing's report a couple of months ago describing the current status of demolition and I realised it was now or never. I visited first off on my own and the place was deadly quiet for the whole evening, although I thought I heard a vehicle approaching at one point so hid on the roof for a while.
Despite the main hall already being demolished there was still a fair bit to see, the escalators thankfully were still intact, but only just as demolition had stopped just short of them.
Remains of various Chinese restaurants lined the corridors....
This kitchen had a beautiful aroma
One of the food halls
The karaoke nightclub
The bowling alley
The rooftop
Once I came down from the roof I heard a kind of groaning sound coming from behind one of the doors in the food hall so I made my retreat and got the hell out of there as fast as I could....
The Revisit
I revisited with extreme_ironing, elliot5200 and a non-member Hannah the following evening and it seemed quiet again but we soon realised we weren't alone inside the building.... There was that same groaning sound I had heard the night before. We cautiously approached the bowling alley to see where the noise was coming from, a figure appeared from the skittle end with a menacing stare and the groans turned into screeches.
We suddenly realised that we were in the presence of THE UNDEAD....
I managed to snap these photos as we tried to escape....
We ran away but there there were more of them....
Scottish?
Hungry for a Chinese
I told her to go home....that was before I realised she was ALREADY home....
Some of them had abnormalities such as ginger hair and black eyebrows, or just massive hands the size of tennis rackets....
Last orders at the bar
Still hungry for a bargain
Escalator of the Dead
They lurked in the kitchen
They seemed less than impressed with the lack of bacon in the fridge....
She smelt of mouldy onions....
You will be glad to hear we all escaped unharmed from The Undead, I should imagine they have all since been demolished along with Oriental City but who knows if they might've made their way to another home....
Very much looking forward to your comments on this one....bit of an unusual report granted, but trust me lots of fun was had so it would be rude not to share it with you all
Thanks for looking
Aside from the food outlets, the complex also contained a number of small shops and stalls. Over its history there was a high turnover of shops, with only one remaining original tenant in the facility, the Japanese tableware store, Utsuwa-No-Yataka. The centre also previously housed a shop selling video games and toys imported from Japan, a Sanrio boutique, and one of the largest Japanese bookshops in Europe, called Asahiya Shoten. These have been closed down since 2003. In the period shortly before the centre closed down, shoppers could find a tailor's shop, a jeweller, a hairdresser, a beauty shop, Chinese medicine shops, a martial arts store, and a large furniture store. Oriental City was also host to a Sega Dome arcade which has been a feature since the complex's opening in 1993. The arcade's outer façade was highly noticeable for the large picture of Sonic the Hedgehog attached to it, which had been on the complex since the early 1990s. The centre was a focal point for the Oriental community, often hosting weeks which promoted the cultural identity of different South East Asian countries. These events typically consisted of various performing arts, and the promotion of that country's particular cuisine.
I believe the entire site has been demolished since I visited.
First Visit
As a huge fan of the cult horror film Dawn of the Dead I'd always wanted to see Oriental City for myself but was a little put off by stories of a violent security guard carrying a baseball bat. I never got round to bothering until I read extreme_ironing's report a couple of months ago describing the current status of demolition and I realised it was now or never. I visited first off on my own and the place was deadly quiet for the whole evening, although I thought I heard a vehicle approaching at one point so hid on the roof for a while.
Despite the main hall already being demolished there was still a fair bit to see, the escalators thankfully were still intact, but only just as demolition had stopped just short of them.
Remains of various Chinese restaurants lined the corridors....
This kitchen had a beautiful aroma
One of the food halls
The karaoke nightclub
The bowling alley
The rooftop
Once I came down from the roof I heard a kind of groaning sound coming from behind one of the doors in the food hall so I made my retreat and got the hell out of there as fast as I could....
The Revisit
I revisited with extreme_ironing, elliot5200 and a non-member Hannah the following evening and it seemed quiet again but we soon realised we weren't alone inside the building.... There was that same groaning sound I had heard the night before. We cautiously approached the bowling alley to see where the noise was coming from, a figure appeared from the skittle end with a menacing stare and the groans turned into screeches.
We suddenly realised that we were in the presence of THE UNDEAD....
I managed to snap these photos as we tried to escape....
We ran away but there there were more of them....
Scottish?
Hungry for a Chinese
I told her to go home....that was before I realised she was ALREADY home....
Some of them had abnormalities such as ginger hair and black eyebrows, or just massive hands the size of tennis rackets....
Last orders at the bar
Still hungry for a bargain
Escalator of the Dead
They lurked in the kitchen
They seemed less than impressed with the lack of bacon in the fridge....
She smelt of mouldy onions....
You will be glad to hear we all escaped unharmed from The Undead, I should imagine they have all since been demolished along with Oriental City but who knows if they might've made their way to another home....
Very much looking forward to your comments on this one....bit of an unusual report granted, but trust me lots of fun was had so it would be rude not to share it with you all
Thanks for looking
:
Beautiful shots. Only regret I am too late to see the place myself, looks cool.
