One of the must-eat item (especially for females, I don’t know why) in Penang is the Asam Laksa. The most famously stall would be this one at Air Itam, walking distance from the Kek Lok Si temple, by the alley across the morning market.

a walkway packed with hungry people

The place is not particularly hygienic or comfortable, just some tables and the stalls by the busy road, partially exposed to the element. But hey, we’re here for the food anyway.

The Penang Laksa, popularly referred to as Asam Laksa in other parts of the country, comes in a sourish fish (ikan kembung) based soup with thick rice noodle, plenty of shredded pineapple, lettuce, red chili, cucumber, onion, galangal (curry flower), and lemon grass. All these are topped with some mint leaves and the thick shrimp paste with a very distinctive love-it or hate-it smell.

yumm… *slurps*

Our order was served up in just a few minutes’ time. Simmering hot and oozing with the glorious laksa smell, we attacked the bowl like a vengeance. There were nothing left 5 minutes later. The combination of sour and spicy soup with the fresh produce and the thick rice noodle was perfect. I never waste the soup either, thick with shredded fish, it has a very unique texture and taste that I find very nice.

the map of air itam laksa!

The smallish bowl of laksa is yours for RM 2.40. I would never recommend this as a main meal due to the sour and spicy nature of the dish, but it does make a nice afternoon snack. This Air Itam stall serves in the afternoon to evening.

Address:
Jalan Pasar,
Ayer Itam, Penang
GPS: 5.401386, 100.277377

Tags:  air-itam,  asam,  chili,  fish,  hawker,  laksa,  Penang,  shrimp-paste,  spicy

Posted by KY | 16 Comments »

Last weekend I caught up with an old friend of mine, over sms she said she was gonna bring me to eat laksa at Bangsar. Now laksa is like handbags and shoes, girls seem to can’t have enough while guys are usually less enthusiastic it. I am one of those guys, but being a must-try-all person, I went with the flow anyway, despite the suspecious venue at Bangsar. I thought it might be at one of those modern restaurants.

the old school kopitiam, big bowl of laksa sarawak

After some twists and turns, we reached to the kopitiam that is situated in the housing area just opposite Bangsar Village. It was an old school place, which was a surprise. The young lady ordered the laksa sarawak for me.

Laksa Sarawak is slightly different from the Curry Laksa (also called curry mee), or Asam Laksa.It has a santan based curry soup, your choice of noodle of meehun, prawn, strips of chicken, shredded egg, bean sprout, and some mint leaves as garnish. Sambal and a piece of lime were given as a side too. Just look at the pics, *drools*

are you not drooling now? this stuff was great

Well, I gotta say I never knew Sarawak Laksa tasted so good. The soup was just creamy enough while not being too overly rich. I had initially thought the big bowl was too much but at the end it proved to be almost not enough. Definately one of the better hawker food I’ve had thus far in Klang Valley. As for the price, I wasn’t sure since I didn’t pay, but it was definately less than RM 5. Give it a try even if you’re not a laksa lover, you’ll not regret. I went there for brunch, I’m not entirely too sure if they sell till late in the afternoon though.

now this bangsar map is simply delightful, no?

GPS: 3.127575, 101.669487

updated:
open till around 3pm (thanks wye)
closed every wednesday (thanks PabloPabla)

Tags:  Bangsar,  bangsar-village,  hawker,  laksa,  laksa-serawak,  lorna

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

Note: This stall is no longer there

I’m not a huge laksa fan, but I do eat it occasionally and enjoys it as an in between meal “snacks”. So it was by sheer luck that when we went to Jalan Pasar in KL my housemate Kerol spotted this mini laksa stall at Peng Hwa food court. She claimed to have eaten it before and it was supposedly good. She is a huge laksa fan.

The food court and the laksa stall

We ordered a bowl for each person. True to the name, the laksa came in a small bowl that probably only fit half a pack of maggie noodle soup. I remember this is exactly how laksa was served back in the days when I was a little boy in Penang. Nice

yumm.. laksa… *drools*

It came with the standard laksa ingredients such as onions, mint leaves, laksa noodle, cucumber, pineapple, some type of veggie, “sticky shrimp sauce”, all soaked in asam fish based soup. The overall taste was very good, a true representation of good Penang laksa. It was, however, rather spicey and might be a little salty for some, so do order a big glass of cold drink.

Here’s how to get there, foo!

GPS: 3.134806, 101.716104

Tags:  hawker,  hawker-center,  laksa

Posted by KY | 9 Comments »

How many times has it occured in your mind that you so want to go to Penang just so you get to devour the asam laksa there? Well, if you’re a laksa lover living not too far from PJ, you have salvation. According to kerol and suanie, this shit is teh good. (I’m not a huge laksa fan, and prefer real dinner like bak kut teh, heehee)

suan and kerol look so happy!

The stall is situated at this eating place called Alisan, basically a mamak + kopitiam type of setting, with numerous hawker stalls offering fried lala, yong tau foo, wan tan mee, and of course, the laksa. According to kerol, this laksa is of the Kedah style, which is slightly less soupy than the Penang type, but otherwise pretty much the same.

This plate shouldn’t be hard to clean..

The asam laksa is served in a plate rather than a bowl, and comes with generous portion of chillie padi on the side. In the plate there are your standard laksa noodle, shrimp sauce, fish based soup, chopped vege, cucumber, and some other stuff that I cannot name. It’s delicious, that is why these 2 girls finished it clean even after just having a heavy dinner less than 2 hours prior. I didn’t eat, I was still full. hehe

A thing to note though, this laksa stall is like the superstar of the hawker stalls at this area. It had been on some chinese newspapers twice since I moved there. As a result, it is always pretty busy and they ask that you self-serve. Other than laksa, they have pretty good Jawa Mee, Chai Kuih, and some Chinese dessert soup/drink. The laksa is RM 3.50 if I remember correctly.

Call me when you go there, I am only 5 mins away on foot.

P/S: Peter Tan is having a charity drive and he’s SHAVING HIS HEAD FOR HOSPICE, please do lend your support, thanks thanks thanks.

Address:
Jalan SS 2/4A,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.111388, 101.611133

Tags:  hawker,  kerol,  laksa,  PJ,  ss4,  suan

Posted by KY_a | 3 Comments »