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Some people referred this place as the Indian Laksa because the owner of this assam laksa stall is an Indian uncle. This uncle used parked his motorbike outside at the corner of the alley behind Penang Plaza & Dorsett (Sheraton those days) Hotel and sell his laksa from the bike. I read in some blog that he started with a trishaw selling from house to house.

The Indian uncle’s wife is chinese and I saw her helping him at the stall many years back. Now he is still selling from his motorbike but its nicely parked in One Corner food court with a proper canopy and tables for customers to sit plus a variety of other food to order.

The assam laksa here is lighter than the usual Penang laksa but that is the way I like it with a bit of sweet prawn paste added into it. The portion is not big and the idea is to take the laksa soup with some popiah or prawn fritters together. You can opt to have chili sauce added to the popiah/fritters but I usually prefer to have just them with the laksa soup!

For those whom like thicker assam laksa, this may not be your thing but its a definate must have in Penang for me ;). 3 bowls plus some popiah and fritters set us back by RM9.00.

One more thing, the ambrah suen bouy here is pretty good, not too watery, not too thick, just nice at RM1.90 per cup, the perfect laksa companion :D.

One Corner Food Court
Jalan Bawasah, Penang (just behind Dorsett & Penang Plaza’s Giant)
GPS: N5 25.292 E100 19.540

Restoran Long Khee in SS15 in Subang Jaya is a well known place for many staying in Subang Jaya. I especially love 2 things here, their fried rice and their fish head curry (assam style). Long Khee is packed on peak dinner hours most of the time.

I was here for dinner again and this round, we ordered some of the yummy fried rice (cannot resist), their fish curry, homemade tofu, wuxi pork ribs, fried prawn paste and fried vege. The fried rice is good as always, full of flavour with some bbq pork (char siew), eggs, meat in it and the rice are all one by one on its own. I am serious, their fried rice is my favourite stuff here! Whenever I think fried rice, I think of this place :).

The fish curry is good too, instead of head we got the flesh which are fried first before cooking it in the curry with vegetables. Its not too sour or too rich nor too watery. Its pretty good and it really makes me took more rice than I should :(.

The other dishes are so so la… the wuxi pork ribs is quite nice, but a bit pricey. Tofu is very soft, first fried then cover with a gravvy with some vegetables, mushrooms and shrimps. The fried prawn paste (her kor) with dried chili is quite nice, the taste is set just right in my opinion. The vegetables are nice too, they add a hint of cooking wine to it.

The above set me back by RM125 on a dinner for 7 persons. The food is good here, but there is always a long wait, so if you can, go early ;).

Restoran Long Khee
47, Gr. Floor, Jalan SS15/4E
Subang Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 016-3808648/012-3571906
GPS: N3 04.644 E101 35.266

Chai koay is something well known for up north here in the Penang-Kedah region, but if you ever had a chance, try the chai koay at Sg. Bakap on Penang’s mainland. If you are heading to Penang from the south, just before existing at Juru toll, you will notice the signboard of a toll exit to Jawi & Sg Bakap.

In Sg. Bakap, the most popular and origin place for chai koay is Restoran Soon Lee Hou located along Jalan Besar Sg Bakap. I visited this place during breakfast time and it seems to be very popular with the local as the place is very busy and packed.

Here, the chai koay are served as part of the their dim sum choices. So you order your usual dim sum you fancy, then the different type of chai koay. They have the usual chai koay with mangkuang inside or kuchai but also another type with pumpkin in it. The difference of the chai koay here is that the skin are soft, and I mean so soft that it sticks to the plate. You technically have to scoop it up to eat, doesn’t looks very appetizing but taste wise is ok. The way to enjoy it (by observing the way the locals take it) is to have a plate of chai koay to yourself, squeeze chili sauce all over it and dig in ;).

One of the highlight of their dim sum here are their stuffed crab dim sum and steamed yam. In plate you get 2 small crab shells stuffed with crab and pork meat steamed together, this is my favourite here, very nice! The steamed yam is ok, not too sweet and not too oily. The other one is their fried prawns cake, very nice and crispy too!

You can also order soup, as we see many tables doing it and some even take the soup with noodles or rice in the morning. So we tried their fish with salted vege soup, its quite good. We also ordered a plate of fried glass noodles which is nice as well. The cooking here are teochew style which chai koay is part of and many of these can be found in this region as well.

Overall, we spent about RM50 for 5 of us for breakfast here. Its quite a unique experience, but I still prefer the normal chai koay I am used to :).

Restoran Soon Lee Hou
No.34 Mukim 12, Jalan Besar, Sg Bakap
Sg Jawi, 14200 Seberang Perai Selantan, Penang
GPS: N5 13.473 E100 29.714

As promised by Yen Nam, we have to eat till we dropped, so before its too soon for dinner, our convoy is out again heading to Kelang Lama in Kulim this time for the all famous laksa. It take us to a housing area in a kampung and suddenly you will notice a lot of parked vehicle and that is the sign that you have arrived.

Its a kampung with the front porch converted to be a serving area and its quite packed as well. The laksa here are lighter in the soup compare to those in Penang to me but that makes it very nice and you will almost want to drink all the laksa soup!

The other difference is their laksa crackers where you dip it into the laksa soup and take together, it turn soft quite fast so you gotta eat it quick. Its quite a new thing but I am begining to like this laksa place, plus its RM2.40 per bowl, good value! The favourite drink to take here with the laksa seems to be ice kacang and we followed the crowd and got some.

Overall, I like the laksa here (we even got a second bowl, paiseh… ) and the cracker combination is great, a must try!

Next door, I saw a signboard of chai koay for sale in the corner house, Yen Nam told me its not bad too but I was just too full to eat anymore… hence explaining the extra weight I got from this trip! But it was fun and nice experience eating my way through in Kulim ;).

Laksa Kelang Lama, Kulim, Kedah (11am to 6.30pm, Monday off)
Tel: 04-4904935
GPS: N05 23.402 E100 34.065

I had read in this blog that rojak is one of the good stuff to try in Kulim, just at the town centre, you can find this aunty and uncle selling rojak. Its sold behind the motorbike and there is always a few people waiting to da bao the rojak here. It goes for RM2.00 for small and RM2.70 for big, in KL… pay RM4!!!

The rojak is quite good, its not those super thick one but the sauce is nice and its very tasty, a for sure must have tea time or after meal thing.

Kulim Rojak
Junction of Jalan Aman & Jalan Teoh Moh Soo, Kulim, Kedah
GPS: N05 22.259 E100 33.294