Laksa & Kolo Mee in Pandan Indah

There's a stall selling Sarawak Laksa and Kolo Mee at Restaurant 2020, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/1, as indicated in the map below. They open daily from morning till late afternoon.  Not sure about night though.

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The kolo mee is very close to authentic.

The Sarawak Laksa doesn't get justified in this picture, but it does taste as good as the ones in Kuching. The serving size could be larger but I guess that's what you'll get for RM4.50 to RM5.00 in KL.

This is the kolo mee with soy sauce.

This picture was taken in June 2010.  Owner's appearance may vary.

There's not much description for this post except for "This place is worth trying" because the best way to find out is to get there and have a serving or two. I always order one small serving of both laksa and kolo mee at once, and between RM4.50 and RM5.00 a bowl, you'd be forgiven to have seconds.

Laksa & Kolo Mee @ Kelana Jaya

Here's the map to get there.


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The kolo mee is not really the curly type. And it's rather wet. Some won't like it as much.

The laksa has char siew slices for the pork lovers.

Breakfast for champs, Tiger not necessary but it helps with the roar...

Guiness id good for you...

A group photo before we conclude the Saturday breakfast session.

Lunch with a long time friend, same place, different occasion.

Laksa Sarawak with the standard feature here, omelette and char siew slices.

The lady boss, also the worker, also the waiter, also the cook.  She works hard for the money.

Laksa Sarawak @ Secret Recipe

I was at One Utama for lunch break a few days ago when I walked pass Secret Recipe.  The sinful image of a piece of cake for desert suddenly smeared my thoughts and I found myself seated at a table with the entrance view. How weak!

As I waited for the menu I checked out their Pocket Savers offer; a good deal I believe.

And then came the menu. I quickly browsed through the list and to my surprise, Sarawak Laksa was in at RM16.90.  Pricey but I guess that's their price range for such dish; noodles in soups.

As a curious Sarawakian, I opted to pay an extra RM6.90 just to sample their version of Sarawak Laksa.  Who knows, it could be the real deal.  On the other hand, it could also be a once in a lifetime experience, meaning I'll never order it ever again.

It took a while for my laksa to get to my table so I played around with my Olympus mju840.  The only thing that caught my attention were the packs of sugar, which reminded me of a story about shit.  Curious? Read the story here.

When my laksa finally arrived, the first impression was really dull, save for a familiar laksa aroma.  I was expecting a reddish gravy  but all I could see was bee hoon masak lemak with bean sprouts and coriander leaves.

And where are my prawns?  Oh well, so much for high expectations. Or maybe they're hidden underneath that creamy soup. Note to those who wish to serve Sarawak Laksa; DO NOT HIDE your prawns if you have any because your guests will know that you screwed up the serving sequence.  Seriously, life is more than just bean sprouts, my dear tow keh.

I tasted the sambal belachan and it was quite okay; tasted a bit like sambal nasi lemak because it's kinda sweet and sour.  But I was disapointed with the lime given to me.  It's tiny!  I sadly dumped all the sambal in my bowl and squeezed every ounce of lime juice out of the poor S.O.A.B. and started mixing my bowl.  Guess what, even the sambal couldn't bring cheer to my bowl.  Dull.

As I dug around my meal I discovered that the chicken meat didn't come in shreds but julienne; like chicken sticks the size of shoe string fries. Bummer!  And since when does a bowl of Sarawak Laksa has half sliced deep fried tofu?  I'll tell you when; ever since Laksa Shack thought it'd be easier to standardize the condiments in their menu.  Even the gravy has the same consistency; thick as home made mushroom soup (not Campbell's) but without much coconut milk aroma. They probably used thick cream for the texture.

I guess Secret Recipe's menu developers decided to introduce Sarawak Laksa based on Laksa Shack's product.  Ask any Sarawakian and they'll tell you Shack's laksa is an utter disgrace to Sarawak Laksa.

Anyway, I finally found my prawns.  All three of them.  I sank my teeth into one of the fat and firm prawn meat and felt the crunch, but where's the prawn taste?  Dammit!  I kept missing something.  First were the prawns, then when I finally found them, the taste was missing...!  WTF!

Okay, stay calm... Let's eat already.  The rice vermicelli looks like the thick type, which is normally used back home.  But the texture just wasn't right.  It felt like the noodle used in Assam Laksa, only smaller.

Man, this is just wrong, I told myself but kept eating.  Can't let that sixteen ninety go to waste.  Food is still food.

The only thing that kept me going was the thought of a sinful desert. A chocolate mud pie to be exact. Now that's compensation at it's best.

As I smeared the chocolate mud in my mouth cavity, I thought long and deep about my lunch catastrophe. This absolute failure by Secret Recipe should remain forever as a secret entity.

Laksa Sarawak at Pucuk Ubi

I finally made my way to the recently relocated Restoran Pucuk Ubi in Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara in PJU6, Petaling Jaya .  I knew about the relocation from Tho Xin Yee of The Star in her article Ambassadors of Sarawak. Click the picture below to read about it.

  

Although I knew the restaurant shifted to Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara, I didn't know the exact location. I wanted to go to their previous location in TTDI plaza one fine day, to see if there was a new address to redirect customers to their new place; that day never came.

Fortunately, Jason, one of the staff messaged me on facebook and gave me the address.  So without wasting any time I went there the next day.  The location is rather secluded; it's like an unknown patch in the vicinity of Damansara Utama and Bandar Utama despite being neighbor with Center Point Bandar Utama, Uptown and One Utama.  The place looks promising though, with several developments taking place and a number of apartments and condos nearby.

 

 

Without wasting time I ordered Sarawak Laksa.

 

The broth was very thick and dense.  Which is both good and bad because a laksa broth that can stand out in thick coconut milk means the good 'sambal' is prepared properly.  The bad part is the cholesterol kills, if taken frequently of course.  I thought the aroma could be stronger though, if possible, coming from the kitchen as well.  Now that's a laksa trait.  The exotically seductive scent should dance its way out of the kitchen straight to diners nose, like a sexy belly dancer approaching a delighted audience, all eager and with arms (and legs) wide open. 

Ok, let's snap out of that mental imagery shall we.

I got three medium sized prawns in my bowl.  The sambal was quite spicy with distinctive belacan taste.  I could use two or three limes though, cos I like my laksa a little sour than usual.  Helps break the fats they say; not sure how accurate it is but it sure taste great with more lime.  

Then there were the chicken and omelet strips, bean sprouts and parsley leaves.  Personally, I prefer to have chinese coriander leaves instead of the parsley leaves.  Where laksa is concerned, the strong (pungent to some) flavor of coriander leaves beats the good looks of parsley everytime.  The coriander complements the broth and the whole package in general.  I prefer chopped coriander so the flavor is uniformly infused into the broth and every mouthful contains bits of coriander, ready to burst its flavor with every bite.

And here's a little secret for those wanting to brew their own broth.  Drop the peeled prawn shell into the boiling broth and let it cook together with the laksa paste.  And boil the chicken meat in there as well.  Hmm... my aunt will kill me for this.  

Oh, one more thing, don't trust the sambal label when it says to cook in boiling water for 20 or 30 minutes; some even say 5 minutes, can you believe that?!.  As with some things, the longer the better; maybe the whole morning; that's how my mom used to do it when we were little.  We used to have laksa as a grand Sunday event, after church the whole family would go to the morning market and get all the ingredients.  Then we would all chip in with the preparations.  Sometimes we only get to have lunch at 3pm, but the preparation was always half the pleasure of a laksa day. 

Whole lot of laksa love.