velvet escape’s Culinary Journey: Kuala Lumpur
What: Curry laksa
Where: Chawan (Kuala Lumpur)
Note: Curry laksa is a Malaysian classic. It’s basically a thick, spicy coconut-based broth filled with chicken, shrimp, bean sprouts, fried tofu puffs and noodles (I prefer rice vermicelli – meehoon – in my curry laksa). This dish is rapidly gaining popularity around the world (when visiting Australia last year, I saw restaurants in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney that actually specialise in laksa!) and that’s not surprising. Curry laksa is absolutely divine (when it’s done well!). It’s so good that Malaysia and Singapore often bicker about who invented it first!
I can certainly recommend the curry laksa served in Chawan. This restaurant in the swanky Kuala Lumpur suburb of Bangsar is popular with both locals and foreigners. It’s an updated version of a typical Malaysian ‘coffee-shop’ (kopitiam) which serves a variety of classic Malaysian dishes (I can also recommend the nasi lemak). The interior is minimalist trendy (i.e. concrete benches, wooden chairs & a plain cement floor) and the service is friendly and efficient.
Read more Culinary Journey articles:
- Cala Sant Viçenc
- Palma de Mallorca
- Whitsunday islands
- Amsterdam
- Hamburg
- Punta Arenas
- Easter island
- Portland
- Valparaiso
so cute! i know this place.. but the best curry laksa is in… IPOH!
Thank you Amy & Jen for your comments. Yes, in Malaysia ‘meehoon’ is also often called ‘beehoon’, depending on the Chinese dialect used. I think ‘beehoon’ is the Hokkien dialect. Love the stuff, especially in a rich curry laksa! Yum!
Cheers,
Keith
That’s so interesting that you pronounce coffeehouses in Malaysi as kopitiam. In my grandma’s dialect (Fukien), that’s exactly how we say it as well! Anyway, about laksa…yum! I’m having a craving now. We have a Malaysian resto here in Toronto aptly named Laksa and they specialize in exactly this! And oh, meehon is beehon in our dialect!
My mouth is watering now looking at your picture. I miss Meehoon. We have that in Thailand too but we mostly use it in clear soup base with meatball.. OH. Just the thought of it make me hungry.