KIM Laksa  金叻沙
Balik Pulau - Penang

Kim Laksa Stall at Balik Pulau, Penang

Located in a small coffee shop, this stall sells Asam Laksa & Siam Laksa on the island of Penang, located in Balik Pulau. 

Each bowl costs only RM$3.00 (Ringgit which is about SGD$1.30). Cheap, but the bowl of laksa isn't really that large, so 1 bowl of each in one meal is ok. 

We were at this stall one Saturday, last April. The Friend from Penang who brought us to this place commented that this is the best laksa found in Penang. He said that it is even better than the one at Ayer Itam market just at the foot of the Kek Lok Si temple. Penangites who want good laksa will make their way here, more than 30 mins drive from Georgetown. The jammed pack coffee shop seemed to be a testimony to what he said. It was after 1.30pm when we arrived, and the coffee shop was so pack that there was hardly any walking space between the seated customers. Waiting time for the laksa wasn't that long, but to get seated, that took a while.

The Asam Laksa's gravy has no coconut milk or suntan added to it. But the dark prawn paste (hei gor) added made it tasted very good (Hei gor is used in food like rojak, and even "chee cheong fun" in Penang). Siam Laksa, on the other hand, is the lemak version (that is with coconut milk). My guess is that this could be the Thailand's version of the laksa.

Then there is also the tasty white version char kway teow that one can get from a stall at the lane, red/white shade of this char kway teow stall is partially visible in the pic. It also sells at RM$3 a plate. 

Updated edition of post.  

Pine Garden's Cake 松园

Blk 529 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10
#01-2369/2329

On first glance, Pine Garden's Cake may just look like any typical neighbourhood bakery. Don't judge a book by its cover, because this bakery isn't any typical neighbourhood bakery. 

The bakery has 2 shop units located at the same block in Ang Mo Kio. The yummy Lychee Martini cake has a huge following by not only the folks in AMK, but also other parts of the island. A slice costs $2.50. This cake was rated as the top 12 yummiest cake by local media.  Personally, I find the martini in the cake to be not too strong but yet I can taste it on my palate. It also seems to grow on each mouth-bite. I also find their cakes not being too excessively sweet. 

They sell plenty of other cakes. The one that I also like is the Apple Vera Martini cake (at $3.10 per slice). I enjoyed the martini taste from this cake too. Cocotero cake (with coconut shreds as toppings) also seemed to be "Rated by media".

For nostalgia sake, one could also get these cakes. They have 4 varieties that I saw in the other shop.

I think there will be more opportunity in the near future to update in this blog on the other cakes from them. 

31 Sungei Road Laksa  结霜桥叻沙

Address:
Blk 31 Kelantan Lane
#01-12 Seng Chuan Eating House

A $2.50 bowl of Sungei Road Laksa at Kelantan Lane

When I started eating laksa as a kid, it was only done with a spoon. No chopsticks, period! Sungei Road Laksa at the coffee shop at Blk 31 Kelantan Lane is exactly just that.

I think there were a few stalls selling Sungei Road laksa when Sungei Road was still in its prime. One such laksa was sold at the ground floor of a small shop house in the Sungei Road area which was just a few streets behind this coffee shop some 20 plus years ago. This was before the old 2-storey houses, selling mainly military and camping gears, were demolished. What was popularly attractive to the laksa connoisseurs than was a small bowl of this delicious laksa cost only a dollar. At most time, the seats in the shop were taken up, and customers didn't mind eating the laksa standing at the roadside (yeah, & that was a can-do then, legal or not, not too sure). Now Sungei Road and the surrounding streets are packed with many street peddlars selling their wares (usually used and old) by the roadside - popularly known to us locals as the Thieves' Market and where the old houses used to stand are left only empty green grasses all fenced up for the obvious reason.

Currently, this laksa is sold at 3 prices - $2, $2.50 and $3, for S, M, L sizes. What you get in a bowl are slices of fishcake, cockles and the standard thick beehoon and bean sprouts. The chili paste and the laksa leaves are added by the customers (now you see why my bowl in the pic has a generous amount of laksa leaves).

This laksa is really worth every bit of things served in the bowl, yes, even to the very last drop of the laksa gravy because of the amount of dried shrimps used in the making of the gravy.

Opening hours: 9am to 6pm and closed on first Wednesday of the month.