I first tried the celebrated Penang assam laksa in December, 1973 on Penang Hill and I did not like the seemingly-peculiar taste…or at least, that was what it felt like at the time. On another occasion, I just tried a little bit of it when somebody had a bowl of that in KL and I was not that crazy over it either.
On the other hand, my daughter has had it a couple of times in Sungai Petani and even with her friends in NZ, and she quite enjoys it. Well, the only place that I know of in Sibu where they do sell the laksa would be at my regular Malay kuih-muih stall at Bandong. The problem is by the time I drop by in the morning at around 8 something, they would all be sold out. That was why, the other day, I had to reserve a few packets and we were able to have that for lunch…
It has some kind of exotic taste that would probably put off those who are not very adventurous when it comes to their dining pleasures but lately, I am more into that kind of cuisine…and that day, I found that I actually liked it a lot. It was particularly nice with a squeeze of calamansi lime, giving it the extra fragrance and a bit of sourish taste.
This only costs RM2.50 a packet and my daughter had one for lunch and another for dinner so that should give you a fair idea as to how nice it was.
Hmmmm…perhaps on my next trip to Penang, I should go and try the one at Air Itam which many people claim to be the best of the best…
I wish they would, in the meantime, replace those wobbly metal stools and the equally unstable tables though…and I will make sure that I will not look at the black murky water in the drain this time… LOL!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 