Not so bad…

I caught a glimpse of this new place…

…one day and on another day, since I was driving past there, I decided to stop by…

…to see what they had in store.

You can choose to sit outside or in the air-conditioned section inside…

…but they just switched it on when I stepped in so it was not cold at the time and thankfully, it was not hot and stuffy either.

There were people sharing photographs of some ridiculously cheap lobster Sarawak laksa in Kuching and not long after, they were talking about the one here, somewhere near Medan Mall, they said. I was thinking that perhaps this was the place but when I got there, it did not look like it to me and I did not bother to ask because it seemed that the people there were only conversant in Mandarin.

I just placed my order for their Sarawak laksa, large (RM10.00)…

…and with the sprinkling of the language within my grasp, I requested that they must not increase the amount of bihun in the bowl, just the added ingredients and they did understand what I said or so it seemed.

In the meantime, I tried desperately to find out more about what they had on their menu. This bowl of prawn noodles…

…the lady said with its extra-large udang galah (fresh water prawns) with the much-coveted pinkish orange stuff in the head, would set one back by RM50.00. There would be two other options with smaller prawns for either RM20 or RM30 a bowl.

My girl loves this creamy fish bihun…

…but when I asked if they coated the fish with wheat flour and deep fried before use, the lady said, somewhat enthusiastically, “Yes! Yes! There’s bihun in it!” At that point, I decided that I had had enough and probed no further.

Pretty soon, my bowl of Sarawak  laksa…

…was served. Yes, there was quite a lot of sliced omelette and chicken…and bihun too but only three prawns. For one thing, they were huge – any this size would be going for RM40-45 a kilo, I think, if there are any available. There seems to be a problem with the supply of fish and prawns these days for one reason or another. It is only RM5.50 if you opt for the regular but my guess is you will not get such big prawns if you go for that.

A friend of mine went to try after seeing the photographs I shared on Facebook and he said it was like plain coconut milk broth. Hmmmm!!! I would agree that it was nothing like the authentic Kuching laksa – to me, the only one in town that comes pretty close would be what they have here but I thought this one tasted quite nice, not the same but nice plus it was very spicy…

…and I loved that! Maybe I was early, probably the first that morning while my friend went later in the morning and the broth was somewhat diluted, I wouldn’t know but what I had was, to me, nicer than here or here and a whole lot nicer than many wannabes at stalls all over town like the ones here or here, for instance. Ah well!!! Like I always say, to each his own – what’s good for the goose may not be good for the gander.

Yes, I do think I will go back there again but probably not for the laksa – I would love to try that creamy fish bihun next time.

LIU GE LAKSA (2.293872, 111.841979) is located along Jalan Wong King Huo to the right of the Medan Mall, in the middle of that same block where the Italian fusion restaurant is located. The DIGI Centre Sibu is in the next block to the right.