It has been a while since we have returned from Australia, and we now find ourselves new homeowners in Cleveland, delaying our writing just a bit. But don’t let the tardiness trick you into thinking we didn’t eat anything worthwhile in Australia, it was an amazing food adventure, particularly in Sydney! One of the things we were most looking forward to on our Sydney adventure was Malaysian laksa curry (which we have sampled a few times before). Sydney is known for its Malaysian food, and restaurants slinging laksa can be found in every neighborhood. The base of laksa is a smooth and creamy coconut milk curry with rice noodles, livened up with chili oil and sambal, a fusion of Chinese and Southeast Asian flavors. Fried tofu is traditionally included, but the main protein may be shrimp, chicken or beef (or more). From these core ingredients, restaurants put their own spin on their signature laksas, and that is where the real fun begins.
Finding the best laksa place in Sydney is a subjective, daunting enterprise, seemingly as contentious as finding the best pizza slice in New York City. We started sleuthing for the top laksa places before our trip, and were pretty quickly overwhelmed by choice. Fortunately, we found some great resources that helped us narrow down the top picks. We could never hope to replicate the 20-strong laksa list made by I’m Still Hungry, and we are grateful for their on-the-ground comprehensiveness. Using this master list, and triangulating with a few other options, we set off on the Sydney laksa trail.
The first place we tried for laksa was Happy Chef (f3/401 Sussex St, Haymarket NSW 2000, Australia). Happy Chef is located in a nondescript 2nd-floor food court in Sydney’s vibrant Chinatown, and may not look like much, but packs a powerful punch. We did particularly like the logo of the eponymous Happy Chef, which you can see on the counter above. One feature we liked at Happy Chef was the large amount of different proteins you could add to your laksa including BBQ pork and scallops, we went with the potentially pedestrian chicken default. Not long after ordering, and despite the lunch rush, our order was ready. On the counter there are a wide variety of toppings including chili oil, scallions, soy sauce, hot sauce and more to customize your laksa. The coconut milk broth was rich, and had a little kick to it, which we garnished with a bit of scallions and hot sauce. There was also a choice of noodles, but we opted for the traditional mee noodles. The noodles themselves were particularly good, and had a substantial spring and bite to them. This place is cash only!
The second laksa place we tried was the venerable Malay Chinese Takeaway (1/50-58 Hunter St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia). Malay Chinese is located right in the CBD, which makes a popular place among local workers. Usually there is a line out the door for these laksa, so our odd eating time that day of 3 PM turned out to be pretty lucky. The main choices for laksa here are just chicken and prawn, so we split our orders a little bit to try some more of the offerings: 1 order of king prawn and chicken and 1 order of regular prawn. The broth at Malay Chinese was spicier and more flavorful than that of Happy Chef, though we slightly preferred Happy Chef’s noodles. One particularly salient part of the Malay Chinese Takeaway experience was the cook singing along to Michael Jackson while you order is being prepared. Though there were some slight difference, both were excellent bowls of laksa, and we can see why they are so popular. Our brief foray didn’t even put a dent in the Sydney Laksa trail, and we hope to get a little further on our next trip.
Eating The World 