I’m not gonna lie, I had very low expectations for Ah Cheng Laksa.
I had just arrived at Kuala Lumpur’s Sentral Station, which is attached to a fairly large mall. I was about to head to my hotel; it was late, and I wanted to get a quick bite to eat before I checked in.
I stumbled across Ah Cheng Laksa, and it seemed like a decent enough bet. But it being a chain restaurant in a mall, I figured it wouldn’t be much better than okay.
It was quite a bit better than okay.
They specialize in asam laksa. For the unaware, laksa is a noodle soup that’s generally served in one of two styles: curry, which is rich and creamy, or asam, which is sweet and tangy.
I’ve had curry laksa many times, but I think this was my first time trying asam laksa.
It was really good. It’s an absolute nuclear bomb of flavour — it’s sweet, tangy, spicy, herby, and a little bit fishy. It’s basically an assault on your tastebuds, with seriously assertive flavours.
It feels like it should be too much, but somehow, it isn’t. All of the flavours work together really well. It’s surprisingly balanced.
How to find it: It’s on the bottom floor of the mall attached to KL Sentral.