18 May 2010

Lee's Malaysian: Laksa Time, Sydney (18 May 2010)

1a Hunter Street, Sydney NSW 2000


Big bowls of laksa

After a closed Monday due to staff training it looks like Lee's Malaysian is back open for business and it's second week of trading seems to be going strong even with the terrible wet weather today. I order the seafood laksa which has a nice selection of prawns, squid and three mussels although I can't remember seeing any pieces of fish ball, fish cake slices or seafood extender which I've found in Jimmy's Recipe seafood laksa. The bowls of laksa are quite generous in size and you get to use real wooden chopsticks when you dine in. The depth of flavour might not be quite as richly flavoured as Malay-Chinese but I still enjoyed the distinctive taste of kaffir lime leaves in the broth which isn't too oily as well. The tofu is a bit firmer than Malay-Chinese so it doesn't soak up all the juices as easily as a really spongy tofu.

After ordering your laksa you need to hover around the laksa workstation to the right which can get a little crowded if there's a lot of people waiting — having the opening ceremonial flower decorations in the way didn't help. Be sure to get a sprinkle of coriander and a spoon of chilli sambal on your laksa for extra taste. The seating is new and the space is more quiet and cleaner than Malay-Chinese. You also don't have to worry as much about people standing over you for your table because it's a bit more removed from the ordering area. There's toilets available around the back but they still need to add a collection bin near the sink to deposit the used paper hand towels.

Other visits to Lee's Malaysian:
24 Sept 2010 - Salt and Pepper Squid
18 May 2010 - Chicken laksa, Seafood laksa, King prawn laksa
14 May 2010 - Open now
23 April 2009 - Har Mee

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Nice seating and renovated dining area, Reasonable prices, Generous serving of laksa served a 'real' bowl, Internal toilets available at the back, Fairly efficient service but keep in mind they're still finding their feet
CONS: A bit chaotic when waiting for your order — didn't seem to be a numbering system in place as yet.
MUST TRY: Other menu items like the Har Mee, Char Kway Teow and Chicken Rice if they have these to compare.

Seafood Laksa $10.50

Chicken Laksa $8.50

King Prawn Laksa $10.50

Laksa preparation workstation

Noodle soup menu


Seating area


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Lee's Malaysian on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

Maria@TheGourmetChallenge said...

Thats it! I'm having a laksa for dinner tonight!!

felix said...

mmhmmm today's a good day for laksa - might head over there and give it a try for lunch

YaYa said...

Looking good so far, might give them a couple of more weeks to settle in and see if they can manage the crowds first, that looks like an enormous number of people behind the counter!

john@heneedsfood said...

Despite the fact that you say it's not as rich as the laksa at Malay-Chinese, it still looks pretty good!

Simon Leong said...

hi maria, hope it's a good one. homemade or going out for it?

hi felix, the cold and wet weather sure makes for a good laksa day. let me know how you go with your order.

hi yaya, i think in a couple of weeks the staff will be a bit more streamlined — hopefully. there were so many people behind the counter it seemed like they were all getting in each others way.

hi john, i'd say it's one of the better ones you'll find in the city so i'd put it in the top 5 listing of laksa places in the city for taste. but i guess it all comes down to personal taste as well and whether people like it milky, salty, watery, hot etc

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