Yes,I know,I know....I already gave advice in the tips section on how to choose where not to eat while in Penang.So how come I still wanna wander into this place and try out a stall with the word FAMOUS on it?Because I love assam laksa and it would take a lot of screw ups for me to condemn the dish.
Well,I wander in here,order a bowl and sit down.I look around me and the shop has certainly seen better days.The coffee shop style chairs are greasy even though I am sure they wipe it daily.The whole place looks as if the owners tried to copycat Old Town coffeeshop.
But due to eco friendly maintainence practices(I am quite sure they use minimal cleaning aids to wash up as far as possible),it ends up looking like a poorer cousin of that chain.
Turning towards the wall area behind me,I spot a laminated newspaper write up.I shake my head and am sure the dish is bound to be doomed.
Next I check out the owners and feel a chill cos they can barely muster a smile,they look so worn out with their shoulders hunched as if life has taken a toll on them.One of them is still in her pyjamas,this being lunchtime.
All of a sudden I think I might have discovered why.
I crane my head up to the ceiling and spotted to my surprise a disco ball.Maybe they party all night this Adams family.
At this point I pray hard for the dish to be good while wearing an upside down smile.
It is THAT contagious in here.
Spot a gaggle of first timers having nasi lemak that is presented in the Old Town style.Not that it is good but at that point I really wish I had ordered that instead.
My dish arrives.From one whiff I know,the fish is not fresh,so you get the stinky fishy aroma wafting out from the soup.Then on top of that the fish has been pounded and blended to look like the small lumpy insides of pork entrails for better digestion,so that's a major turn off.
Next the green kampung lettuce is limp and has been scorched by the soup because the owner must have been distracted by something.I start sifting through my pond of a soup(I call it pond bcos I think thats what pond water might taste like)like I am searching for gold futilely through the pile of morbid cucumbers plus sour pineapples that have been sloppily cut,topped off by one miserable fingernail clipping of a bunga kantan.
Alas when I look up from my excuse of a meal and shift my vision back to the gaggle of geeses at the next table,half of them have already abandoned the rice dish.
Wonder which of us suffered more,Me or them.
Well,I wander in here,order a bowl and sit down.I look around me and the shop has certainly seen better days.The coffee shop style chairs are greasy even though I am sure they wipe it daily.The whole place looks as if the owners tried to copycat Old Town coffeeshop.
But due to eco friendly maintainence practices(I am quite sure they use minimal cleaning aids to wash up as far as possible),it ends up looking like a poorer cousin of that chain.
Turning towards the wall area behind me,I spot a laminated newspaper write up.I shake my head and am sure the dish is bound to be doomed.
Next I check out the owners and feel a chill cos they can barely muster a smile,they look so worn out with their shoulders hunched as if life has taken a toll on them.One of them is still in her pyjamas,this being lunchtime.
All of a sudden I think I might have discovered why.
I crane my head up to the ceiling and spotted to my surprise a disco ball.Maybe they party all night this Adams family.
At this point I pray hard for the dish to be good while wearing an upside down smile.
It is THAT contagious in here.
Spot a gaggle of first timers having nasi lemak that is presented in the Old Town style.Not that it is good but at that point I really wish I had ordered that instead.
My dish arrives.From one whiff I know,the fish is not fresh,so you get the stinky fishy aroma wafting out from the soup.Then on top of that the fish has been pounded and blended to look like the small lumpy insides of pork entrails for better digestion,so that's a major turn off.
Next the green kampung lettuce is limp and has been scorched by the soup because the owner must have been distracted by something.I start sifting through my pond of a soup(I call it pond bcos I think thats what pond water might taste like)like I am searching for gold futilely through the pile of morbid cucumbers plus sour pineapples that have been sloppily cut,topped off by one miserable fingernail clipping of a bunga kantan.
Alas when I look up from my excuse of a meal and shift my vision back to the gaggle of geeses at the next table,half of them have already abandoned the rice dish.
Wonder which of us suffered more,Me or them.
