Assam Laksa @ Gurney Drive Hawker Center, Penang (Updated)

December 2, 2008 · Posted in Asian Delicacies

One night, Mr bear brought me to gurney drive thinking to savor the famous char koay teow (fried flat noodles) but, the stall was closed AGAIN. Ohh, no… it was disappointing!! Because this was the second time we went there : (

We ended up dining there with dried wantan mee (dried Chinese dumpling noddles) – RM3, and clay pot shark fin soup – RM5. We don’t really like it, the wantan mee was too salty and the clay pot shark fin tasted more like the Chinese herbal soup.

Later, when we about to leave we passed by a assam laksa stall. We saw the stall owner was serving a bowl of mouth-watering assam laksa. Then we both looked at each other and decided – to have one assam laksa before going back : )

Assam Laksa – A Feast for the Taste Buds

Fat rice noodles in spicy Mackerel fish broth with tamarind as the soup base garnished with sliced pineapple, cucumber, onion, lettuce, bits of torch ginger and mint leaves.Optionally, some flavored it with dollop of sticky and pungent Heh Ko (prawn paste) and bird’s-eye chilies. (RM3)

I was told there are many famous assam laksa stalls in Penang which i don’t think those are good. So far i tasted,
* No. 11 Stall, Gurney Drive Hawker Center – below average
* Genting Coffee Shop, Island Glade – below average
* BB Coffee Shop, Bayan Baru (featured in Ho Chak! local TV show on 8TV) – below average
* Penang Road – below average
* Taman Emas Coffee Shop, Gottlieb Road – below average
* Air Itam Market – above average

I would say this is one of the best in Penang. It is sour, spicy, tangy, lots of fish meat and most importantly no fishy smell. Simply irresistible!!

Bring it Home

Of course one is definitely not enough for me, haha…

Luscious Assam Laksa with lots of Mackerel Fish

No. 54 Stall

Update on 10th May
I revisited the stall last week, well…it was totally disappointing : ( I guess the lady owner was in a bad mood, her face showed it all. The asam laksa tasted just normal, very very normal, no chucks of fish meat, not sour, not spicy… … alright, give it a second try, will be and update my sharing soon to all of you : )

No.54 Stall
Northen end of Persiaran Gurney, Penang
(A short walking distance from Gurney Plaza)

Map
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Tags: Assam Laksa, Dinner, Gurney Drive, Penang

Comments

11 Responses to “Assam Laksa @ Gurney Drive Hawker Center, Penang (Updated)”

Nate on December 10th, 2008 3:59 pm

Air Hitam Assam Laksa is the gold standard for me. I like that you can see the chunks of mackerel in the soup. I sure could go for some Assam Laksa right now!

Have you tried Sarawak Laksa?

Thanks for adding us as a friend on Foodbuzz. We welcome you to come visit our site!
bearbee on December 12th, 2008 7:08 pm

Hi Nate,

Very happy to get your message here. I heard from my friends, the Sarawak Laksa is nice!! They like it so much, I got no chance to try out, too bad…

Air Hitam Assam Laksa to me is good but abit too sweet and the Mackerel is not as generous as this No54 stall

There are a few more nice one in my list, will share out to all Assam Laksa Lover.
Nadrea on December 16th, 2008 1:04 pm

That looks and sounds so good!
bearbee on December 19th, 2008 1:05 am

Hello Nadrea,

Yea, I couldn’t get enough of this spicy yet appetizing assam laksa, my fav!!
Khoo on December 20th, 2008 10:11 am

I like traditional malay laksa….better than those cook by chinese….chinese laksa, too sweet and not spicy at all….the `new modify”s noodle….also not that good!
bearbee on December 20th, 2008 10:06 pm

Hi talented Khoo, any great find of Malay Laksa in Penang?

I had tried the Malay Laksa before, somehow it tasted plain and lacking in taste.

yes, I agree. Some of the Penang laksa is too sweet for my liking. My choice for a satisfying bowl of laksa must be tangy, sour, spicy and lots of mackerel chunks.
^^
Peter Grievik on February 5th, 2009 9:50 am

Hello webmaster. When it all come to opinions, everyone has its own; specially regarding \”Assam Laksa @ Gurney Drive Hawker Center, Penang\”. Have you seen a good famous chocolate cake?
Assam - The Land of Mystic Beauty on February 28th, 2009 4:05 pm

Assam is one of the prominent States of the North-East India.The geographical region of the North-East India includes Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Get to know more about Assam’s History, geography at http://www.beautifulassam.blogspot.com/
Misty on March 7th, 2009 4:07 pm

this looks so delicious yummy! great for current weather!

I compiled Penang Travel Guide recently. Please visit and have some comments .. Hopefully I will visit Penang soon

cheers Ö
bearbee on March 9th, 2009 2:37 am

Hi, Misty

Thanks for dropping a line here
The pic above is not clear, i should update a better one : p

You have a great web site, informative!!
Jake on July 7th, 2010 12:14 am

Had a terrible experience at Gurney Drive hawker corner. The mata kuching drink seller was extremely rude; the moment we sat down he proclaimed that we MUST buy drinks from his stall and not from other stalls. Our party of 5 only called for one lychee (he had a small variety) as others wanted ice kacang. He replied rudely, saying no no we must order drinks for all. We walked away to another table. If I return I will never sit in that area anymore.