Review: Laxsa, Soho

This year we’ve been doing a tour of SE Asia without leaving London. So far we’ve eaten Thai at Chet’s, Cambodian at Mamapen, Burmese at Lahpet, Filipino brunch at Kapihan and Laotian at Lao Cafe. Needing a bite of lunch in the middle of town today, we hit up Laxsa, a tiny Malaysian place in Soho. It’s apparently been there for years, and it looks very much family-owned and from the utterly un-designed school of old school ethnic London eateries. You’re just here to sit down with a bowl of Malay food and then move on with your day.

And they’ve got just what you’d hope on the menu: laksa, rendang, char kuay teow, roti canai, nasi lemak and more. We ordered roti canai with curry sauce to dip the soft and crisp-edged roti into, and then I had a beef rengang and Maureen the prawn laksa.

My rendang was spot-on for flavour, lovely and rich with a powerful aroma of star anise. The beef, although slow-cooked, was still a bit on the chewsome side but fine. Maureen’s laksa was even better, the coconut-based gravy humming with spices and fish sauce. Hidden within were a few juicy prawns, some bubbly chunks of tofu to soak up the curry, and veggies mixed in with the vermicelli noodles.

Malay, like Thai, includes the most deeply fragrant combinations of sweet-salt-spice-sour on the planet, and they’ve got it all there at Laxsa. It’s cheap and cheerful: for £20 each you’ll have plenty to eat. They’ve got a cocktail list along with softs and classic Malay drinks like iced Teh Tarik. I’ve pinned it on the map, it’s a useful spot to know.

Next stop(s): Indonesian, Singaporean, Vietnamese and then we might have to spread further into Asia!