Laksa at Batu Pahat Glutton Street, Johor

This laksa wasn't what I was looking for. I had originally wanted to eat and blog about the famous fish ball noodles at Batu Pahat's "glutton street". Many readers have suggested that I try the fish ball noodles. I have been here at Batu Pahat's "glutton street" at least four times but never ever got a chance to taste the fish ball noodles and blog about it. Sigh. I was always here either at the wrong time of the day, or the wrong day altogether. Unfortunately again, this time I was here at "glutton street" on a Tuesday, the fish ball noodle stall's off day :(



No choice, I paced up and down "glutton street" in the blistering heat to try and salvage the time and effort invested in coming all the way to Batu Pahat.



Then I noticed that this laksa stall at the street corner right next to the fish ball noodle stall had a big crowd of customers and many people queueing for take aways.



I overheard the boss who was working frantically, politely apologising and telling the customers that they have to wait 20 minutes for their laksa. Hmm, that sounds promising :)



I stood around to observe the boss, Mr. Chew, at work. I noticed that Mr. Chew makes laksa using wanton mee style "whole egg" noodles - something I have not seen before. I don't need anymore reason to try this laksa. When I asked him, Mr. Chew told me that he had been selling laksa for over 30 years.



The laksa gravy was pretty good - mildly spicy and fragrant without being overly lemak, which is the way I like my laksa gravy. All the usual stuff were there - tofu, see ham, fish cake, but then there was more. There was cuttlefish which I have not seen in laksa before. The gummy cuttlefish was a nice touch. So were the wanton noodles. The crunchy wanton noodles were nothing out of the ordinary but to eat it in laksa gravy was an interesting variation.



Remember to add this sambal chili if you like to eat your laksa extra hot. This sambal which Mr. Chew makes everyday had plenty of hay bee or dried shrimps, so it had a distinct savoury flavour.

While obsessively photographing the laksa, my strange behaviour attracted the attention of other customers sitting nearby. Daniel and his friend asked me if I am Johor Kaki as he recognised me from my blog. It was nice to be recognised and to chat with locals who know about the best food in the area. I asked Daniel for recommendations and he pointed me to "Restoran Bus Stop" for Chinese nasi beriani - something I have not heard of before. (I will blog about that later.)

When it was time to pay for the laksa, the lady boss told me that Daniel had paid for my meal before leaving. Thanks Daniel, if you are reading this, for the delicious treat. That was very thoughtful of you :)



Restaurant name: No name noodle stall at Batu Pahat's "Glutton Street"
Address: At the junction of Jalan Peng Kai and Jalan Soga
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/pThRx
GPS: 1.854745,102.927206
Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm (closed on Weds)
Non Halal

Date visited: 19 Mar 2013