Good to see that longstanding Tolli Cafe (still open daily) on Kentish Town Road is making good use of its two-floor space now in the evenings. Next up – for a fortnight only – is a concept that’s refreshingly different for this part of town.
“Last month we travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Borneo in search of the perfect Laksa,” says Laksa Kitchen founder David Tjong, who has teamed up with chef CY Lim to launch this enticing sounding venture. Lim grew up in Penang Island, and was inspired by his grandfather’s hawker stall to work in many of Penang’s luxury hotels before moving to London, where he’s now executive chef for Ekachai restaurants.
For the uninitiated, there are two basic types of Laksa: “curry made from coconut milk,” says David, “and asam made with a sour tamarind base; although many more regional variants are found in cities, towns, villages and homes stretching across Malaysia and into Thailand.”
So their trip to hunt down the perfect Laksa was a resounding success? “After dozens of bowls, along with lots of amazing streetfood, it was in Kuching City in Sarawak, Borneo where we came across a small hole-in-the-wall cafe with plastic chairs and lots of people hunched over steaming bowls,” he says. “The extraordinary thing was nobody was talking. It was quite surreal to find a moment of calm in such a hectic restaurant.”
This was where the guys first tasted Sarawak Laksa, served with a squeeze of calamansi lime and a spoon of chilli paste. “To the eye it was slightly darker than the lighter curry, or even the asam laksa we had previously eaten; however it was also extremely light. Our first taste proved purely savoury, and so addictive that we immediately understood why nobody was talking. After each mouthful you are reaching for another without a moment to draw a breath. Without saying anything, of course, we knew we had to bring this back to London.”
And here they are now on a prime strip of NW5, where David has lived for the last four years. “It’s such a great area, full of good food, pubs and open-minded people, and it’s about time someone brought delicious Malaysian food here,” he says, with a smile.
The concise menu will be made up of five starters, four varieties of Laksa (including that “perfect” Sarawak Laksa), Hainan Chicken Rice and two desserts. The soup is made daily using chef Lim’s Malay paste recipe, with dried shrimp, coconut milk and a full-flavoured chicken and prawn stock. They’ll also be serving Malay drinks and Malay-inspired cocktails.
So far, so good. What’s the next step? “There’s no masterplan yet,” he says. “First and foremost we want to make sure our food is just as delicious as the food we love from Malaysia. But we do have an option to extend the pop-up or possibly look at other sites in the area.”
Let’s hope it’s a success and they become a permanent K-Town fixture.
