Asam Laksa

Best Malaysian food around! Yes, the place is easy to miss because it’s in the back corner of the strip mall it’s in. Restaurant décor is simple and the place is always quiet with maybe 1 or 2 tables filled. We did notice a lot of carry out orders while we were there. The servers are courteous and friendly. The owner and chef of the restaurant like to come out from the kitchen and greet their customers to see how the food is to their liking. The owner asked us to join his email distribution so we could receive special offers and discounts for their restaurant. They are always friendly and tend to remember who you are once you’ve been there at least once. My husband absolutely LOVES their Tom Yum soup if you’re a soup fan. We’ve tried many Tom Yums, but I agree too that Asam’s is the best tasting.
They started offering buffets on the weekend. We tried it twice and enjoyed it both times. They had a little bit of everything– soup, roti bread, rice dishes, noodle dishes, dessert. Because their buffet menu is still in progress, the owners asked how we liked the selection and wanted feedback so they could adjust the menu. I appreciated that because it shows they really do want to please their customers.
However, ordering fresh from their menu is always tops. While buffets are great, the food loses quality because it’s literally sitting there.
Prices are reasonable to me because the food is great. It may be considered pricey to others who have had cheaper malaysian food though. And their weekend buffet is currently $ 11.99 per person.

We wanted to try something new on our side of town one night so I went to Unilocal and found Asam Laska! They had a deal going on where you bought a $ 20 voucher for $ 30 worth of food… Not bad right?
The place was empty (Thursday night) when we got there and there was nobody in the dining room to seat us so we just picked a table and sat ourselves but we really didn’t mind since our waitress came a short time later to give us our menu… If you never had Malaysian food before its somewhat of a combination between Chinese and Indian, well at least that’s what I thought… We started off with the Satay Chicken for our app, I got the Chili Shrimp for my entrée and my girlfriend got the Fried Flat Noodle.
Satay Chicken — ⁴⁄₅
Chili Shrimp — ³⁄₅
Fried Flat Noodle (Shrimp) — ⁵⁄₅
The chicken satay came out with a peanut sauce to dip in similar to what you would get at a Thai restaurant. I thought it was good but my girlfriend didn’t really care for it. I ordered the chili shrimp after asking the waitress if it was really spicy or not and she said that it wasn’t but this «ish» was SPICY! lol It was good but it was a little too spicy for my taste… I asked the waitress if she could make it less spicy and that was probably the wrong thing to do because it came back out tasting like tomato sauce (my fault, not theirs)… My girlfriend really enjoyed her noodles! I tried it and thought it was really good too!
So we’re about to go and I walk up to the cashier to give them my voucher. She doesn’t have a clue what I’m giving her. The cashier (our waitress) is telling me that I have to spend $ 30 to get $ 20 off and I’m trying to explain to her that I already paid $ 20 to get $ 30 off. She even told me to order more since our tab was only $ 27! Long story short, there was a confusion about the « Unilocal deal» and I left them my number telling them if I still owe more than I’ll come back and pay… About 20 minutes after we left I received a call from the owner apologizing about the confusion. That’s was really nice of her to do that. It showed me that she really cares about her customers!

My wife had been to Malaysia a couple of times, and she always raved about the food they had there. I figured that I would probably never really get to taste any of it without taking a long trip, until I noticed this restaurant off of 1960. It’s advertising is rather modest, given how great the food is.
We went on a Friday night, and it was pretty quiet. I let my wife guide me through everything, because I didn’t know a thing about the cuisine. We got roti canai and satay chicken. The roti canai is most similar to naan, served with a sweet curry sauce, which was delicious. The satay was excellent; they’re basically shishkabobs. She went for the coconut rice with beef, while I tried the beef rendang. Both were excellent, and I wished we had more of the coconut rice.
If you haven’t tried it before, ask for the lychee beverage. I’m not sure how it’s prepared, but it is really good – I guess they put a few lychee fruit at the bottom of a glass of water and stir. I’m not a big fan of compote or fruit teas, but this tasted nothing like them. It was very sweet and flavorful.
My wife gives it two thumbs up for authenticity, and I give it five stars for a fantastic meal with attentive service.

Asam Laksa was among the best Malaysian cuisine restaurants i’ve ever taste. Anybody that wanted to experience a Malaysian cuisine should definitely come here. The best menu for me was the Char Kuew Teow; perfect balance of spicy, fresh taste of soy sauce and the crisp of bean sprout was one of the food experience that I cant forget. Worth the money, and I would never hesitate to spend my money here for the great foods they serve.

ASAM LAKSA IS AWESOME! Where to begin? This place beats Banana Leaf and Mamak Malaysian hands down. Best Malaysian restaurant in the Greater Houston area! There is one and only one reason why this place trumps the others: coconut curry crab.
Getting to the restaurant, you’ll quickly realize that it’s not exactly in the best part of town (despite being in the suburbs), especially at night. It’s next to a run-​down club buried deep in the corner of the shopping center. In essence, a hole-​in-​the-​wall establishment. My wife wanted to eat out tonight for dinner which I didn’t anticipate. Not in the mood to wait in long lines at crowded restaurants on a Saturday night, I decided to check out Asam Laksa which I gambled on for a short wait (turns out I was right). Driving up to the location, I quickly realized this was the same location of a failed Indian restaurant. Driving down memory lane a bit further, I also remembered this used to be a haunted house that my wife and I went on a date centuries ago. Don’t know if that’s supposed to be a good or a bad sign. Walking in to the restaurant, the place was deserted except for one family eating. There was no one to greet us. My wife was wondering if we should just leave. The place didn’t have wonderful odors pouring out of the kitchen like Banana Leaf or Mamak. We sat ourselves down and after a minute, somebody came to our table with menus. Glancing at the menus, I saw a lot of items on the menu that the other places had.
Our roti canai came out quickly. It consisted of 2 small fluffy pancakes that was somewhat doughy, but very light with a nice crisp on the outside. About on par with Banana Leaf and Mamak. What makes the roti stand out here was the spicy curry dipping sauce that came with it. The sauces at the other place simply does not compare. It was incredible! Next came out the chicken curry puffs (waitress recommended chicken over beef). Think of it like pâté-​chaud with a nice crispy pastry shell filled with curry chicken that has a paste-​like consistency. My wife really liked it a lot. I thought it was good, but not necessarily stellar. It was delicious though with the curry dipping sauce that came with the roti. As we finished up the puffs, the char koay teow (fried flat noodle) came out on a dish with some sambal dipping sauce. The noodles came out fabulous! The dish was not oily at all. Served with fresh crispy bean sprouts, this was not a heavy dish that it can sometimes be. It had just the right amount of egg, shrimp, and fish cake mixed with the noodles. The dipping sauce was surprisingly not too spicy, but rather sweet.
Finally, the piece de resistance: coconut curry crab. I had my reservations ordering this dish. I love curry, but mainly for chicken, beef, goat, or lamb. I have never had a good experience with seafood curry. Normally I don’t like to read Unilocal reviews before ordering food for the first time (I prefer reading them afterwards to compare notes), but couldn’t decide what to order. So I broke down and glanced at the reviews quickly, but not thoroughly. I thought many of the reviews either recommended coconut curry crab or they would try it next time. Reading them now, it was the chili crab that the reviews spoke of. Ooops, wrong item, but oh what a delightful accident! The crab came out chopped up in a bowl swimming in curry. Bowl of rice came out. The rice was a bit dry. That was quickly remedied with the delicious curry the crab was swimming in. The curry broth was sweet, tangy, light, and somewhat spicy. It wasn’t heavy or thick at all. There’s bits of tomato, onions, and crab bits floating in the curry stew. The curry stew almost has the consistency of canh chua. It was so good, you could just eat a bowl of rice with the broth by itself and call it a day. The dungeness crab they used was amazing. This poor creature drowned in the curry badly because when you crack open the claw onto your plate, curry broth would just pour out copiously. The sweet crab meat soaked up the curry broth very well. Obviously the crab meat goes well with the curry-​soaked rice. It was such a satisfying dish. If I had to choose between the lotus-​wrapped baked dungeness crab at Confucius on Bellaire and the coconut curry crab here, Asam wins the challenge.
Despite the hiccup walking into the empty restaurant and having to seat ourselves, the servers were very friendly. The food came out very quickly as well. The owner came out to greet us and spoke to us about the food. He made a few recommendations on what we should try out next. I had nothing but effusive praise for this wonderful diamond in the rough. This is easily 5 stars. Since I live way north of here, I see myself coming here more often than southwest Houston for Malaysian food. It’s that good and worth the drive! I could’ve never imagined the haunted house I went to years ago would become one of my favorite restaurants in Houston!

Roti canai, Mamak mee goreng and teh tarik are authentic and awesome.
Location is a little difficult to find, if you are driving west on FM 1960, as their signboard is quite small and is hidden behind a large signboard.
Ask to try their new «green bean dessert» which is not yet on the menu, it’s delicious!

Asam Laksa was my first Unilocal deal that I purchased. I wanted to try a new place by my house and this was the first location that caught my eye.
Overall, the place was clean and the service was good. They are very kind and helpful. We were a little unsure what to get so I just kinda closed my eyes and pointed at something. :)
We ordered:
Roti canai — ⁵⁄₅
Beef curry puffs — ⁴⁄₅
Curry Laksa — ³⁄₅
Chili Crab* — ³⁄₅
The chili crab sauce was interesting, it was kind of like a tomato pastey sauce with chili, garlic and eggs mixed together and smothered on the crab legs. The crab tasted a little frozen, if it was fresh the meat would’ve been easier to get out. For that price, I kinda wish it tasted a little fresher. Other than that, the sauce was pretty killer. If I do come back, I’ll probably do the lunch special to sample what the restaurant offers. The prices are a little expensive but it’s not too bad if you are doing family style.
*MP ($ 25.99)

We tried Asam Laksa last week for the first time. It is tucked away at the back of a small strip mall.
It was good.
It’s a family run restaurant and everyone is very friendly.
There were four of us, and we ordered four appetizers and four entrees and shared everything so we could have a nice sampling and different flavors.
The apps:
Roti Canai, Beef Curry Puffs and Shrimp fritters were great.
The Satay not so much.
The entrees: Curry Chicken, Malaysian Roasted Chicken and Shrimp Flat Noodles were very good.
The Crispy Golden Calamari not so much. It was bland and not crispy at all.
We also shared an order of the Coconut Rice with beef that was pretty tasty.
The restaurant was clean. The service was ok. They do not have a liquor license, so no Malaysian beer.
Prices were ok. It came to $ 90 including tip for four of us.
Overall a nice family restaurant. But a little rough around the edges.

Pretty different from the others Malaysian restaurants in town, since it mostly served Malay Malay food instead of Malay Chinese food. Tried the prata, anchovies fried rice (this is the only place in Houston with this «kampong» style fried rice with «ikan bilis»), hokkien noodle, chicken rice, and black pepper beef. Fried rice and black pepper beef definitely stood out. I’ll definitely be back for the chilli crab (of which the availability I’m gonna confirm 1^st next time to avoid driving all the way there for nothing) and the desserts selection. For me, the only draw back of eating here frequently is the distance that it takes me to get there and back.

Excellent and authentic food! Very friendly staff. The beef was delicious. And as a plus, they have clean bathrooms!

I tried it when it first opened. I spent a good deal of time in Malaysia and Singapore. I very much enjoy the regional cuisine. We tried the Laksa, Char Koay Teow and a few other dishes. The food generally tasted right. But it was lacking the regional flair that you would find in Malaysia. It just didnt remind me enough of eating in SE Asia. The portions are a bit small as well.
If you haven’t had Malaysian food i suggest that you try it. I expect that they will improve over time so Im actually excited to try it again. And I am thankful to have this type of food so close to my home. How much pizza can you eat?

It’s a hard knock life for an Asian person living up in Spring, TX. It’s a pilgrimage to get to Chinatown to get the authentic meals. Banana Leaf (another Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown) has greatly deteriorated in quality and was not worth the 40 minute drive. Lo and behold, a gem of a place opens up right across from my local Wal-​Mart 10 minutes down the road from me!
I went with a group of friends who were craving great Malaysian food. We shared the Roti Canai, Satay Chicken, Beef Curry Puffs, Hainanese Chicken, Curry Laksa, and Beef Rendang. Yum!!! My favorites were the Beef Curry Puffs and Curry Laksa. Laksa is a national dish of Singapore/​Malaysian. It’s a definite must get. The curry and coconut milk mixture is so good I wanted to bathe in it. It was the crowd favorite.
There is this tumblr online called «Asians taking pictures of food». Yes, I fit that stereotype. I love food so much, I have to take pictures so my moment with food can last longer. At Asam Laksa, it was a playground for me. I started taking a picture of the Laksa, my friend took of picture of me taking a picture of Laksa, another friend took a picture of her taking a picture of me taking a picture of the Laksa, and alast a 3^rd friend took a picture of the entire chain. This place marked our epic Asian taking picture of an Asian taking picture of an Asian taking a picture of an Asian (me) taking a picture of food.

We made a follow-​up visit, on Father’s Day weekend, to explore additional menu items. No surprise, everything was exceptional again!
This time we started with the Roti Canai as an appetizer, followed by :
Penang Asam Laksa
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Beef Rendang
Crabs in Tomato Chili Sauce (Chili Crabs)
And, of course, fried buns as a side dish to dip in the Chili Crab sauce
And we also repeated previous orders of:
Fried Flat Noodle (Char Koay Teow) — it was SO good the 1^st time!
Indian Style Fried Noodle (Mamak Mee Goreng) — as a carry out item
And there’s still more items from the menu we can’t wait to try on future visits!

Went to Asam Laksa upon arrival in Houston from San Francisco. Very friendly staff, and amazing food. You know the food is good, when ethnic Malaysians tell you it’s good.
The place was quite full for the hour we were there. Not sure what I had, but it was good.
The portions were good and prices were very reasonable.
The bathrooms were clean too.

they’re still in their soft opening phase with some construction going on inside the restaurant, but the food is good.
i came for the roti canai because that buttery flakey flat bread (i guess you’d call it? asian tortilla?) is divine. i usually have it with a thin curry broth, but here they add a creamy milk to the curry. i thought it was coconut milk but the menu listed condensed milk. the roti itself is buttery and flakey and warm and much better than the other asian restaurant that offered it up north — somewhere on louetta i think?
it’s $ 3.97 for two tortilla-​sized pieces with the curry dipping sauce. i was going to order 3 servings (!) but good thing i only went with 2 because it’s so rich and buttery, i couldn’t finish both plates.
we also had the singapore noodles ($ 7.95) which had a creamy, almost alfredo-​like, look to it, a mix of two different type of noodles and a bunch of seafood: shrimp, fish cakes, calamari, and maybe chicken? i didn’t think i’d like it but i did. it’s a big serving and filling, i could never finish the entire plate.
lastly, we ordered the black pepper steak. the steak was tender and the sauce was bold and peppery with a slight tangy sweet. it was good and came with rice ($ 10.95).
overall, i think the prices are a little high but they can get away with it being the only malaysian restaurant around these parts (i think?).
i’ll definitely be back for more roti and to try everything else on the menu!

Great

This place has been open for three weeks. My family came in and got solid, homestyle Malaysian fare. Chicken satay, Fried Singapore Hokkien noodle, Dry Curry Flat Noodle, Curry Laksa, and Bean Sprout with salted fish. It was all delicious, and the service was very cheerful, but the kitchen really has to work on TIMING. We got all our dishes at different times, which was really quite bad. The kitchen has to learn to send everything out hot and fresh at the same time. Maybe they need to have FEWER things on the menu (a common Gordon Ramsay suggestion). Maybe they need better communication in the kitchen, or more help back there. But they really have to fix this problem.
I give them the benefit of the doubt for now, with a 3 star rating. But, in a month, if the same problems persist, then they will be lowered.