HONG KONG: Malaymama

Malaymama, a tiny takeout/fast food restaurant in Sheung Wan. There are actually 3 restaurants on the same street that serve similar dishes, I like this one. I used to live close by at one point and when I wasn't meeting anyone for dinner, 2 out of 5 times, I would pay them a visit. THeir specialty is Laksa and their octopus spinach.

Their Laksa is not as spicy as the traditional Laksa, better suited for the locals tastebuds. Spices are available upon request. You can tell by the colour of the soup that the chef took a long time boiling all the flavours. It's not very thick but the coconut milk was delicious. The shop owner claimed that the soup was made of over 20 catties of shrimps. No wonder there's a strong flavour of prawn in the soup. The texture of the noodle was good that it retained its resilience of flour. The big shrimps were all fresh. If you have a big appetite, this would be excellent as the portions are huge, lots of prawns, veggies and meat.

What I really like is their Octopus Spinach Salad, served cold. Upon any order, you can add this veggie dish for $15HKD. I'm not sure if this is a traditional Malaysian dish but I enjoyed it. It is made with spinach and octopus(as the name defines), there's a special red sauce on top, spicy, tangy and a little peanutty, topped with crushed peanuts. The octopus is very fresh. The texture was crunchy, almost as if it was raw. Went great with the spinach as the spinach was cooked and thus the combination was perfect. The sauce went well with it, hinting Malaysian flavours with it's spices.