Arguably one of the most famous cuisines in Malaysia, Penang Laksa, or also known as Asam Laksa, is a noodle soup dish in spicy fish broth with shredded cucumbers, pineapples, and onions. It may seem bizarre for most foreigners to learn that this tangy dish received high popularity among the locals, but it’s alluring and people usually can’t let go after the first bite.

So, what gave way to such an outcome? Apart from being the staple food in most of the hawker stalls in Penang, nothing else can beat the sensation and the taste you get from this bowl of noodles, which makes it extremely unique. While there are many Laksa places out there, and you might have probably come across other local recommendations, we’d like to introduce a go-to place for you here.

About Zarie Laksa

Claimed to be the first and authentic Asam Laksa in Batu Ferringhi, Zarie Laksa House is a famous stall located across Petronas Station (Opposite Golden Sands Resort). Named after the original owner, Zarie began her establishment of this shop with her son, Hafiz in 2005. It’s been an inheritance of family activity since the grandmother generation where selling Laksa becomes the family’s source of livelihood.

Hafiz, a former tour guide, used to provide charter services to the foreign travellers around Penang for travel attractions and local delicacies, which helped him realize the essentiality of sustaining the local taste for more people around the world. This has paved his way to his career position today- being the business owner of Zarie Laksa House after his mom with endless enthusiasm to promote local Laksa and Penang taste to the visitors.

Zarie Laksa House’s business has received numerous satisfying reviews and popularity from locals and foreigners (some includes Australia, China, Arabic, and European) as well. There were even some customers from overseas who visited them plenty of times whenever they returned to Penang. Based on their feedback, people are mostly satisfied with their food quality, friendly services, and even the geographical location too.

To fulfill diverse taste buds, the menus are now expanding to more options on the list for eaters to browse through. For instance, fried rice and ice desserts are some of the things that visitors would love to order from them. While all the food they serve is simply toothsome, we’re more thrilled to recommend their top-3 pilihan utama (main dishes) to you today.

3 Main Dishes

Asam Laksa

Certainly, as apparent as it is, Zarie Laksa House sells Asam Laksa as its primary food. Thus, there’s no excuse wherein why you shouldn’t give this choice a shot.

As stated, this delicacy is served with ingredients such as satin fish, asam jawa, chili paste, and belacan. Significantly, it’s also presented with the authentic taste in a bowl which can be hardly found elsewhere.

A bowl only costs you RM5, so it’s very affordable and deserving to whoever’s looking for good Laksa food in Penang.

Ayam Penyet

Another scrumptious dish recommended by the owner himself is Ayam Penyet (Smashed Chicken).

Unlike the typical way of cooking it, they marinate the chicken with coriander seeds for 6-7 hours, followed by steaming, and then fry. Once it’s done, the powder and crispy crumbs are scattered on the chicken and it’s served with sambal and light soup when delivered to the customer’s table.

If you are a chicken lover, this mouth-watering delicacy at the rate of RM10 should be something that you can’t afford to lose when visiting Zarie Laksa House.

Mee Udang

Mee Udang (Prawn Noodle), on the other hand, has also made it to the top-3 list in this stall.

Cooked with Mee Kuah, this prawn noodle is served with boiled water and tomato paste, which escalates the authenticity of its taste. Of course, a plate of Mee Udang wouldn’t be a complete set without prawns in it. Thus, it makes this selection popular among the foreign travellers and the cost is slightly higher than the other two, but it’s worth a try to spend only RM15 for a plate as it’s still cheaper than the other Mee Udang in Penang.

Why somewhere else where you could get a plate of Mee Udang at a reasonable price and order other food to munch simultaneously.

Delivery Service

The business has been at a successful stage that the business owner sees the plan to expand the branch of Zarie Laksa House to two more locations- Georgetown and Seberang Perai after the pandemic. Thus it can be seen that Zarie Laksa House is a place that you shouldn’t miss when you stumbled upon the Batu Ferringhi area in Penang.

While Malaysia is constrained under the restrictions of MCO, dining in a physical shop is forbidden at the moment, but that doesn’t hinder us from enjoying their food as the food delivery service is available in times like this.

Apart from the usual food delivery applications, the staff of Zarie Laksa House also provides delivery services to customers in Penang without additional charges. Nonetheless, people who stay further away from the Tanjung Tokong area would have to make sure the order goes over RM30 (any food on the menus) so it could cover the fuel for the sender as well.

So, if you wish to support local businesses and crave the authentic taste, remember that Zarie Laksa House is and will always be a food haven for you.

Contact Information:
Address: 3, Jalan Sungai Emas, Kawasan Perumahan Sungai Emas, 11100 Batu Ferringhi, Pulau Pinang.
Tel: +6016-416 2221
Hours: 11am- 11pm (closed on Tuesday)
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

[Photgraphy (Credits):
Featured Image- Joel Teh,
Food Images- Zarie Laksa House]