Last Tuesday, I visited Laut for a reunion dinner with some college friends. I don’t know what took me so long to visit this place. It’s conveniently located in Union Square, and the food is right up my alley. Be still, my little Singaporean heart! I didn’t think a reservation would be necessary, but it’s good thing I made one for our table of six. This place was packed on a Tuesday evening. Very popular and lively spot for after work.
Laut offers a solid selection of southeast asian cuisine at very reasonable prices. This place earned a Michelin star a few years ago (2011, I think), making it one of the first Malaysian restaurants in NYC to earn a star. It continues to be ranked a Michelin Bib Gourmand. The menu is huge, and all of my favorite Malaysian, Singaporean, and Thai dishes were on there. We sipped on yummy hard Thai iced teas ($10) as we perused the menu…
It was tough deciding what to order, but in the end, I had to go with the curry laksa. If I had to eat just one southeast asian dish for the rest of my life, it would have to be laksa. Most of our table ordered stir fried noodle dishes, which came in the cutest little woks!
Sorry, I only got this horrible, blurry photo of the curry laksa ($12). I ordered it with thin egg noodles and veggies and asked them not to include fish balls. A warming spicy coconut milk broth with string beans, cucumber, tofu puffs, and Vietnamese mint. Authentic? I can’t really say since it’s been 4+ years since I’ve been back to Singapore and experienced the real deal. Also, since this was a vegetarian version, we’re not exactly comparing apples to apples. Delicious and satisfying? Very much so! My only minor comment was that it could use a splash of lemon or lime to brighten up the curry broth.
It was Brian’s 30th birthday, and we surprised embarrassed him with a little dessert and singing. When the dessert came out, they played a really bizarre rendition of “Happy Birthday” in the background, and the entire restaurant clapped and sang along. When the singing was done, our server hit the gong! Hahaha, I was so not expecting that.
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Mitzie Mee
atA reunion at Union, ha ha:) I had my first encounter with Malaysian cuisine a couple of days ago. It’s so delicious! Cool to know that there’s a place like Laut in New York:)
wazwu
atSo delicious, isn’t it? There are a bunch of Malaysian spots here, but I haven’t tried many of them yet. Definitely on the to eat list!
Mrs C
atI’m a Malaysian so Laksa is my blood and the one in the picture looks so succulent and quite authentic. When I was in SF the last I went to a Malaysian fusion restaurant called Batelnut and the food was good but the laksa didn’t look as good as this one. A must try!
wazwu
atSucculent is definitely a good word to describe the laksa! Mmm, yum. I used to live in SF, but never visited Batelnut though I’ve always heard good things. I’ll have to keep them in mind for my next trip back there. Thanks for the tip! :)