[Update: I was mistaken about the name of the restaurant I wrote about below. It’s not Penang, it’s Malaysia Kopitiam. Twelve days later, I offered a clarification and comparison of the two places.]

I’ve written before about my search to find decent laksa noodles in the DC area — the restaurant that caused me to fall in love with this amazing dish has closed, and the few alternate versions I found weren’t even in the same league.

But I recently discovered Penang, a Malaysian restaurant that’s about a 10-minute walk from my office. There’s just enough time to make it there, eat quickly, and get back to work before my lunch hour is up. Their laksa is very good, although still not nearly as good as the quintessential concoction I continue to crave. Fewer ingredients, stronger curry, but very tasty. The beef laksa is better than the chicken (which was too fatty for my taste). They don’t list lamb laksa on their menu, but I may try to finagle that soon . . .

In other news, Straits of Malaya has apparently reopened. I drove there one night in February hoping to sample their laksa noodles, which I read about in an outdated online review, not realizing they had closed years earlier. But they’re back, and I’ll be sure to check them out soon.