Laksa fans rejoice: Damansara has confirmed plans to open an official brick-and-mortar restaurant. From 2017 to 2018, chef Tracy Goh began her Laksa Project, serving more than 1,000 bowls of laksa from her own apartment and other home kitchens to educate locals through food.
The concept took off—the small parties evolved into regular pop-ups hosting up to 60 guests in rented spaces throughout the Bay Area. The support she received from locals moved her to open Damansara, which will be her first Malaysian restaurant in San Francisco.
Laksa is common throughout Southeast Asia. It’s a general term for noodles made with non-wheat starches such as potato, tapioca, or rice. While there are numerous regional variations of laksa, the most common version is laksa lemak, otherwise known as curry laksa.
Goh grew up eating laksa lemak at a hawker center in Petaling Jaya, outside of Kuala Lumpur, according to a 2019 profile in the Chronicle. Goh’s restaurant is named for a suburb within Petaling Jaya that her family is originally from, reported Eater.
In addition to laksa, Goh will serve a delicious menu of other authentic Malaysian dishes, filling the gap in the Bay Area market for Southeast Asian cuisine. Tablehopper speculates that Damansara will be located at 1781 Church St., in the space formerly known as Ardiana in Noe Valley.
When contacted by What Now San Francisco, Goh didn’t confirm the address, explaining she wanted to finalize the license transfer process and other paperwork before she officially divulged the location to fans. That said, stay tuned to @damansarasf on Instagram for updates.
