Battling against the sweltering heat, pearls of sweat peeling off tanning skin, walking down dark alleyways until Madras Lane opens up like an oasis offering treats for the soul. Find the stall with the green bowls, order a curry laksa, pay the old lady grinning soul, occupy a chair of further intense heatspots, try to remain conscious whilst slurping down delicious broth and noodles and cockles and beans and all sorts of other hidden goodnesses. 

Wipe away sweat collecting above brow, replace sunglasses in victory proclamation, push plastic stool back into previous position, walk out into furnace and pray the AC was left on in the hotel room, buy a can of cold coffee and press it against your veins in a form of cooling repentance. 

For a second I thought I was headed to some new hipster Tamil place where the waiters would all have slick moustaches and tattoos. I quickly realised upon entering that it was just a funny name. The waiters did have moustaches, but they were not the hipster kind rolled in pomade. 

As the amber hued orb was placed in front of me a shot of fear paralysed me "This doesn't look that great, what have I done". Existential anxiety was quickly erased as I put the first crispy bite into my mouth, soaked in utterly spectacular sambar. Special mention to the red tomato chutney which was world class.

On my second visit I had the Chole Bhature, the samosa. Everything at this restaurant is TOP CLASS!!!

In Asia the words "chain restaurant" escape the mocking sneer they summon in Europe or America. Asian cities are full of chains that deliver delicious, consistent food on a daily basis to thousands of punters. Boat Noodle is no different. A gimmicky place, yes, but one that packs flavour into their ridiculously cheap array of bowls. The flavours are close to authentic, the variety keeps you interested, and the service is quick and cheery. For those of competitive nature, bring some friends and see who can stack the most bowls in one sitting, it will only set you back a few dollars at best. 

No visit to KL can be complete without a trip here. Entering into the weird and wonderful world of this excellent restaurant, with “Baba” sitting behind the cash register with his infectious smile. The thing to get here is the Nyonya Laksa, but beware it’s only available certain days of the week. 

You do know right that you can get good ramen outside of Japan? Great ramen infact! Well, this is one of those spots. Drenched in the misguided fashionings of a mall-facade, this generally sterile interior offers forgiveness in the shape of a bowl of fiery liquid atonement. Everything in their spicy chicken bowl is dynamite (beg them NO CORN NO CORN). Noodles cooked al-dente, chicken tender as a stick of butter, broth tempered with demons blood ready to give you a real sweat-session.

​Order a bowl, shut up, focus, eat, sit back and weep because life won't get much better than this.