What do you look for in a bowl of good laksa? The lemak gravy? The sambal belacan chilli? I attended a Laksa food trail organised by OpenRice and Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC). One of the laksa place we visited was Sungei Road Laksa at Jalan Berseh.
Sungei Road got its name because it runs along the banks of the Rochor River (Sungei Rochor), hence its Malay name sungei meaning “river”. The road was also known as “Kek Sng Kio” in hokkien dialect or “结霜桥” in Chinese, which was made in reference to the Singapore Ice Works which used to exist in the precinct.
Sungei Road Laksa is a humble stall in a coffee shop. There is a long queue when we got there. The stall is manned by 3 ladies when we went on a Sunday morning. One of them was busy filling the bowls with ingredients, another one was busy taking orders while the aunty was filling each bowl of laksa with the gorgeous broth, fueled by a charcoal burner which I believe to be one of the last few existing stall which is still using charcoal. And, THEIR LAKSA IS ONLY $2!
The laksa is served like a typical Katong Laksa style, with only spoon and no chopsticks. The laksa has a beautiful orange gravy, topped with generous amount of cockles and green laksa leaves.
Here, you don’t get very heavy laksa gravy. It was light, easy to drink but it was a flavourful bowl. You can smell the spices in the gravy, sweet yet mild spicy, infused with coconut flavours and hae-bi in it! And the crunchy bean sprouts added texture to the bowl of laksa. One $2 bowl may not be enough for guys, but it was a perfect size for me. I was slurping up till the very last sip.
The second stop we went is Laksania @ Bugis Plus. This cafe is an social enterprise started by Madam Sim Sin Sin. She provides job for people from MINDS and ASPN to help these marginalised people to gain employment or re-enter the workforce. We tried their Singapore Nonya Laksa, Serawak Laksa, Kelantan Laksa and Chendol. I like the nonya laksa which is made with a rich, slightly sweet and strongly spiced coconut gravy (lemak). Read about my reviews here.
Sungei Road Laksa
Address: Block 27, Jalan Berseh #01-100 Jin Shui Kopitiam
Opening Hours: 9am – 6pm, closed on 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month