320 Racecourse Road, Flemington
Phone 03 9372 6383
Dan absolutely adores laksa. It calls out to him as a reminder of his birthplace, Singapore, where laksa is as firmly embedded into the national culinary soul as minestrone is for Italians. It’s not easy finding a good one in Melbourne – often they are too coconutty, too spicy or too sour. They leave off essential ingredients such as laksa leaf (commonly known as Vietnamese coriander), or they just use the wrong type of noodle.
After an extraordinarily bad rendition at Laksa Me the other day (so much so I have vowed never to go back!), we were both still hankering for a bowl that was authentic in its execution. While Laksa King is perhaps not too authentic (Dan’s parents said it was a very “Australianised” version), dang, it tasted bloody excellent.
This is the curry laksa, a bowl of two types of noodle – thicker egg noodles and thinner rice noodles. The broth, whilst not too hot (just as I like it) had the perfect balance of curry and coconut. The toppings included slices of fish cake, prawns, shredded chicken, eggplant, fried beancurd puffs, fried shallots and mint. Oh yes..the mint is actually a wonderful addition!
After we polished off the laksa, it was time for dessert. My eyes lit up when I saw ice kacang on the menu!
Underneath all that ice sits a vertiable treasure trove of delights – grass jelly, attap chee (palm seeds), red beans, cendol (green coloured starch noodles), agar agar (red jelly), peanuts and evaporated milk. Oooh…I LOVE ice kacang.
The restaurant itself sits in a dingy litle arcade, and is, like most authentic hawker-ish venues, quite utilitarian. That being said, you’re not there to relax in the ambience. You’re there to eat a damn good bowl of noodles (…and possibly, ice kacang if you can fit it in!)
I love the chendol! But the ice kachang looks equally good so I think I’ll try that next time. The Jman and I are there every other week (try the fried seafood hor fun if you get the chance. It’s great, and has that wonderful “wok hei”)! As for the laksa, I think this is more Malaysian laksa than Singapore laksa, although the prospective MIL thinks the LK broth is too coconutty (and she’s a Malaysian who makes a kickass curry laksa).
Singapore is famous for their katong laksa which I can’t seem to find anywhere here!
Yum Mel! I am now dreaming of a steaming bowl of laksa which is very inconvenient as I am sitting in Greensborough with none in sight! That just looks awesome.
Nasi Lemak house used to do an authentic version of the curry laksa which may have been too hot for you. The place even had a surly soup nazi that would berate you if you asked for spicy soup to make sure that you can actually handle the soup so she wouldn’t have to see her soup go to waste! Alas, the management has changed and the laksa isn’t the same anymore
I’m a Laksa King fan as well.
Funny enough I nearly went into Laksa Me recently an stopped and look around before I walked in, looking very tatty and grubby from the outside, so decided to go elsewhere. I guess my intuition was spot on. No more Laksa Me then, just need to find excuses to get over to Flemington soon.
Jack
“After an extraordinarily bad rendition at Laksa Me the other day (so much so I have vowed never to go back!)”
Your review of Laksa Me seems pretty positive! Did you find you changed your mind about the laksa after time passed?
http://tummyrumbles.com/2007/05/laksa-me.html: “I would have to say that the broth was one of the best that I’ve tasted – deliciously rich and coconutty, and further augmented by a small bowl of sambal that is served separately. Our only complaint was that there was not enough of the tasty broth!
”
I am confuuuuuzed! Great blog BTW
Whoops – spotted it was the other author.
Hi Pseudo Epicurean – actually Dan’s Mum got the seafood hor fun, and I concur, it had fabulous wok hei. She was very impressed! I might have to try the chendol next time I’m there. The only place I’ve only been able to get katong style laksa is at Dan’s parent’s place
Hey cherryblossomcupcakes – well if you can hop on a train, it’s very close to Newmarket station. Worth a trip for sure!
Hey there Son – ahh, I love a good soup nazi style place. Yeah..I must admit I’m a bit of a chilli wimp (I can handle some, just not to Singaporean standards
).
Hi Jack – yeah, your instincts were right. A friend of mine had a chicken noodle dish which she thought was quite good though. My laksa though was shit.
Hi Maddie – well, you’ve picked up on a blog post that has obviously changed over time. When Laksa Me first opened, dang, it was a damn fine laksa. But over the last year (I’ve been a handful of times), it seems the quality has gone downhill, which you can read if you go into the comments. I guess I should put an update on that post and perhaps inform people to read the comments. NB. normally the other author (ElegantGourmand/Dan) and I usually have the same opinions.
Hi, you should give the Canton food stall at Victoria Market a try!! I love their curry laksa. The soup base is the closest you can get to the malaysian version I reckon.
Hey there Huey – well hey, I checked out your recommendation last Sunday. Dan called it a “tuck shop laksa” ie. one that you’d get at the school tuckshop back in the ol’ country. I found it to be less coconutty with more of the stock flavour coming through – and I must admit I found the addition of fish balls and BBQ pork interesting! I think I still prefer the Laksa King version though
Hey Mellie, as for Laksa King, their beef rendang is my favourite… drool
How will I ever not be able to order the laksa though!?! But I lurve a good rendang, especially with some good roti (which I noticed someone eating on another table). I’ll have to give it a try.
I heard that Laksa Me used to be really good, but it went downhill since the change of management. We gave it a try, having seen the awarded 2 stars in CheapEats, and damn it’s a no no no. It was at best vermicelli drenched in flavoured water.
It is by far the best we managed to find in Melbourne. Do you know anywhere else that serves a decent bowl?
We hastily made another trip to Laksa King the few nights after and finally soothed our longing
Hey there Stella – good bowls of laksa are hard to come by
We are always searching for them too…
A great laksa can be had at:
Noodle World in South Melbourne
258 Coventry St
South Melbourne 3205
Ph: (03) 9681 3016
Melbway: 46 J2
http://noodleworld.com.au/
Have been eating there for years and havent found a laksa to match in Melbourne.
I love this place and so does my partner Shrek.
I love this hidden golden yellow creamy Laksa place because its close to my home.
If I dont feel like cooking, Laksa King is the place to be.
Hi Incognito – I’m kind of glad this is not close to my home. I think I’d end up there for meal more often than I probably should!
We recently went to the Laksa king, the day before they moved. Check out our review for Laksa across Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Singapore and more including the Laksa King!
http://www.squidoo.com/ultimate_laksa_guide
Everything you ever wanted to know and probably didn’t is right here! enjoy.