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King of Laksa has been an establishment that had recently appeared in the local F&B scene that had gotten some talk about it over social media — these folks had previously operated out of a coffeeshop that is located at 701 Geylang Road, though they had since moved to a foo court that is located at the second floor of Blk 118 Aljunied Avenue 2 above the outlet of Giant supermarket there. The stall is easily recognisable with the statue of a girl holding a bowl of laksa which is prominently displayed on the counter — the statue, as well as a number of signages that can be found at the stall at its Blk 118 Aljunied Avenue 2 location were also previously used when the stall was situated at 701 Geylang Road. King of Laksa is unrelated to the other establishments using the term “King of” in their namesake — with that being said, King of Laksa does champion themselves on the offering of a “healthier” version of Laksa that they claim to come with no MSG, no added salt, no added sugar and no oily layer. King of Laksa serves up three (3) renditions of their laksa — all being served at a flat price of $8; this would include the Laksa with Blood Cockles, Laksa with Prawns or the Slimming Laksa (i.e. Low Carb).
Since we weren’t too much of a fan of cockles, we went for the Laksa with Prawns instead. Observing how the Laksa is being prepared at King of Laksa, we did notice that the rempah paste is being added into the pot before coconut milk is being added — the chef presses on the lumpy rempah paste to ensure that the rempah paste gets broken down and integrated into the coconut milk before the addition of noodles; the only type of noodles being served at King of Laksa for their Laksa would be the thick rice vermicelli. All the other elements such as the beancurd puffs, prawns and sambal chili are plated atop afterwards, while the laksa leaves would then be sprinkled atop. At $8, the inclusion of only cockles or prawns without fish cakes would probably be seen as less than generous for some, though we do understand that this does seem to be an attempt to not include processed foods in their vision of serving a “healthier” version of the laksa.
The laksa broth here is undeniably creamy, while the flavours of the rempah paste does shine through to provide somewhat of a umami flavour profile without any additional salt or MSG; there is also a slight smokiness that came along with it considering how there is a little bit of wok-frying of the rempah paste before coconut milk was added, though there is a slight lack of bridge between the rempah paste and coconut milk that some may find it still a little salty — mixing the sambal chili does help with things a little that adds a slight note of spiciness to tickle the tastebuds, with the level of heat being pretty manageable for those whom are tolerable to moderate level of spiciness. The thick rice vermicelli seems to be cut short in a way similar to how Katong-style Laksa is served for ease of eating using a spoon, while the prawns come de-shelled with heads removed also for the convenience of its patrons — the prawns being decently fresh. Meanwhile, the beancurd puffs absorbed the creamy, slightly smoky and umami gravy like a sponge; provides a flavour burst as one chews into it.
King of Laksa is an establishment where credit should be given where it is due — there hadn’t been many innovative takes on Laksa apart from the usual local western fusion variants of the Laksa Pasta, Dry Laksa or the provision of more premium seafood items in an attempt to “atas-fy” the dish; it is interesting to see how King of Laksa has attempted to create a rendition in which does not feature any unnecessary seasonings or processed foods that differs from what others have been attempting to do. We applaud the effort in which King of Laksa creates its Laksa dishes from scratch, and all of the Laksa dishes are actually freshly cooked-upon-order; small details such as the bowls being made hot before the gravy is being poured into the bowl also does seem to suggest the amount of effort, as well as heart and soul that has went into the creation for their rendition of the Laksa that they intend for their patrons to have a taste of — all created with the patron’s health and ease of eating in mind especially when it came to the cut noodles and the de-shelled prawns without the head. With that being said, King of Laksa does have a problem with value proposition; $8 is indeed a premium to pay for when compared to the usual bowl of Laksa that other hawker centre / food court / coffeeshop stalls serves up that comes with both blood cockles and shrimp with fish cakes — something that is not served at King of Laksa. Some may also find the entire concept of the Laksa served at King of Laksa to be a little to abstract. It lacking the fusion element as it would be when compared against the likes of Dry Laksa and Laksa Pasta also sees lesser of a novelty item that excuses the premium price tag. Whilst purists may or may not exactly prefer the Laksa offerings that King of Laksa has to serve up, it would be interesting to see if the masses would warm up to such a style of Laksa in the longer run especially with the emphasis on healthy eating these days — and especially given how every bowl of Laksa here does seem to be a product of hard work, passion and a drive to create something a little different from what’s available out there.
