The best laksa in Singapore: Katong, curry and the spoon question

If you need chopsticks, you are not eating Katong laksa. If you need a referee, you are on East Coast Road.

If you make one laksa trip, make it East Coast Road before lunch. Janggut and 328 Katong Laksa face each other across the road, and eating both is the quickest way to find out which camp you're in. The catch is the clock, since some of these stalls close by mid-afternoon. For curry laksa rather than Katong, go to Jalan Berseh, where the gravy is kept warm over charcoal.

A quick orientation. Order laksa in Singapore and you get the coconut kind: a rust-orange, rempah-heavy broth of coconut milk and dried shrimp, slicked with chilli oil and loaded with cockles, prawns and fishcake. Penang's sour, tamarind assam laksa is a different dish, and best treated as one. Katong laksa is the coconut version with the rice noodles cut short, so the whole bowl goes down with a spoon. Who cut them first is the laksa world's great family saga, and it still plays out on East Coast Road.

Janggut Laksa, Roxy Square

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Photo: chooyutshing, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

The claimant to the original. Janggut's family traces its Katong laksa to the 1950s and to a hawker nicknamed Janggut (beard), who sold it from buckets on a pole around Marine Parade and, by the family's account, was the first to cut the noodles short. After his death in 1986 the family revived the stall in 1988, and it has been at Roxy Square since 2000. Come here if you want a rich gravy without much heat. Order a medium and eat it with the spoon, as intended.

328 Katong Laksa, East Coast Road

Across the road, and the louder of the two. 328 began in 1998, one branch of the tangled family tree behind Katong laksa, and became famous well beyond Marine Parade after beating Gordon Ramsay in a laksa showdown. Our call: come here for the thicker, stronger broth, and cross back to Janggut if you'd rather it gentler. Eat both on the same morning and pick your team.

Sungei Road Laksa, Jalan Berseh

The one for curry laksa people, and the bowl we'd cross town for. This coffee-shop stall at 27 Jalan Berseh keeps its gravy warm over a charcoal stove, which is the whole reason to come: a spice paste you can taste, without much burn. It does one small size, so if you're hungry, order two bowls at the start rather than queue again. The price is at the counter.

928 Yishun Laksa, Yishun Central

Named after its HDB block, which is about as much backstory as it needs. This is the north's argument that a good bowl doesn't require a heritage claim: a generous portion and a sambal made in-house. Worth it if you live up there; not worth the trip from the east when East Coast Road is closer.

Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa, Hong Lim Food Centre

Upstairs at Hong Lim, and the most useful of the six for a CBD lunch. The broth leans on seafood, and the Asia Delight bowl is the loaded one, with a crayfish add-on for the greedy. Despite the name, it is not the Jalan Berseh stall, which confuses everyone exactly once.

Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa, Alexandra Village

Each bowl comes in a claypot, so it arrives scalding and stays that way: one for slow eaters and anyone who resents soup going cold. Go if you're already at Alexandra Village Food Centre. We wouldn't cross the island for the pot alone.

So, Katong or curry? Both, ideally on different days: the two East Coast Road rivals for a late breakfast, the charcoal bowl on Jalan Berseh for lunch another time. Bring the spoon.

What to order

• Katong laksa · Janggut Laksa · #01-64, Roxy Square, 50 East Coast RoadClaims the original cut-noodle Katong laksa; rich rather than fiery
• Katong laksa · 328 Katong Laksa · 51 East Coast RoadAcross the road from Janggut; the stronger broth, and the stall that beat Gordon Ramsay
• Curry laksa from a charcoal stove · Sungei Road Laksa · #01-100, 27 Jalan BersehGravy kept warm over charcoal; one small size, so order two if hungry
• Curry laksa · 928 Yishun Laksa · #01-155, Blk 928 Yishun Central 1Named after its block; generous portion and housemade sambal
• Asia Delight laksa · Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa · #02-66, Hong Lim Food CentreSeafood-forward broth; upstairs, handy for a CBD lunch
• Claypot laksa · Depot Road Zhen Shan Mei Claypot Laksa · #01-75, Alexandra Village Food CentreArrives in a claypot and stays scalding; a detour, not a pilgrimage

Good to know Janggut (50 East Coast Road, #01-64) and 328 (51 East Coast Road) face each other near Marine Parade; stall hours vary and some close by mid-afternoon, so check before travelling.