About

Sungei Road Laksa has been serving curry laksa from the Jalan Berseh area since the 1950s. The stall began as a pushcart operation in the old Sungei Road district (the former Thieves' Market) before settling at Jin Shui Kopitiam. It is one of the last laksa stalls in Singapore that still cooks its broth over a charcoal fire, which gives the gravy a depth and smokiness that gas stoves cannot replicate.

The laksa is Katong-style: noodles cut short, eaten with a spoon only. The broth is coconut curry with a pronounced dried shrimp (hae bee) sweetness that polarises reviewers. You either love the sweetness or find it too much. It comes with cockles, prawns, fish cake, tau pok, and laksa leaf. At $3 to $5 a bowl, this is one of the cheapest quality laksas in Singapore. Not to be confused with the separately owned 'Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa' at Hong Lim Food Centre, which is a different stall.

Queues regularly hit 20 to 30 minutes during lunch. The kopitiam setting is bare-bones. The stall is run by a small team, and once the day's broth runs out, they close.

ShiokScore Breakdown

Scored across 5 dimensions specific to laksa. Learn what each means →

Broth 88

Coconut richness, spice depth, and lemak (fatty richness). A good laksa broth coats the spoon. Too thin means the rempah was stretched. Too thick and it becomes cloying.

Noodles 83

Thick bee hoon, yellow noodles, or both. Katong-style cuts them into spoon-sized pieces. Texture should be springy, not mushy or clumped together.

Toppings 82

Cockles, prawns, fish cake, tau pok (fried tofu puffs), beansprouts. Freshness matters. Rubbery prawns or limp beansprouts drag the whole bowl down.

Rempah 90

The spice paste that defines the laksa. Dried shrimp, chilli, lemongrass, galangal, candlenut, belacan. Should taste layered and complex, not just hot.

Value 93

Portion size, topping generosity, and price relative to hawker norms. A $5 bowl with three prawns and a thin broth is bad value no matter how it tastes.

Style: Katong / Nyonya

The signature Singapore laksa. Rich coconut curry broth. Noodles cut into short pieces so you eat the whole thing with a spoon, no chopsticks needed. Peranakan origin, from the Katong/Joo Chiat area.

Learn about all 4 laksa styles →