Review: Laksa King @ Flemington, Melbourne

Laksa is one of those things that you crave for. The coconut goodness, the fiery red appearance and the warm and loving feeling it spreads throughout your body after downing a whole bowl of it. Even in the heat and humidity that surrounds Singapore and Malaysia constantly, Laksa is one of those dish that just wins.

After all, laksa is one of the top 10 local delights to eat!

I first heard of Laksa King a few years back when one of school parents mentioned it in passing. Apparently her Malaysian doctor really liked the place and praised it to be really authentic. I had my doubts but made a mental note to go try it out.

That mental note lasted quite a few years and it wasn’t till recently that I managed to make it over to Laksa King. As things tend to, it turns out that Laksa King was really close to work, so its now become the place-to-go if I failed to bring lunch to work.

On this particular day however, I was there for dinner and joining me for dinner was the usual dinner partner, Kat and her husband. Surprise-visitor Tom was also dragged along for dinner as I knew laksa would be right up his alley. The place was packed but luckily for us, there was a big table just clearing up and we happily took their spot.

Wanting to sample a range of items from the menu and not just the laksa, we started by ordering Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang

Sad to say, while it looked pretty fab, the rendang really wasn’t up to scratch. Bonus points for tender meat, and definitely bonus points for a tasty acar-acar but it wasn’t terribly exciting. There are better Nasi Lemaks to be had, and sadly this wasn’t one of them.

We continued with Char Kuey Teow.

This is my pet peeve. Not the dish itself, but the fact that Laksa King’s service staff don’t seem to know their menu well, or maybe they just don’t know they have Char Kuey Teow on it. Even if you use the name printed on the menu “Fried Kuey Teow”, they still come back and ask for a confirmation on the dish. Yes, we want this dish, just cook it up damnit. I wouldn’t mind so much if it was a once off, but as many times as I’ve been to Laksa King and ordered their CKT, that’s as many times as I’ve been asked whether I was sure this was the dish I wanted. No, sherlock, actually I want something else.

Despite the muddle headed service, the CKT comes out superbly fragrant, like how a CKT should be. Taste wise, probably one of the best CKT’s I’ve had in Melbourne. Wok hei? Checked! Not adding random things like mussels, checked! (I really hate it when people sub in mussels for cockles.) Definitely a must-have. Now if only I could get them to cook it spicy…

We also ordered Har Mee (Prawn Noodles) which was incredibly tasty. The soup stock was amazing and the size of the prawns were mind boggling. I’m used to Har Mee being served with stingy servings of pathetic looking prawns, so Laksa King’s rendition of the traditional Har Mee was a welcomed one. I loved it! In fact I loved it so much I went back the next day for more Har Mee. Ahem.

Unfortunately, the Laksa dishes of which Laksa King is named after (and claims to be King of!) are not really something that is worth ordering again. The Seafood Laksa is pictured here and I’ve since tried the other laksa dishes that they offer as well. All of them with the same mediocre soup stock and the same lack lustre flavour. For a signature dish, it sure fell flat. Did it taste like Laksa? Yes. Did it amaze? No.

The housemate really likes crispy noodles and it’s hard to find them in Melbourne. So when he saw them on the menu, he pounced at the chance to order them. Black Bean Beef with Crispy Noodles turned up at the table, and the beef was really tasty. Not something to write home about, but tasty nonetheless. I’m not a huge fan of crispy noodles so I won’t say much about them – I’m bound to be bias and say I hate them anyways.

I read from Penny that the homemade tofu was nice and worth a try. So I did just that, and ordered a dish. Everybody at the table echoed Penny’s thoughts …. except me. I didn’t like it at all! And I’m normally such a tofu junkie too. Perhaps it was the sauce, perhaps it was the seasoning. For some reason, I just didn’t like it. But since everybody else did, I will give it a tick and say go for it. I trust my dinner mate’s palate so I’ll say that I’m just being the odd one out. Order it if you like tofu, and please do tell me your opinions on it!

To wrap up the meal, the housemate and I decided to try out their desserts selection. It’s hard to find good Malaysian /Singaporean desserts, so we were keen to know if Laksa King had this nailed.

We ordered Sago Pudding (left) and Mango Pudding (right). And while we are on the topic, banana fritters with ice cream is just wrong. Just saying.

I don’t know where Laksa King’s been eating their Sago Pudding, but that’s no Sago Pudding. At least not the type that I was expecting. Since when did Sago Pudding come with shaved ice and green sago? The whole thing reeked of wannabe-chendol. Not great in the taste departments either, a general fail all round. The Mango Pudding was so-so. Not memorable in the slightest so I suggest skipping on the desserts when you visit Laksa King, and if you really have space for more? Order another bowl of Har Mee.

If you’d like to have a peek at the menu – Saint-ism has it up on his blog.

Laksa King
6-12 Pin Oak Crescent
Flemington VIC 3031
(03) 9372 6383