As good as Singapore’s version: Why Australian city Darwin is obsessed with laksa

“It might not be to everyone’s palate, so we need to decide if it’s worth our time and effort because we have only one cook,” she says. 

Hanna, meanwhile, added Katong laksa to his other restaurant, The Gully, in 2025. He first tasted the dish on a trip to Singapore some 15 years ago, and was instantly struck by its umami depth.

Piecing together the basic components of the dish was fairly easy, given the wealth of online resources, but the restaurant, which could not procure fresh blood cockles and had to settle for frozen ones instead, struggled to replicate the briny original. 

Over at Salted Egg Darwin, a restaurant that opened along the city’s waterfront in May, the kitchen sampled different styles of laksa from across South-east Asia for its signature dish – grilled king prawns slathered in a thick and punchy dry laksa gravy (A$29 for three pieces). 

“The rich coconut-based curry laksa of Malaysia forms the foundation, while Singapore’s balanced, seafood-forward approach and Indonesian spice profiles have also influenced our recipes,” says head chef Mark Langat, 32. He wanted to create something that feels authentic to both South-east Asia and the Top End. 

Locals are fiercely devoted to their favourite laksa joints – Mou has customers who order laksa from Kopi Stop two to three times a week – and the topic of where to get laksa and what should go into a bowl is a topic of heated debate. 

Somewhat controversially, Kopi Stop’s laksa (from A$23.50) contains broccoli, for extra crunch and some textural variety. At Chow!, it is topped with tofu puffs, bean sprouts and shallots.

Both Mou and Hanna have their preferences, but are fairly open minded about how laksa should be judged. “There’s no such thing as the best laksa,” declares Hanna. 

For Mou, a good bowl of laksa is a balanced one. “You want to be able to slurp up all the broth. It can’t be too salty or too heavy. It has to be just shiok enough,” she says. 

Laksa cocktails, anyone? 

Alongside the Golden Bowl and People’s Choice awards, the laksa festival also crowns the best dish inspired by laksa, a category that has attracted submissions like laksa lamb shanks and a laksa acai bowl. 

Some of Mou’s experiments have included a laksa basque cheesecake, laksa cookies and a laksa muffin. Though these were offered just for the duration of the festival, she wanted to focus on dishes that could be gifted or consumed on a regular basis, instead of eaten once for novelty. 

“A laksa muffin could be eaten for breakfast or brought to the office and shared. Same with the cookies,” she explains. She has yet to come up with an idea for the 2026 festival, but knows that the process cannot be rushed. “It will just come to me.” 

She is willing to push the envelope, but there are limits to how far she will go. “I don’t think I could bring myself to make a laksa coffee,” she says with a grimace. 

In 2022, Hanna’s entry to the festival was laksagna – a cross between the Italian classic and the South-east Asian dish, cooked by one of his restaurants, Eva’s Botanic Gardens Cafe. Though inventive, he regrets that it was not nearly “laksa-y” enough. 

To him, there is no dish or drink that a bit of laksa cannot improve. He is heartened by how the festival gives young chefs a chance to let their creativity run wild. “Every year, I’m impressed by someone’s inventiveness, which is what you want to see from young people these days.” 

“Laksa has so much potential beyond the traditional bowl,” adds Langat, who is working on a dish for the 2026 festival that celebrates local produce. “My focus is always on respecting the core flavours while presenting them in new ways that excite guests. Darwin has incredible produce, and I think there’s still plenty of room to continue evolving laksa in creative but meaningful ways.” 

Asia vs Australia 

When asked how Darwin’s laksa compares with those he has tried in South-east Asia, Langat, a Malaysian native trained in the kitchens of Kuala Lumpur, replies diplomatically that Darwin has developed its own laksa identity. 

“While South-east Asian laksa is often deeply rooted in regional traditions, Darwin embraces diversity,” he says. “I think that’s what makes Darwin’s laksa scene so exciting – there’s room for creativity while still respecting tradition. It’s become a unique food culture that reflects the city’s multicultural community.” 

Nowadays, Mou finds herself gravitating towards Darwin laksa over Singapore laksa. The latter is just a bit too plain, she says. Tofu puffs and fishcakes are fine, but it could do with a few more toppings. 

Hanna is full of reverence for Singapore’s culinary heritage. “Singapore is the king of laksa,” he declares, but throws down the gauntlet anyway. “Put a team together for the festival and we’ll take you on. We might not have been doing it for as long as hawkers in Singapore, but I reckon that the Northern Territory can put up a good fight. It’s very hard to get bad laksa here.” 

After all, he points out, it is not called the Darwin International Laksa Festival for nothing. 

And if he loses? “I think we can go toe to toe, but even if we can’t, I’d be quite happy losing to Singapore.”