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THE ULTIMATE KOPI AND TEH?

How many times have you had crap kopi and teh?  Pretty much nearly everyday. With the way the bigger chains are taking over the town, your little kopi tiam is struggling to make it and also for us to get that elusive good cup of kopi.

For you guys who hang at "Star alotta bucks", you don't deserve to read this article because you were never into good coffee in the first place.  You need free wifi, a sofa,  talk about how long you waited for your Birkin bag or which Four Seasons Hotel you're off to on your next sorry predictable vacation or try to "help" poor Cambodian kids so you can throw that charity dinner and wear your  $2000 Laboutins.  Was I on a tangent..sorry.  Anyways, I need to sort your ass out so listen up.  There still is hope.

Early morning with the breakfast crowd at Tong Ah, with Keong Saik Street on the right.

I've been going to Tong Ah kopi tiam to eat my Cantonese food as it's off da hook..especially coming from  a guy that's not huge on canto food ( I’m a sambal guy )...unless it's great.  The chef is from Ipoh by the way which is the reason it is great.  This kopi tiam happens to also have the baddest kick ass, wanna make you slap your mama it tastes so good kopi and teh.  As we would say here "Buay Tahan".

Wee at work in the morning.

So I hopped down one quiet afternoon after going through 100 CBD gantries, to have a chat with the owner Mr Tang Chew Fue or Wee as he is commonly known, at his Keong Saik Street kopi tiam.  A unique anvil shaped building was where we sat and of course had his kopi and teh and even kaya toast.  Yes I paid for it and am not a cheap ass kinda food writer/photog that brings his whole damn family on a free gig.  Let the poor guy make a dime for heaven's sake.  I know us Chinese never pay retail and want a deal on top of a deal.

It all started in 1938 when his great grandfather Mr Tan Kar Pin came from Fuzhou, China with his family to our sunny island Singapore.

Fuzhou city is the capital of the Fuzhou region on the east coast of China and across from Taiwan.  The name was made up of Fujian or what we call Hokkien and Juozhou or Teochew.  This city was incorporated during the Ming dynasty and consists mainly of the Hans.  Ok, so much for the history of my motherland.  As for my American friends, it's damn far away and west of the Mississippi, that’a all ya need to know.  Can you believe they don't even give you no fortune cookie there after a damn meal?  What a rip off..and they are even taking some...errr....actually all of your jobs too...hang on...actually you guys are giving them the jobs!!  Damn! This really sucks man!

Tong Ah on the left greets you when you drive up Keong Saik Street.

Kaya toast is always a hit for breakfast.

When Mr Tang landed up in Chinatown ( yes we even call them Chinatowns here in Asia how ironic!  No we don’t have ping pong table set up there. ), he rented the kopi tiam from the Arab owners and started Tong Ah.  Keong Saik Street was a wild strip run by a secret society with opium smokers and to this day legalised whore houses....yes, we got hos here too but they too like our city are clean as a whistle as they have regular health checks.  OK so much for hos, now back to the story.  

He opened his kopi tiam serving kopi and teh and some biscuits.  The kopi then was pure Indonesian coffee. There were push carts serving food around the streets which made it a bustling joint.  As you know, where there are whore houses , they will always be good food and you know why.


During the Japanese war period in 1942, Mr Kar Ping passed away and the kopi tiam was taken over by his son and grandad of Wee , Mr Tan Sez Pin.  He changed it up abit and started serving tow sa pia (red bean cakes), kai tan kueh, popiah and kaya toast.  In 1955, they introduced Cantonese food in the kopi tiam.

In the mid 80's Wee’s dad Mr Tang Tar Soon  took over the kopi tiam together with his grand uncle.  The laksa cart which was on the street moved into the kopi tiam after it was renovated.

Wee is the Pimp Daddy and runs the joint now.

Wee in the 90's was blending coffee in Clementi until 2002 when his Aunt asked him back to run the kopi tiam and that’s when everything changed!

Kopi and toast what else do you need.  The cans hanging above are for takeaways!

So now, the great grand son Wee runs the Tong Ah kopi tiam on 35 Keong Saik Street.  He has been hanging out in that kopi tiam.
Another interesting fact is that my great grand father, Dr Chia Keng Hoe who was a doctor, lived in the shophouse right before the chinese temple further up from Tong Ah.  His clinic, Eastern Dispensary was round the corner opposite the Majestic theatre which only had a 4 digit telephone number! 

COFFEE or KOPI

Everyone here in Singapore has an opinion on the kopi they drink and will have a certain way they will always order it.  Not many know how it’s made or even where the beans come from but we love it all the same as until now,  I will choose our Singapore Kopi over an western style coffee.  Let’s not even mention Starbucks or Coffee Bean, they don’t belong in any serious kopi talk. 

Product control as he says means blending your own coffee.  He blends 3 different coffee beans and his beans are about 2 years old.  Indonesian Robusta, Malaysian beans and the last I can’t tell you as I made a promise to him and will keep it…if I tell you, I will have to kill you and your family.  That’s how we roll over here baby, like our Asian films.

How we roast coffee beans over here in Asia is we do it with margarine to bring out the flavour , some salt and sugar!  The Malaysians do it : 60 kg coffee beans and 30kg sugar.  Here in Singapore we do it : 60 kg coffee beans and 20 kg sugar.  Wee does his 60kg coffee beans and 16 kg sugar as his beans are of a good quality and he wants the aroma and taste unmasks.

On another note, Ipoh is the only place that roasts it’s beans with only salt and no sugar and that’s what they call the famous White Coffee.  Wee uses white coffee in his blend.

When the coffee beans are over roasted, you will get a bitter and bitter tannin with no aroma.  We all have tasted that I’m sure and you know where too.

Can you smell it?  Somebody slap me!

When pouring the hot water into the sock, the foam at the top must be a creamy brown and not a dark brown and if it is dark, the beans have been over roasted.

Wee adds water  sometimes to get the right consistency for each custom order.

When he started blending his own beans, he took 2 years to perfect it before he served his first cup.  Using many suppliers like he says helps him as he never let’s a supplier control him and push a certain blend on him or be reliant on them so he will always call his shots.  A lot of kopi tiams rely too much on their supplier and so they serve whatever they sell them which allow the other kopi tiams to have the same blend.

MAKING THE KOPI

The hot water  supply tank is below and cups are always soaked in hot water.

The main prep area consists of his tank where the water is kept at boiling temperature with a tin mug to scoop it.  The serving cups are always soaked in hot water on a tray so the kopi is always served in hot cup.

Wee uses 2 soup ladles to make a pot of kopi.

Wee is pouring in the first strained kopi back into the sock to sieve it again.

  
Water is then poured into the sock till it fills up. After it drains into the bottom container, it is emptied into another container and poured back into the sock again so as to catch the finer grains of coffee that seeped through the first time!

The used socks in front with the new ones behind  ready to go.

This is how you clean the sock.

The sock is made of cotton and when it dries up and gets hard, it cannot be used again. You will never be able to get the same taste if you use your chic expensive I wanna be cool percolator.  Even George Clooney couldn’t do it with his Nespresso machine in his Lake Como Villa with his Italian babe.  Trust me.  Buy the sock for $5 and get it done.  Then take the rest of the money and buy your Italian babe a nice dinner.  I lived with a couple of socks in school and it kept me happy for a long time.

As for the condense milk, it must be REAL condense milk and not sweetener.  The brand he uses is General.  The good brands are $50 per case and the fake ones are $30 per case.  The cans are also recycled as take out containers even before it was hip to recycle.

TEA of TEH

Wee only uses Ceylon tea.  Many kopi tiams use Indonesian or Malaysian tea which is of a lower grade and of course cheaper.  He also uses from middle mountain to high mountain tea areas which is more superior.  He did mention to me they used to buy this tea in a wooden box but it’s too expensive now.  Ceylon tea can only be kept for a maximum of 2 years before it becomes bitter.  Chinese tea on the other hand can be kept for as long as 10 years.

Kaya toast always goes well with teh!

Suppliers come from all over and send him his tea in small plastic packets to smell and look at.  When examining tea, you only do it in direct sunlight so as to be able to differentiate the different colours the tea blend is composed of.  Also you’re able to see the different textures of the tea.  Some suppliers add vanilla powder for aroma and colouring to make it look more attractive!  He tests this buy pouring hot water into the sock with the tea and if there is vanilla in it, you can see the residue on the sock and smell it too!

He puts about 2 teaspoons of tea in the sock to make the first tea and doesn’t let it sit too long as it becomes bitter.  Same way as he makes kopi, he sieves it twice to get rid of the finer tea leaves.

THE SECRET CODE TO ORDER

The language used in all kopi tiams to order kopi and teh is Hockchew.  It is a mixed of Hokkien and Teochew and spoken in Fuzhou.

Here’s your dictionary for ordering Kopi and Teh so you can fit in and hang with us and not say really dumb ass things like “ I wanna a latte.” , " Can I have a long black " or  " A flat white please?" .  Save your self some embarrassment and remember these terms so you don't act like a bonehead. 


Here is goes : 

Kopi : Coffee with sugar and condensed milk

Kopi-O : Coffee with sugar only

Kopi-O Kosong : Coffee with no sugar or milk

Kopi-C : Coffee with sugar and evaporated milk

Siu Tai : Means less sweet.  So Kopi Siu Tai is kopi with condensed milk but less sugar.

Kar Tai : Means sweeter.  So Kopi C Kar Tai means Kopi with evaporates milk and more sugar.

Gao : When “Gao” is added to what ever you order, it means stronger.  So Kopi Gao is stronger Kopi with sugar and condensed milk.

Poh : Poh mean weak.  So Kopi Poh is weaker kopi with sugar and condensed milk.

All of the above also applies to Teh.  So Teh means tea with condense milk and sugar. And so on.


If you want ice added to what ever you ordered, just say "Ping" after whatever you ordered.  So Kopi Ping is Kopi with ice..that easy.

Wee will not serve you milk on the side fool!

Here comes the more sophisticated orders you can impress your KTV Ah Huay girlfriend with and definitely will get you to first base :

Liong Kow : means half Teh and half Kopi.  Actually they make it 60% Teh and 40% Kopi so the Kopi doesn’t over power the Teh.

Lan Lai : 1 Kopi and 1 Teh

Lan Lai  0 : 1 Kopi O and 1 Teh O

Lan Lai O Kosong : 1 Kopi O Kosong and 1 The O Kosong

Now we can hang!

You still want your cereal?

     

Crispy kaya toast.

French toast Singapore style with homemade kaya.

Tong Ah also serves really good kaya toast and offers two types.  The regular cut and the crispy thinner one.  They of course have the half boiled eggs and the French toast.  No sorry cereal breakfast for me.

My man Wee is smilin his ass off cause he knows he's got the magic brew!

Now that you know how much Singapore love is involved in that kopi, support your local kopi tiam and fight for that little guy unless you want to keep drinking that drain water they serve out of those chains.  This will be the best fun you will ever have with your clothes on people!!   Trust me, and it's for a good cause!  For you guys who have been sucking on that latte in your overpriced cafe, cross over from the dark side as that coffee you have in that sorry plastic coated paper cup can buy you 2 kopi, 2 teh, an order of eggs and a kaya toast.  Don't you feel you've been screwed now?  

KOPI POSTER BOY

Anthony Bourdain posing like a chow Ah Beng with the kopi I gave him for the No Reservations  TV  shoot.  He felt like he was carrying a urine sample!!!!  But loves the kopi all the same.

TONG AH EATING HOUSE, 35 KEONG SAIK STREET. TEL : 6223-5083

  

Dutch Baby Pancake Anyone?

Dutch baby!

The Original Pancake House in Eugene, Oregon is an institution.  The only reason I went there when I was in college was to eat the Dutch Baby Pancake also known as German Pancakes,  and nothing else!

This pancake is derived from the German pancake and is said to be made popular by a Seattle cafe.  The daughter of the owner called them Dutch Baby.

Sprinkled with powdered sugar and a twist of lemon, it did it for me and helped me make it through the tough academic probation semesters at the University of Oregon, home of Animal House;  double secret probation.  Yes, I'm a Duck and proud to be one.

My adopted American mum Jackie Swenson gave me the recipe a long time ago so here it is for starting 2012!  Rose Bowl Champs, Go Ducks!

This is how you do it:

2 eggs, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 lemon. 2 tablespoons of butter (not in photo but in the skillet)

Whip up the mix but not too fine, leave some lumps.

Pour mix into your cast iron skillet pan which has already been heated with 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

Can you smell the butter!

Preheat oven to 220C or 428F and bake for about 10min until golden brown.

Squeeze some lemon.

Sieve some powdered sugar.

Grate some nutmeg and we are set!!

We are all set; bringing the Ducth Baby to Singapore!

Please also check out : www.russelwongphoto.com

My Mom's Nonya Laksa Recipe

Nonya Laksa

My mum, who was born and bred in Katong, is pretty well known for her Nyonya Laksa and even movie stars like Joan Chen crave for it when ever she steps into town.
So here it goes.  If you use cheap ass ingredients or skip a step, it won't be right.  If you live somewhere with no fresh coconut milk, you MUST move out to another town that has it!  Lastly, if you pass this recipe around I will kill you.  Just between you and me, Chef Jean Georges ( who incidentally opened the Restaurant at the Hotel Meriedian in Singapore ) came by before he opened up Spice Market in NYC and got this recipe from me.  So feel good about it, as only you and the 3 star chef has it.  That's about it folks.

My Mom’s Nonya Laksa Recipe

Ingredients for Rempah/ Spice Paste

2 thumb size pieces of fresh turmeric/ kunyit, peeled

10 slices of galangal

25 pieces dried red chilies, soaked in water to soften (or 1/2 to 3/4 packet of the ground chili paste of a large packet)

7 candlenuts (buah keras/ kimiri)

2 tablespoon of belachan/ terasi

400 gm shallots (small onion)

6 stalks of lemongrass/ serai, tender white part only, chopped

1 tbsp of ground coriander

Salt

*60 gm of dried prawn, soaked in water for 30 minutes and then ground fine.

This is NOT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE GRINDER WITH THE OTHER INGREDIENTS. THIS IS TO BE GROUND SEPERATELY FOR FRYING LATER.

Method for cooking Rempah/ Spice Paste

Grind all the ingredients for the Rempah first.

Heat up wok with about 250ml of oil and fry ground Rempah for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes in low fire. Remove from heat and cool.

*Add the ground-dried prawns at this stage and keep frying. Also add the last bit of water that was used to the prawns. Use about 1 to 2 cups of each. The secret in cooking this lies in having patience.

As you are frying, add a tablespoon at a time, the thick coconut milk until 1/2 of that quantity is used (please reserve the other 1/2). By this time, also add 4 stalks of Daun kesom and keep stirring. Slowly add the thin coconut milk and keep stirring to make sure that no lumps form. Let this soup boil (while continuously stirring) for about 30 minutes and add salt to taste. The final step is to add the remaining thick coconut milk to thicken the soup. Do this on medium heat for a few minutes and then switch off fire. DO NOT COVER POT!

Ingredients for Garnishing:

700 gms bean sprouts (blanched in hot water for exactly 1 minute, then transfer to iced water bowl)

1.5 kg fresh rice vermicelli (Laksa noodles)

1 kg big tiger prawns (cooked and shelled) reserve 1 to 2 cups of water from pot for Laksa soup

1 or 2 cucumber (skinned, remove seeds in center, then julienne)

2 ozs. Daun kesom (polygomun or ram-ram), which needs to be cut into hair-like slivers

2 oz bean thread soak in boiling water

200 gms ground red chili (Separately, grind chili and add salt to taste. Place in a bowl for people to help themselves)

Fish cake (pleeeeze buy the premium one and not the cheap horrid chewy ones)

Coconut milk (Please make FRESH, not blooming packet things!):

1.5kg to 2kg fresh grated coconut (reserve the liquid from inside the coconut)

3 liters of filtered water

First squeeze without water for thick coconut milk, then second squeeze with water.

 THIS RECIPE SERVES 10 PEOPLE OR 5 BIG PEOPLE OR 20 JAPANESE.




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WHICH IS THE REAL " KATONG" LAKSA?

Katong Laksa, need I say more.

When I was growing up at Rose Garden in Katong, one of the highlights was eating laksa either at Roxy Theatre or at the corner of Ceylon Road.  The other highlights were staring at cute Katong Convent girls and feeding my face with Nonya Kueh Salat.  So here it goes, these were the 2 original "Katong" laksa places in existance at that time, yes, only 2!


Laksa Lemak or Nyonya Laksa is a type of laksa with bee hoon or rice vermicelli, served with a fish based gravy, with dried  shrimp and rich coconut milk.  How lemak the laksa is depends on the amount of coconut milk used in the gravy.  Katong laksa falls in this category.  The toppings are fresh shrimp and sliced fish cake served with sambal chili and fresh daun kesom or laksa leaf as garnishings.  The Peranankan version does not have cockles or shredded chicken but stalls these days offer the cockles or hum which is  Hokkien thing!

Janggut Laksa

Clockwise from top left : Palace Theatre, 49 East Coast Rd, Roxy Theatre, Palace Theatre.

OK homies, let's start with the main Pimp Daddy of them all, the first laksa stall in Katong.  Mr Ng Juat Swee better known as Janggut was selling his laksa carrying his pole with metal buckets over his shoulders around the Marine Parade beach area in the 40's.  He was born in the Fujian Province , a Hokkien, moved to Singapore in his teens and married a Peranakan and this explained his Nonya laksa.  He would cut the noodles from the beginning so that it would be easier to use a spoon, a unique trait to Katong laksa.

Ng Juat Swee or Janggut standing in the centre during the early 80's with his brother Chwee Seng on the extreme left.

They called him Janggut as he had hair growing out from his mole below his chin.  Janggut means beard in Malay.  The Peranakans give everyone a nickname; one of my Aunts is Hitam because she is dark, another one is Chekgu beacuse she's a teacher, another one is Tempang beacuse she is lame!
Anyways, this was the original name for his laksa and everyone in Katong called it Janggut Laksa!  It was also known in Chinese as Jiadong Laksa which means Katong Laksa.

When his younger brother Chwee Seng was about 23, he helped Janggut sell laksa on a tricycle around the streets where they lived on Marshall Road and in front of the  bungalows by Marine Parade beach.  They also then rented a stall at 49 East Coast Road in the late 50's and opened the stall with his family and called it Marine Parade Laksa.  It was later registered as Marine Parade Laksa in 1963.  His rent was a whopping $30 a month then!!  Customers would also order the rojak in the same kopi tiam and would buy kuehs next door.  It was truly the neighbourhood food hangout.

Heng working at the coffee shop as a kid when Janggut was around.

Heng in 2011 with less hair at his coffee shop in 49 East Coast Rd where he worked when Janggut was around.

I spoke to botak Heng, the coffee shop owner's son, who was only a kid working in the coffee shop and he told me his family allowed Janggut to take literally the corner of the shop facing Ceylon Rd.  He would sell on Sundays and Mondays and his younger brother Ng Chwee Seng sold the rest of the days.  Janggut passed away in 1986 at the age of 85.  His kids never followed his trade.

Nancy moved across the street to 51 East Coast Rd to start 328 Laksa.

When the rent was raised, they closed the shop down for 2 years.  In the meantime, the space was taken over by the present lady owner Nancy of 328 Laksa.  She was only there for about 1 year and moved across the street to 51 East Coast Road to start her own chain.

The present Prata shop at 57 East Coast Road where Chwee Seng's kids worked.

After a 2 year break, the Ng family finally started the stall again in 1998 at 57 East Coast Road up the street under the overhead bridge that connects to Roxy Theatre.  They shared the coffee shop with a popular duck guy.  Rent was about S$1400.  It was run by Chwee Seng's kids Miss Ng Sway Hong and her brother Ng Kok Soon.   Chwee Seng did open another stall in Bedok in 1978 and is run by his 3rd son Kok Wee.  They finally closed the 57 East Coast Road stall as rent sky rocketed (what's new you damn landlords ) and moved it to Roxy Square in 2000 and opened the Queensway Shopping Centre stall in 2005 making it 3 outlets.  We all wished that they stayed in the beautiful shop houses but rents now are crazy and so the most feasible thing for them was to move to the newer food centres or in a small mall.

The new location of Janggut Laksa in Roxy Square in Katong still gets the regulars who live around there.

The Original Katong Laksa

Can you smell the gravy?

The Queensway Shopping Centre outlet has a younger crowd.

Mdm Ng, Janggut's niece, is at the Queensway outlet most of the time.

Janggut Laksa

So in a nutshell, the oldest laksa in Katong was called Marine Parade Laksa or Janggut Laksa and now known as The Orginal Katong Laksa.

Roxy Laksa

Roxy Theatre in Katong.

Roxy Laksa, somebody slap me!

The other original Katong laksa started a couple of years only after Marine Parade laksa.  It was called  Roxy Laksa as it was situated in Roxy Theatre across the street from Marine Parade Laksa.  Mr Lim Kiok Seng opened it in 1952 and had a cart parked outside in the alley way on the left of the Theatre.  He later moved inside after the theatre was renovated to the back at the canteen, and the Shaws who ran the theatre never charged him rent and just made him pay for the water!  Something you money grabbing landlords can learn from and help the little guys.  It was Janggut that taught Mr Lim how to make his version after they opened about the same time.  Talk about helping each other.   I remember slurping down some laksa every time I saw the Sound of Music, which I saw 8 times.  Yes, I was in love with Julie Andrews growing up as there was nothing much to do in Katong in those days and you don't see many white women walking around Katong eating Kueh.

Roxy Square where the old Roxy theatre used to be.

A great new location for the Roxy Laksa with the lagoon in the background.

Daisy and Mike Lim who now run the stall.

Mr Lim Eng Hock, the son of the Kiok Seng expanded the business to army camp canteens in the 1970's and then passed it to his son Lim Swee Hong better known as Mike.  

Roxy Laksa then moved to East Coast Lagoon Food Centre in 1979 to make way for Roxy Square.  Mike uses fresh squeeze coconut and the best sea prawns in line with the original recipe and only makes the rempah or spice paste on the day itself.  No it's not out of a box unlike some 5 star hotels I know who charge $30 a bowl for that instant crap.

Freshly cut  sea prawns all ready to go.

Mike with the magic potion.

Daisy his wife adds the fresh daun kesom to my lunch!

Martha Stewart came in 2010 to the stall to shoot her show.  You will never be able to make this in New York baby! 

I bet you Martha Stewart is trying to figure out how to make this.  Honey, stick to your chicken noodle soup.

They serve the original Peranakan recipe of fish cake and prawns only but do offer cockles for the die hards.  No cutting corners.  I remember turning up at 7am in the morning and he was preparing the gravy for the day from scratch!  I did beg him for a bowl then and got one to start my day!




So now you know the real Katong laksa story.  There are only 2 original Katong laksa stalls and only these 2 are the real deal.  Nothing else;  don't buy pirated laksa!

Mdm Ng Sway Hong, your chef at Janggut's in Queensway.

I was just down having a chat with Ng Sway Hong, Chwee Seng's daughter, at Queensway as she manages the stall there.  It was like talking to family as we are from Katong and she was more than happy to set the record straight in her humble way.  Her customers called her that day and told her I was snooping around her Roxy Sq outlet which I find hilarious because this is what Peranakans do, they always keep a tab on everyone and you thought only the Mafia had a network!  We call it 'kaypoh which means 'busybody'.  Needless to say,  a bowl of laksa was waiting for me and she also managed to let me try her chicken curry with bread which was shiok and buay tahan (for my foreign friends it means  'It kicks ass!).

Gentleman, this is your chef. at Roxy Laksa and grandson of the founder and not some hired help from a town you can't pronounce.

Mike the grandson of Roxy Laksa  still cooks for you as I don't dig a bunch of Chinese nationals cooking my laksa; what do they know, they cant even cook their own sorry ass lard filled Chinese food let alone our OWN sophisticated Peranakan food!  I'm sorry but it's true.  He also uses the good ingredients and doesn't stinge on them.  His gravy is not instant from a box drain water and has a punch.  This is his ONLY stall so support him people as he's one of yours!  He is the last of the dying breed we appreciate so much.

Being from Katong, I take this very personally and want to give credit to the real people who busted their asses for 60 years coming up with this dish and feeding me when I was a kid with ADD (at that time they just called me energetic and gila ("mad" in Malay), ADD sounds more sophisticated and polite).  So slurp it up and stain that shirt you are wearing with some real Katong Laksa gravy and wear it like a badge of honour.

Here are some of the other players in the game that came later.

George Lim's father worked for Janggut and he opened a stall in Chai Chee in 1982 and is the only one that has registered his stall name "Katong Laksa".  He now is in a coffee shop at 1 Telok Kurau Rd with the famous  Golden City  Carrot Cake woman.

328 Laksa is a huge chain owned by Lucy Koh and her husband.  They are on the opposite corner of the old Marine Parade Laksa at 51 East Coast Road!  She has a bunch of outlets scattered around the island and the most visible chain.

49 Laksa at 49 East Coast Road is at the original Marine Parade Laksa stall and owned now by Heng who worked there as a kid when Janggut was around.

The Original Katong Laksa or Janggut Laksa
- 50 East Coast Road, Roxy Square #01-64
- Queensway Shopping Centre #01-59
Miss Ng (Janggut's niece) : 9622-1045

Roxy Laksa
48 East Coast Lagoon Food Village
Mon-Fri : 1030am - 9pm, Public Holidays : 830am - 9pm
Closed on Wednesdays
Mike Lim : 9630-2321


Please also check out : www.russelwongphoto.com