Laksa junkie

...is the perfect antidote for days that are wet and cold (which is pretty much everyday here in Melbourne during winter).

When I was a kid, my favourite laksa was from a singaporean all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant in Canberra which was owned and operated by an old tyrant of a woman who use to tell me not to eat so much. She eventually closed her restaurant and went back to Singapore and it wasn't until the early 2000s until I discovered a satisfactory substitute in the Dickson Asian noodle house (DANH). DANH was one of those places that uni students would go for their laksa fix. It was cheap and tasty but every fifth bowl would invariably result in some form of mild food poisoning.

Since coming to Melbourne, my desire for laksa had not been fully satisfied....until now. A good food buddy introduced me to the earthly delights of the Laksa King near the Newmarket Railway Station the other night. Oh my God. If this was not the best laksa place on Earth then it must be a close second. The broth is so good I swear it must contain some sort of narcotic. The seafood, too, was cooked to perfection (scallops, prawns and squid were tender and juicy). But the real star was the chunk of fried melt-in-your-mouth eggplant that accompanied every bowl (see photo), an unusual ingredient for laksa but boy does it work.

I think I am hooked... after eating there on Friday, I went there again last night (using the excuse that I had to bring a friend there before he flew back to Europe later that evening). And before the bill was even paid, I was already contemplating my third visit.