San Katong Laksa Steamboat Restaurant
Tue May 20 2008
Tue May 20 2008
By Wong Ah Yoke The Sunday Times
Marrying two very Singaporean food passions was an auspicious beginning for the first laksa steamboat restaurant here.
Singaporeans love laksa. And they love steamboat.Yet no one thought of marrying the two until Mr Sean Lim opened his first laksa steamboat restaurant in Telok Blangah Road in January this year.The brainwave came to him when he looked around and saw that there was no steamboat stock that could be said to be Singaporean. As he pointed out, the popular tom yam steamboat was Thai and mala steamboat was from China.Even the boring chicken stock steamboat was not a Singapore creation. But laksa, he thought, you can't get more Singaporean than that.It helped, too, that he knew that dish well. He runs the popular San Katong laksa and nasi lemak outlets in Holland Village.The stock he uses in his steamboat, however, is not the rich Katong laksa gravy. It is more diluted and contains a lot less coconut milk.Yet the fragrance of laksa is unmistakable as you enter the air-conditioned restaurant.The stock is not very spicy either, but a tub of chilli sauce is placed on the table for those who want it spicier. And there is a saucer of sliced laksa leaves as well for you to sprinkle into the stock.For those who still want chicken stock, that is available as well - either on its own or as a combination with the laksa stock.You order the food to go into the stock from an a la carte menu with prices ranging from $1.50 to $10 for each order. And here is where the restaurant could be a lot more creative.What it serves right now is everything you would expect at a steamboat restaurant.Yes there are cockles ($3) and tau pok ($1.50), which are laksa staples.But the rest is the usual selection of meats such as pork ($3), beef ($5) and chicken ($3), which are sliced paper-thin. And seafood such as prawns ($8), scallops ($8) and sea cucumber ($8) as well as balls made from fish ($3), squid ($3) or lobster ($3).Then, there are vegetables such as cabbage ($1.50), kangkong ($1.50) and different varieties of mushrooms ($2.50).The quality is so-so and the yong tau foo ($3), for example, is of supermarket quality. But to be fair, this is not a fine-dining restaurant and its prices are not exorbitant.Also, the mark of a good steamboat is not just based on the freshness of the ingredients but on the strength of the stock as well.While many Singaporeans are used to the idea of starting with a tasteless stock and having the ingredients add flavour to it as they cook, I prefer the opposite. I'd rather have the stock give flavour to the food.And that is what this laksa steamboat does.It's a brilliant idea that I'm sure will become very popular soon. And one can easily come up with a better version, too, that marries a good stock with top quality ingredients.But in the meantime, Mr Lim is not sitting idle while waiting for copycat competitors to enter the market.He is trying to corner it by opening branches as fast as he can. There are already plans to open one each next month in Holland Village and Bedok. And more are coming soon.
Marrying two very Singaporean food passions was an auspicious beginning for the first laksa steamboat restaurant here.
Singaporeans love laksa. And they love steamboat.Yet no one thought of marrying the two until Mr Sean Lim opened his first laksa steamboat restaurant in Telok Blangah Road in January this year.The brainwave came to him when he looked around and saw that there was no steamboat stock that could be said to be Singaporean. As he pointed out, the popular tom yam steamboat was Thai and mala steamboat was from China.Even the boring chicken stock steamboat was not a Singapore creation. But laksa, he thought, you can't get more Singaporean than that.It helped, too, that he knew that dish well. He runs the popular San Katong laksa and nasi lemak outlets in Holland Village.The stock he uses in his steamboat, however, is not the rich Katong laksa gravy. It is more diluted and contains a lot less coconut milk.Yet the fragrance of laksa is unmistakable as you enter the air-conditioned restaurant.The stock is not very spicy either, but a tub of chilli sauce is placed on the table for those who want it spicier. And there is a saucer of sliced laksa leaves as well for you to sprinkle into the stock.For those who still want chicken stock, that is available as well - either on its own or as a combination with the laksa stock.You order the food to go into the stock from an a la carte menu with prices ranging from $1.50 to $10 for each order. And here is where the restaurant could be a lot more creative.What it serves right now is everything you would expect at a steamboat restaurant.Yes there are cockles ($3) and tau pok ($1.50), which are laksa staples.But the rest is the usual selection of meats such as pork ($3), beef ($5) and chicken ($3), which are sliced paper-thin. And seafood such as prawns ($8), scallops ($8) and sea cucumber ($8) as well as balls made from fish ($3), squid ($3) or lobster ($3).Then, there are vegetables such as cabbage ($1.50), kangkong ($1.50) and different varieties of mushrooms ($2.50).The quality is so-so and the yong tau foo ($3), for example, is of supermarket quality. But to be fair, this is not a fine-dining restaurant and its prices are not exorbitant.Also, the mark of a good steamboat is not just based on the freshness of the ingredients but on the strength of the stock as well.While many Singaporeans are used to the idea of starting with a tasteless stock and having the ingredients add flavour to it as they cook, I prefer the opposite. I'd rather have the stock give flavour to the food.And that is what this laksa steamboat does.It's a brilliant idea that I'm sure will become very popular soon. And one can easily come up with a better version, too, that marries a good stock with top quality ingredients.But in the meantime, Mr Lim is not sitting idle while waiting for copycat competitors to enter the market.He is trying to corner it by opening branches as fast as he can. There are already plans to open one each next month in Holland Village and Bedok. And more are coming soon.
San Katong Laksa Steamboat Restaurant
404 Telok Blangah RoadTel: 6275-7069Open: 11am to midnight dailyFood: ***Service: ** 1/2Ambience:
***Price: Budget from $20 per person. Cash only
This article was first published in The Sunday Times on May 18,
This article was first published in The Sunday Times on May 18,
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