Restaurant in Singapore, Singapore
No reservation needed. OAD-ranked. Go.
328 Katong Laksa is one of Singapore's most consistently awarded casual venues, ranked in Opinionated About Dining's top 16 casual spots in Asia three years running. Walk-ins only, open daily from 9:30 am, and priced at the accessible end of the spectrum. Worth the trip to East Coast Road for anyone serious about Peranakan food culture.
328 Katong Laksa does not require a reservation strategy. You show up, you queue if needed, and you eat one of Singapore's most consistently recognised bowls of Katong-style laksa at a price point that makes almost every other food decision in the city look expensive by comparison. Opinionated About Dining has ranked it among the leading casual dining venues in Asia three years running — #16 in 2023, #10 in 2024, and #13 in 2025 — which puts it in rare company for a hawker-adjacent operation on East Coast Road. If you are in Singapore and have not made it to Katong, this is the place to anchor the trip.
The room at 328 Katong Laksa is compact and functional , this is a casual shophouse operation, not a designed dining room. Expect close seating, shared tables during peak hours, and a pace that keeps things moving. That compression is part of the format: the venue is built for throughput, and the experience reflects it. If you want lingering space and table service depth, this is not the right venue. If you want a focused, well-executed bowl in a neighbourhood that earns a half-day visit on its own, it works well.
East Coast Road's Joo Chiat and Katong stretch has enough adjacent interest , Peranakan shophouses, bakeries, and nearby alternatives like Chilli Padi (Joo Chiat) , to make the area worth the cab or MRT-plus-walk from the city centre. The walk-in model means no commitment required, which suits the neighbourhood's browse-and-eat rhythm.
Weekday mornings between opening at 9:30 am and around 11:30 am give you the leading shot at a short wait and a quieter room. Weekend lunch is the hardest slot: foot traffic peaks from noon to 2 pm and the compact space fills fast. If a weekend visit is your only option, aim for early opening or push toward mid-afternoon once the lunch rush clears. The venue runs the same hours every day , 9:30 am to 9:30 pm , so there is no day-of-week advantage in terms of access, only time-of-day management.
Dinner is a reasonable choice if your day runs long, but the Katong area is livelier and more interesting earlier in the day when the neighbourhood's market energy carries through. For a special occasion framing , a visitor you are taking to experience a Singapore classic , a late morning visit followed by a walk through the Peranakan shophouse streets gives the meal genuine context without requiring an early start.
328 Katong Laksa earns its OAD rankings because it delivers consistent quality at a tier where consistency is genuinely hard to maintain. For a special occasion in the traditional sense , anniversary dinner, business meal, celebration , this is not the format. The seating is communal, the pace is fast, and there is no theatre. But for the kind of occasion that matters to anyone seriously interested in Singapore's food culture , showing a first-time visitor what Peranakan hawker cooking actually tastes like at its most recognised level , this is close to the right answer.
If you want a seated Peranakan experience with more ceremony, Candlenut gives you a Michelin-starred version of the cuisine in a proper dining room. Pangium offers a more modern interpretation. For Peranakan cooking rooted in tradition and worth comparing across the region, the George Town scene is worth exploring: Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery, Richard Rivalee, and Ceki all represent serious alternatives in Penang. In Kuala Lumpur, Limapulo is the comparable reference point.
For the full picture of where to eat and stay around your Singapore visit, see our full Singapore restaurants guide, our full Singapore hotels guide, and our full Singapore bars guide. If you are planning around experiences or tastings, our full Singapore experiences guide covers the broader city.
328 Katong Laksa is at 51 East Coast Road, Singapore 428770. Open daily 9:30 am to 9:30 pm with no reservation required. No dress code. Google rating: 3.9 from 3,631 reviews. OAD Casual in Asia: #13 (2025). Walk-in only , arrive early on weekends to avoid a queue.
Quick reference: Walk-in daily, 9:30 am–9:30 pm, 51 East Coast Road. No booking needed.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 328 Katong Laksa | Peranakan | Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #13 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #10 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #16 (2023) | Easy | — | |
| Zén | European Contemporary | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Jaan by Kirk Westaway | British Contemporary | $$$ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Summer Pavilion | Cantonese | $$ | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Burnt Ends | Australian Barbecue, Barbecue | $$$ | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Seroja | Singaporean, Malaysian | $$$ | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
How 328 Katong Laksa stacks up against the competition.
Only if the occasion is 'eating one of Singapore's most consistently OAD-ranked bowls of laksa.' This is a compact shophouse with close seating and no reservations — not a setting for anniversaries or milestone dinners. For a celebratory meal in Singapore, Zén or Jaan by Kirk Westaway are the right call. But if the point is to eat something genuinely worth talking about, 328 Katong Laksa delivers that without ceremony.
For casual Peranakan or hawker-style eating at a similar price tier, compare what's available along East Coast Road. For a step up in format and setting, Seroja covers Peranakan cuisine in a more structured dining environment. If you want Singapore's upper end entirely, Zén (three Michelin stars) and Burnt Ends (consistently ranked on Asia's 50 Best) are different categories altogether — higher spend, reservation-dependent, and not comparable on value.
No reservations, no website, no phone booking — you walk in and queue if needed. The venue is at 51 East Coast Road, open daily from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm. It has ranked in OAD's Casual in Asia list every year from 2023 to 2025, peaking at #10 in 2024, which is the clearest signal of what to expect: consistent, unpretentious, well-executed laksa. Arrive before 11:30 am on weekdays for the shortest wait.
328 Katong Laksa is a shophouse operation — there is no bar. Seating is at close-set tables in a compact room. If counter or bar seating is important to your experience, this is not the format; consider Burnt Ends, which has a counter facing the open-fire grill.
Small groups of two to four are manageable given the walk-in format and compact seating. Larger groups will find the no-reservation policy and limited space a practical problem, especially on weekends when waits are longest. For groups of six or more in Singapore, a venue that takes reservations — Seroja or Summer Pavilion, for instance — will give you a more reliable experience.
Lunch is harder — weekend midday is the busiest window. The practical answer is an early weekday visit: doors open at 9:30 am, and arriving before 11:30 am gives you the best chance of a short queue and a quieter room. Evening service is available until 9:30 pm daily and tends to be less crowded than weekend lunch, but the food is the same regardless of when you go.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
