Restaurant in Singapore, Singapore
Asia's #1 casual stall. Arrive early.
Ranked #1 on Opinionated About Dining's Casual in Asia list for three straight years, Sungei Road Laksa is the bowl food-focused travellers to Singapore should prioritise. Wong Ai Tin's charcoal-heated Peranakan laksa is served hawker-style at 27 Jalan Berseh, open Thursday to Tuesday from 9:30 am until sold out. No booking needed, no dinner service.
Sungei Road Laksa is the single most decorated casual dining address in Asia right now, ranked #1 on Opinionated About Dining's Casual in Asia list for three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025). If you are in Singapore and you eat one bowl of laksa, make it this one. The caveat: it operates on hawker terms, not restaurant terms, and if you arrive expecting table service, air conditioning, or dinner hours, you will leave disappointed. Show up on a weekday morning, order once at the stall, and eat at a shared table. That is the entire transaction, and it earns the ranking.
The stall sits at 27 Jalan Berseh inside a covered hawker centre, a compact, open-air-adjacent space typical of Singapore's older food centres. Seating is communal, plastic, and functional. There is no interior design to speak of. What the space communicates, clearly, is that nothing here is about atmosphere in the decorative sense: the physical layout exists to move people through quickly and feed them well. For food explorers who find that kind of unvarnished focus genuinely compelling, this is exactly the right framing. For anyone who needs a certain level of comfort or formality to enjoy a meal, this is not the right venue regardless of the ranking.
The laksa here is a Peranakan preparation, the coconut-rich, spice-forward variant associated with the Straits Chinese culinary tradition rather than the lighter assam style found elsewhere in the region. Wong Ai Tin runs the stall, and the preparation method is part of what draws serious food travellers: charcoal-heated clay pots are used to warm the broth rather than industrial burners, a technique that has largely disappeared from Singapore's hawker circuit. This is not a detail invented for marketing. It is the practical reason why the flavour profile differs from laksa you will find at higher-volume competitors.
Portions are small by design, priced accessibly, and the stall closes when the day's supply is exhausted, which typically happens well before the 4 pm listed closing time. The operating window is effectively morning to early afternoon, Wednesday is closed entirely. If you are planning a visit around this stall, build your day accordingly: arrive between 10 am and noon to avoid both the early rush and the risk of selling out.
The service model is pure hawker: you queue, you order, you collect. There are no servers, no menus to study, and no upselling. For the price tier this represents, that is not a weakness; it is the appropriate format. Comparing the service experience here to a full-service restaurant like Candlenut or Pangium is a category error. The correct comparison is against other laksa stalls, and on that measure, the three-year OAD #1 ranking speaks for itself. Against 328 Katong Laksa, Sungei Road Laksa is the more technically traditional preparation; 328 is easier to access across multiple locations and runs longer hours. Which you prioritise depends on whether you are after convenience or the bowl that specialists consistently rank above all others.
Google reviews sit at 4.2 across 2,752 ratings, which is a solid but not overwhelming aggregate. The gap between the OAD ranking and the Google score reflects a predictable divergence: casual diners rating on Google weight comfort, consistency at scale, and accessibility; OAD's methodology weights culinary merit and technique. Both are legitimate signals. The OAD ranking matters more if you are travelling specifically to eat. The Google score matters more if you are uncertain about the format and want a sense of how a general audience responds.
For Peranakan cooking with full table service and a broader menu, Chilli Padi (Joo Chiat) and Indocafé are worth considering. If you are travelling across the region and want to compare Peranakan cooking more broadly, Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery, Richard Rivalee, Ceki, Flower Mulan, Kota Dine & Coffee, Nyonya Willow, and Ivy's Nyonya Cuisine are all operating in George Town, while Limapulo represents the Kuala Lumpur Peranakan scene. None of them are doing what Sungei Road Laksa does, but they give context for the wider tradition.
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Quick reference: 27 Jalan Berseh, #01-100 | Open Thurs–Tues 9:30 am–4 pm (or until sold out) | Closed Wednesday | No booking required | Hawker format, cash-friendly | Easy access, no reservations needed.
No reservation is required or possible. This is a walk-in hawker stall. Arrive early in the day, queue at the stall, order directly, and find a seat. The practical booking challenge is timing, not availability in the conventional sense: the stall sells out before closing time on busy days, and Wednesday is a full closure.
The stall is open six days a week (closed Wednesday) from 9:30 am to 4 pm, though selling out early is a real possibility. Dress code is non-existent; come as you are. The format is cash-friendly hawker dining. Seating is communal and open-air-adjacent, so factor in Singapore's heat and humidity if you are sensitive to outdoor conditions. There is no website or phone number for advance planning beyond what is listed here.
The laksa here is a coconut-milk-based, spice-forward Peranakan preparation. The core dish is unlikely to be suitable for vegans given the broth base and typical Peranakan ingredient set, and the hawker format means there is no kitchen team available to modify orders or provide detailed allergen information. If you have significant dietary restrictions, this stall is not well set up to accommodate them. Consider Candlenut or Pangium for Peranakan cooking in a full-service setting where dietary queries can be properly handled.
Solo dining works well here. Hawker centres are one of the few formats where eating alone carries no social awkwardness, and the communal seating means you will always find a spot. The compact, single-dish format is actually better suited to a solo visit than a group meal, since there is no menu to share across. If you are a food traveller doing Singapore solo, this is a direct and efficient use of a morning.
Wear whatever you are comfortable eating in at an outdoor hawker centre in Singapore's heat and humidity. There is no dress standard of any kind. Smart-casual or tourist-casual is the de facto norm. Given that the stall is open-air-adjacent, light, breathable clothing is a practical consideration rather than a style one.
Not in the conventional sense. The hawker format means no private seating, no table service, no occasion framing. If you are celebrating something and want a Peranakan context for the meal, Candlenut or Indocafé offer full-service settings. That said, if the special occasion is a food pilgrimage and the point is to eat the #1-ranked casual dish in Asia, this stall absolutely delivers on that framing.
There is no dinner. The stall closes at 4 pm at the latest and may sell out considerably earlier. The practical answer is: mid-morning is better than late morning, and late morning is better than early afternoon. Aim to arrive between 10 am and noon. If you arrive after 2 pm, there is a real risk the stall has already closed for the day.
No booking is available or required. The only planning that matters is timing your visit for the morning window and avoiding Wednesday closures. Given the OAD #1 ranking, the stall draws food-focused visitors consistently, so earlier in the day is safer. There is no waitlist or reservation system of any kind.
Groups can visit, but the hawker format sets practical limits. Communal tables can accommodate small groups of four to six without difficulty if you are willing to share space with other diners. Larger groups may find it harder to seat everyone together. There is no phone or booking system to pre-arrange group visits, and the stall cannot hold tables. Groups of two to four will have the easiest experience.
There is no bar. This is a hawker stall in a food centre. Seating is at shared tables in the common dining area. You collect your bowl from the stall and find a seat wherever one is available. The format is entirely self-service from that point.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sungei Road Laksa | Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #1 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #1 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #1 (2023) | — | |
| Zén | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$$ | — |
| Jaan by Kirk Westaway | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$ | — |
| Summer Pavilion | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$ | — |
| Burnt Ends | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$ | — |
| Seroja | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | $$$ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Sungei Road Laksa and alternatives.
Laksa is a rich, coconut-based prawn broth dish and is not vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free by default. The stall operates as a single-dish hawker format with no documented customisation options, so if you have serious dietary restrictions, this one is likely not for you. The menu is what the menu is.
Yes, and it may actually be the ideal format for a solo visit. You order at the stall, take a seat wherever you find space, and eat — there is no table minimum, no awkward party-size pressure, and no reservation process to coordinate. Singapore's hawker culture is built for this, and solo diners move through the queue faster.
Whatever you are comfortable eating in at an open-air-adjacent hawker centre in Singapore's heat and humidity. There is no dress code. Wear something you would not mind getting broth on — laksa can be messy.
It depends on what the occasion calls for. If you want to mark something with a meal that carries genuine prestige — ranked #1 casual dining in Asia by Opinionated About Dining three consecutive years (2023–2025) — then yes. If the occasion requires a private room, wine list, or extended table time, look at Seroja or Zén instead. This is a hawker stall: no frills, but real credibility.
There is no dinner service. The stall opens at 9:30 am and closes at 4 pm, six days a week (closed Wednesday), and it routinely sells out before closing time. Mid-morning, closer to opening, is the most reliable window to eat without a long queue or the risk of walking away empty-handed.
Bookings are not possible — this is a walk-in-only hawker stall. The only planning required is arriving early in the day, ideally before 11 am, to avoid the lunch crowd and reduce the chance of selling out. No phone, no website, no reservation system.
Groups can visit, but the hawker centre format means seating is communal and first-come. Larger groups will likely need to split across tables or wait for enough seats to open up together. There are no private arrangements or group bookings. For a group meal where everyone sits together from the start, a restaurant setting like Burnt Ends or Seroja will be easier to manage.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
