SINGAPORE: When a Reddit user said he ordered laksa in Sydney, posting a photo of a plate of noodles topped with a small portion of some kind of creamy sauce, spring onions and maybe a fish meatball, it elicited strong reactions from netizens, one of whom said it looked more like mee rebus than laksa.
Laksa is traditionally prepared with a broth with sour asam or a coconut soup. Also, most of the time, it’s topped with prawns, chicken or fish; its noodles are usually thick rice noodles. Many times, a boiled egg, bean sprouts, or other toppings are added for good measure.
A netizen asked how it tasted, generously giving the cook the benefit of the doubt that it may have been “nice.”
“It was kinda weird. The yellow noodles are basically yellow mee, but a bit overcooked, with laksa-ish sauce and a crumbly ball of fish mince. Tofu puff was nice though,” the post author, u/jpatokal wrote in a comment on r/Singapore on Aug 27.
jpatokal added in another comment asking whether the dish had been bought at “some fine dining place” that it was “a dish of the day thing at a regular cafe, which usually does good (mostly Western) food so I’m not going to doxx them. And it wasn’t listed as deconstructed laksa or anything.”
Some commenters shared their experience of ordering Chinese food in far-flung places.
“Who ask you order laksa in Sydney?” asked another commenter.
Another posted a photo of instant “laksa” from a UK grocery.
However, one Reddit user commented that the dish looked “palatable.”
But one wrote, “That is not laksa. That is depression. Where is the broth? Did he use spaghetti??? Now I sort of understand Italians (Also why so small????? At least from this perspective).” 
/TISG