Our independent tasting panel counts down to the best laksa in Darwin

VIDEO: Darwinites love their laksa so we enlisted an independent tasting panel to count down to the best laksa in town. Check out the results here

LASKA is the Top End’s favourite dish.

Everyone has a favourite.

READ: REVIEWING AND RATING DARWIN’S CHICKEN PARMIES

From hardcore local laksa fans to holiday-makers who passed through Darwin for a couple of days in 1984, debate rages as to which is the best.

We’ve tried to settle that argument once and for all.

Last week on Facebook we asked Territorians to name their favourite laksa.

Amye Un from the famous Laksa House on the Stuart highway has been serving up her famous laksas, Portuguese chicken and oxtail soup for well over 10 years. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

We had hundreds of submissions but there were five venues that were clearly the most popular.

We were also in search of Darwin’s biggest laksa fans, who would be willing to participate in a blind taste test to determine once-and-for-all which is the best.

Ageng Sudjio, 30, Cam Leach, 26, Gabrielle Brady, 29, and Michael Chau, 28, became our tasting panel.

They’ve each put serious thought into what makes a great laksa.

In an attempt to make the contest as even as possible, we bought a chicken laksa from each venue.

They all had add-ons, including chilli, because people who eat laksa without chilli cannot be considered real laksa fans.

In fifth place, the tasting panel chose Laksa House — Warung Ibu Amye, or “Sexy Amye’s” — a strictly word-of-mouth kind of place that has loyal local fans.

The building is easily missed on the highway at Stuart Park, but its old-school charm and delicious food has won many admirers.

Sexy Amye’s was at a disadvantage against the other four.

The NT News Laksa Challenge judges, from left, Michael Chau, 28, Stuart Park, Gabrielle Brady, 29, Stuart Park, Cam Leacy, 26, Humpty Doo, Ageng Sudjio, 30, Anula, try out Sexy Amye’s chicken laksa. Picture: Helen Orr

We had to do the tasting on a Saturday lunchtime, to accommodate some iconic market stalls. Laksa House is only open evenings, which meant the tasting sample wasn’t fresh and had to be reheated.

Amye Un has run the Laksa house for the past 14 years — and has a solid following of fans.

The store’s name means “Amye’s small little food court” in Indonesian.

Ms Un hails from Timor and she said the secret to her great-tasting laksa was the fact that she made her spice paste fresh from herbs back home.

She makes about 60kg of the spice paste every six weeks.

“The secret ingredient is I cook with love. I have to look after my customer so I cook with happiness and love,” she said.

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CHECK back at ntnews.com.au tomorrow to find out Darwin’s fourth best laksa.