Shock result in great laksa taste-off will rock Darwin to its core

VIDEOS: Stop everything. Put down the chopsticks. Forget everything you thought you knew about Darwin’s best laksa. Our expert panel has delivered their verdict on the Top End’s favourite dish

The NT News Laksa Challenge judges (from left) Michael Chau, 28, of Stuart Park, Gabrielle Brady, 29, of Stuart Park, Cam Leacy, 26, of Humpty Doo, Ageng Sudjio, 30 of Anula, give their verdicts on Darwin’s best laksas. Picture: Helen Orr

STOP everything. Put down the chopsticks. Forget everything you thought you knew about Darwin’s best laksa.

Mary working her magic at the Parap Markets as the Saturday morning crowd grows. Picture: Patrina Malone

Our expert panel has delivered their verdict on the Top End’s favourite dish. And the result will shock Darwin to its core.

It’s not Mary’s.

The Parap Markets institution has long snaking lines, with fans from Launceston to Ludmilla willing to wait for up to 20 minutes to get their fix, shunning vendors around the corner where the lines are queue is much shorter.

RELATED — NUMBER 4: THE DECK BAR’S LAKSA HAS THE RIGHT STUFF

Here’s the shock: Darwin’s best laksa is just around the corner. Metres away. Closer than the end of the line.

Coming in at Number 2: The Rendezvous Cafe’s mouth-watering laksa

Darwin’s biggest laksa fans have declared Yati’s, also at the Parap Markets, the best laksa in town.

The competition was close. Rendezvous came second.

It was the only venue to come close to Mary’s when the NT News asked Facebook fans to suggest their favourite venues.

RELATED — NUMBER 5: ‘SEXY AMYE’S’ LAKSA HOUSE WORD-OF-MOUTH LAKSA ON THE STUART HIGHWAY

Mary’s was third. There’s no doubting her dish is a local treasure.

As previously revealed at ntnews.com.au, the Deck Bar took out fourth place and Laksa House, aka “Sexy Amye’s” was fifth.

The judges Ageng Sudjio, 30, Cam Leach, 26, Gabrielle Brady, 29, and Michael Chau, 28, were hard pressed to fault Yati’s during a blind taste test of chicken laksa with chilli.

READ: REVIEWING AND RATING DARWIN’S CHICKEN PARMIES

The judges all rated the top three highly with very little difference between them.

“My favourite was [Yati’s]. I almost couldn’t fault it. It had a good spice to it, and the noodles tasted really fresh,” Mr Sudjio said.

Winner, winner, chicken laksa dinner ... an independent panel of tasters has declared Yati’s Laksa at the Parap Markets makes the best laksa in town. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

“[Rendezvous] was almost at the same level, the only thing that brought it down was the spiciness level of it.”

Mr Leach said Yati’s was his favourite because of the “nice spice and consistency to it.”

“Just the chilli around the mouth was nice,” he said.

Yati’s has been in operation for almost as long as the markets itself.

Tucked away opposite a fruit and veggie stall, Yati’s Shaved Ice and Laksa, served out of a little white van, is a hidden gem of the markets.

While Yati no longer owns the stall, you can still find her there helping with the serving.

Christiana Monostori, 60, bought the stall off Yati Dolan around six years ago.

She makes her paste and soup from scratch every Saturday morning.

“The paste I make fresh using lemongrass, garlic, onion — it’s not from the packet. It takes four hours to make. The juice, the stock I use from chicken bones,” she said.

She serves between 150 and 200 laksas every week.

The line might be slightly longer this week.

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WHAT do you think of our independent panel’s choices? Have your say on Darwin’s best laksa. Tell us what you think in the comment section below