We had to do a bit of post long weekend shopping at Norwood, because who wants to spend their long weekend doing grocery shopping? Not me. So we stopped in at Madame Wu's to see what the fuss was about. From first impressions this place has a nice feel to it. It is a lot cleaner and well-designed than most noodle bars I have visited and the interior had some cool touches.
After perusing the menu, I decided on the Laksa, because it was listed as one of their specialities and was "hot", which I thought meant a bit spicy, so I was keen. What I love about Laska is not only the noodles, coconut broth and protein, but also that it usually has a bit of veggies like bok choy and bean shoots to add some freshness.
When my Laska came out at Madame Wu's I was a bit upset to see that the only veggie in the dish was bean sprouts. I was ready for this though as my partner had asked if a few other dishes had veggies in them and was told that no they didn't and it was "too difficult" to add some veggies to a dish.
So if you visit Madame Wu's you have three choices. 1) Order more food than you need so you can get a balance of meat and vegetables ($15 for a plate of green Chinese vegetables), 2) Order a vegetarian meal or, 3) Eat a big bowl of meat and noodles.
I'd also like to note that Laksa house, Chinatown café and Singapore house in the central markets all do amazing Laksa with a good mix of meat and veggies and better flavour for $9 - $10 compared to Madame Wu's $15 meat fest Laksa. Chinatown cafe also have that chili oil with fried shallots in it that can be added which maximises the Laksa flavour. Madame Wu's Laksa was also not hot (in chili) at all. If you're going to put a semi-warning about how hot something is, make it hot! As the staff didn't ask how the meal was I didn't bother telling them. I assumed it would have fallen on deaf ears.
Really, how hard is it to throw a couple of pieces of bok choy into a laksa at the end? I'll can tell you from first-hand experience that it's really easy, because I make Laksa at home all the time. Go to Kim Wang supermarket and grab a jar of Hogan's laksa paste, some hokkien noodles and coconut milk powder. You won't be disappointed.
I also looked at my partner's dish and other diner's dishes and they were all meat fests, so I'd just like to say this to Madame Wu's owners... People like vegetables. They are good for you and we all know they are cheaper than meat, so everyone wins. Visit the central market food courts or any other chinese restaurant and you'll see this on display. Also, $15 for a plate of chinese greens is too much. If it's a huge serve, maybe you should have the option for a half serve. It's not that hard. read more