Four-month-old Ah Goh Goh Laksa at Bedok Food Centre and Market has a cute name (it’s a play on the sibling owners’ surname) and a rather interesting story behind it. It is opened by Zack Goh, 31, a former assistant art director and booker for a local modelling agency, and his sister Cheez Goh, 33, who used to own two cafes and a bar in Penang.

After Zack left the modelling agency, he co-founded an exhibition company but eventually sold off his shares in 2018. That was when he started frequenting China to scour for investment opportunities in real estate, the agriculture industry, and even gyms. Then the pandemic struck, so he flew home, saddled with a $100,000 debt from unsuccessful investments. “But starting the hawker business is not about clearing the debt, it’s to share our father’s laksa recipe with others,” Zack explains.

When her cafe venture in Malaysia folded in 2018, Cheez returned to Singapore and began a career as a network marketer. But she recently quit because her passion has always been with the food and beverage industry. Being a hawker, she reveals, is something that requires 100 per cent of her effort and attention. “I cannot be distracted,” Cheez adds.

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When Singapore entered the Circuit Breaker phase last year, the siblings discussed how to revive their father’s laksa recipe via their own business. “Our father has been a cook for more than three decades,” Zack says. “He used to sell laksa and lor mee at a stall called ‘Bedok Laksa’ in 58 New Upper Changi Market & Hawker Centre. He later moved on to work at a Korean food stall in a food court in Singapore Post, and then to Bornga restaurant in Suntec City. He has since retired.”

Highlighting her experience at managing cafes and how a younger Zack used to help out at his dad’s stalls on weekends, Cheez reminisces, “Cooking is a big part of our DNA.”

“One reason why I decided to become a hawker was to bring my family together,” Zack explains. When Zack and Cheez were younger, their parents separated and they lived with their mother. While the siblings kept in touch with their father, the Circuit Breaker was an opportune moment for them to deepen their bonds. “Plus, it’s also a waste to lose the family recipe.”

Besides learning how to cook and prepare the laksa from their father, the duo took part-time stints working at hawker stalls to gain more experience for three months before setting up their own stall. He adds: “We hope to open more stalls across Singapore soon.”

At Ah Goh Goh Laksa, Zack cooks while Cheez takes and serves orders. On their sibling chemistry, Cheez laughs: “We used to quarrel a lot when we were younger, but we don’t now. We do get frustrated sometimes, but that’s all part of the experience of being a hawker.”

With the no dine-in rule at eateries during Singapore’s Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), F&B owners struggled to attract customers and saw their revenues dipped. “Our business dipped about 20-30 per cent because of the lack of foot traffic and we weren’t on delivery platforms then. On top of that, we saw an increase in cost from using takeaway plastic bags and containers,” Zack shares. “We also struggled to decide how much food to prepare and sometimes we operated for longer hours to finish selling our laksa,” Cheez adds.

“We prepare our laksa fresh daily and we cannot leave it overnight. So sometimes, we had to throw away the leftovers,” Zack says.

But now with dining in reinstated, the siblings are relieved. “I’m glad to see everybody getting back to their usual lifestyle of dining in with lesser restrictions,” Zack smiles. “Plus, laksa’s meant to be served and consumed hot.”

Zack and Cheez make their rempah (spice blend base, the soul of any curry) from scratch. According to Zack, it’s a painstaking process that involves blending spices and other ingredients — lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, shallots, and candlenuts to list a few — together before frying the paste till it’s fragrant. “It takes about three hours to cook,” he says. “We want it to be savoury and not overly sweet. We also want the rempah to have a chunkier consistency so you can taste the spices too.”

Conveniently cut up thick vermicelli (so you can eat it with a spoon) luxuriates in a creamy coconutty gravy, together with juicy cockles, fish cake, a dollop of sambal and aromatic laksa leaves. The gravy is the star here: thick, naturally sweet but not too jelak because it’s counterpointed with the brininess of dried shrimp in the rempah. It's even better mixed with the punchy but not fiery sambal.

Three thin but firm slices of Vannamei cold prawns sit alongside the other staple toppings like sliced fish cake and chopped laksa leaves. Pretty good, even if we miss the brininess from the cockles.

Ah Goh Goh Laksa also has a shredded chicken offering that is meant to be a healthier alternative, but we’d give this a miss because the bland chook serves to mute the flavours rather than complement it.

The heartiest offering of the lot. It comes with all the topping options: blood cockles, prawns, and shredded chicken. Go for this if you are looking to try everything on the menu.

Compared to the bowls from the famous laksa shops in Katong, the siblings’ rendition is less fiery, but still quite well-balanced with a robust, hae bee-rich spice blend tempered with the creaminess of coconut milk. Prices are affordable too — but be prepared to wait for your food as the new hawkers are still trying to get into the swing of things.

Ah Goh Goh Laksa is at #01-30 Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market, S460216. Open daily except Monday 7am to 2pm.

Photos: Kelvin Chia

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