Popular Toa Payoh Stall Selling Laksa With XL Cockles Relocating As New Coffeeshop Owner’s Rent 50% Above Budget
Just a year after opening, popular coffeeshop stall Toa Payoh 94 Laksa, known for its shiok laksa served with jumbo blood cockles that are almost the size of a soup spoon, is relocating.
Boss Steven Toh, 57, who currently operates the coffeeshop as well as the prawn noodles, zi char, cai png and beverage stalls, tells 8days.sg that he and his partners decided to move after the kopitiam changed hands. The new owners will be operating the coffeeshop themselves.
Of his four stalls, only the laksa and prawn mee joints, 94 Toa Payoh Prawn Noodle, will be moving. The latter has been operating in its current premises for “more than 20 years”.
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Asking rent too high
According to Steven, after 8days.sg featured his laksa stall in June last year, business jumped by “60 to 70 percent”, which it still “maintains till today”.
"[My staff] used to prepare around 200 bowls of laksa for sale each day, now we’ve increased to 300 and we sell out before 2pm,” shares the towkay.
He was keen to continue operating in the Toa Payoh coffeeshop, but the asking rent quoted by the new owner was just “too high”.
“The rent is more than 50 percent higher than what I am prepared to pay, so we decided not to stay here,” he says.
Though their lease ends next year, they will be moving out in mid July as the coffeeshop will be closed for renovations.
Considered closing down laksa stall
Steven isn’t too hung up about having to move. “Just let it be lor,” he says with a shrug.
In fact, he was prepared to shut the laksa business for good if he cannot find a suitable space to relocate to.
“We are struggling to cope with the work ’cos it’s very labour-intensive. A lot of businesses get hum from suppliers, but we use fresh cockles which we shuck ourselves and shell the prawns ourselves,” says Steven.
“Actually, we opened the laksa stall for fun only. We intended to sell just 20 bowls a day, and my friends also said we cannot make it if we sell laksa. Who knew it would become a hit?” he laughs.
Relocating to coffeeshop in Whampoa
Fortunately, he doesn’t have to close his laksa stall. A stall space at a Whampoa Drive coffeeshop, which Steven and his partners also operate, recently became available, so they decided to shift their businesses there. They currently run the cai png and drinks stalls there.
The kopitiam is located under a block of HDB flats and near the popular Whampoa Food Centre.
“Whampoa is pretty near Toa Payoh and the footfall there is much better than here. 80 percent of our customers are not residents of this neighbourhood, so we are not worried that they will not travel to our new location,” says Steven.
Their last day of operations in Toa Payoh is July 13 and they will open for business in Whampoa on July 16.
The menu and prices for the laksa remain the same, at $5 and $6. An additional topping of medium-sized hum costs $2, while the giant cockles are $1 a pop.
Toa Payoh 94 Laksa’s last day of operations is on Jul 13 at #01-30, Yi Hao Coffee Shop, 94 Lor 4 Toa Payoh, S310094. Open daily 6.30am – 2pm.
Photos: Pyron Tan
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
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