168 FoodBarand Cafe

Tucked into the Katherine Central shopping complex, this counter-service kitchen has become the town's default for Asian food, turning out made-to-order laksa, house dim sim, sushi rolls and noodle boxes to eat in or take away. The laksa is the reason to come: it earned a regional award at the Darwin International Laksa Festival, no small thing in a Territory that takes the dish seriously. Alongside the hot bain-marie there are cakes, ice cream and coffee, making it a rare all-day independent option in a place otherwise given over to pub bistros and franchise bakeries. Prices stay low and the cooking is done to order rather than held under heat lamps. It is unassuming, fluorescent-lit and shopfront-plain, but for a proper bowl of laksa on the long road south from Darwin, locals and passing travellers alike point here.