A Noodle Story

A Noodle Story is no stranger to the local food scene as it has been awarded the Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide. It is set up by two former Shatec classmates who have worked at top restaurants in Singapore. 

Unsurprisingly, there was a long queue ahead of us during lunch time. It also took some time for each bowl to be prepared. 

We ordered the small bowl of Singapore-style Ramen ($8), which was rather filling. $8 may be a lot to pay for hawker food, but as I ate, I told my husband, "I will willingly pay $8 for this." 

Although it is called ramen, it is more like wanton noodles. The egg noodles were springy and coated with sauce made of dried shrimps and kelp, with a small dollop of sambal at the side. The sauce was a little too salty for me, but other than that, this innovative dish was a whole new level on its own.

The Char Siew is made using belly pork from Spain and slow-braised for 36 hours, explaining its melt-in-the-mouth texture. The wantons, made with pork and chunks of shrimps, are fresh and bouncy. I left the best for the last- the potato-wrapped prawn. Nobody can resist deep fried potatoes - what more thinly cut deep fried potatoes wrapped around a prawn! 

A Noodle Story recently wrote a post on Facebook explaining its prices and giving a breakdown for each of its ingredients- honestly, even without the explanation, I would have thought that it was totally entitled to charge what it did. 

Bonus: If you hate queuing and can bear to part with a further $2 just to get your food faster than the rest, you can buy a fast pass from Klook and attract all the envious looks of the people queueing.

A Noodle Story 
Amoy Street Food Centre
7 Maxwell Road
#01-39
Singapore 069111
Tel No: 9027 6289 

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Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House

Prawn Mee is something that few stalls can do right. Ever so often, a prawn noodle craving hits and off we go hunting for a good bowl of slurp-worthy prawn noodles. 

According to The Business Times, the boss is one of the highest-earning hawkers, reportedly earning up to $139,200 a month. The popularity of this place was evident on a Sunday afternoon where the place had hardly an empty seat. 

I got the Prawn Noodles with Pork Ribs ($5.80). I always enjoy a good robust stock like this, and the only place where we tried a stock as good was at Blanco Court Prawn Mee. Prawn mees often leave me disappointed for the lack in depth of flavour.

The prawn mee served at Beach Road Prawn Mee and Blanco Court Prawn Mee were equally good and I was hard pressed to decide which was better. Served with one fresh prawn sliced into two, the pork ribs were tender although my friend found some pieces a little too tough.

If you get irritated with houseflies, this is not the place to be. There were a lot of flies hovering while we were eating. Service was also lacking. When I was standing in the queue, instead of asking me to move one side, the waiter simply nudged me with a tray to move aside. For service, Blanco Court anytime.

There was a ngoh hiang stall within the compounds and we decided to get some to round the meal off. 

Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House
370 East Coast Road
Tel No: 6345 7196 

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Fatty Cheong

I love looking at IKEA catalogues. They make living spaces look so comfortable yet simple. But I never really felt the urge to head down to IKEA because it's rather far from where I stay. However, my friend's friend had been telling him how wonderful the food at ABC Brickworks was. 

With the mentality of one stone kill two birds, we decided to go to ABC Brickworks and IKEA. 

We went to Fatty Cheong and ordered a plate of Char Siew and Roasted Pork ($13- for 2 people's portion). 

This place is known for its Bu Jian Tian (the armpit cut) where the meat is more tender and there is a thin layer of fats. Sometimes when I eat the char siew rice from my favourite stall along Tanjong Katong, I decide whether I like it based on how many pieces of fatty meat there are- the more fatty pieces, the better. The roasted pork here would also crackle on each bite, with the belachan chilli being a welcome dip to the meat.

Fatty Cheong serves good char siew and roasted pork, but I'm not sure if it's worth queuing more than 10 minutes for this.

Fatty Cheong
ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre
6 Jalan Bukit Merah
#01-120

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Sri Sujana Nasi Lemak

I seldom venture anywhere near Changi Village because it takes forever to reach there by public transport. Last weekend, however, we decided to go to the Changi Boardwalk and had lunch at the Changi Village Market and Food Centre. Speaking of Changi Boardwalk, it was a nice escape from the daily hustle and bustle of city life- a boy roasting a small crab over a small flame, anglers who watch the world go by and families who set up camps and have picnics. A real pity though, that there was quite a bit of trash, probably swept up to the shore. 

Since there was quite a queue at Sri Sujana Nasi Lemak, I decided to join the queue with my typical Singaporean mentality. 

The Chicken Set ($3.50) was quite a letdown. The rice whilst fragrant with strong pandan taste, was a little too salty. The chicken wing while still hot, was a little over deep fried resulting in the meat being dry.

I also ordered Mackerel Otah ($1). The other otah was selling at 40 cents. I decided to order the mackerel otah to see where the premium was coming from. Turns out it was just pretty ordinary.

Apparently this stall has got the certification from Makansutra- but the standard of the food here just doesn't live up to its reputation.

Sri Sujana Muslim Food
2 Changi Village Road
#01-30
Changi Village Market and Food Centre 

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Yong Huat

If I had eaten all that lard, I would have enough oil in my stomach to fry another plate of char kway teow.

Located opposite 112 Katong is this coffee shop aptly named Ali Baba Eating House- where your dreams of lard come true. Unlike many people, I don't eat lard. Not because I'm afraid of it clogging my arteries but because I don't really get a kick out of eating it.

I ordered Hokkien Mee ($4). The good thing about the dish is that for lard lovers, you will love love love this because the lard comes in crazy amounts. They are not stingy with their prawns, pork belly and sotongs at all and the chilli was tangy and just a little spicy. I also liked the flavour of the stock. I'm a huge supporter of Nam Sing but recently their food portion seems to be getting smaller.

The one thing that I don't like about the way this is cooked is that the garlic is chopped too coarsely. Chunky garlic bits are a big no-no for me.

I don't usually eat Char Kway Teow ($4) but since they are famous for it, I decided to try it. The sauce was sweet and had a strong wok hei taste. I don't eat enough CKT for me to determine whether this is better than a normal plate of CKT. Suffice to say, this was a decent plate of CKT.

The price is very reasonable for this amount of food. Lots of bonus points to the uncle and aunty manning the stall. They are super friendly. The aunty told me to get a seat while she cooked because she said it was hot to stand there waiting, and even told me not to sit by the roadside because it was very hot. Caring Hawkers of the Year 2012 goes to them!

Yong Huat 
125/127 East Coast Road
Tel No: 9630 1370 

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Liang Zhao Ji Duck Rice 梁照记

Located next to Hoover Rojak is the equally famous Liang Zhao Ji Duck Rice 梁照记. The difference between both of them is that the queue moves a lot slower for the duck rice. 

I ordered the $3 portion of Duck Rice. I have no clue what kind of rice this is- is this white rice soaked in braising sauce or is this yam rice? In any case, I really liked the flavour of the rice with the sauce. The portion was also rather generous. However, the duck was a little tough. The accompanying chilli sauce was very appetising though- slightly spicy and sour!

Liang Zhao Ji Duck Rice 梁照记
Whampoa Drive Food Centre
Blk 90 Whampoa Drive
#01-07
Tel No: 9450 0893
Opening Hours:
Mon- Sun: 10.30 am - 6 pm
(Closed on Tues) 

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Hoover Rojak (Whampoa Drive)

If you are 1) not eating alone and 2) wish to try the popular stalls at Whampoa Drive Food Centre, I suggest you get one person into each queue because the queues can get a little long. The Balestier Road Hoover Rojak and the famous duck rice are just next to each other. 

I opted for the $3 Rojak. You could also order the $4 or $5 portion. First impression is that they give a lot of rojak sauce. If you request for chilli to be added, be mindful that the chilli sauce is a little spicier than usual. The sauce is one of the best rojak sauces i have tried. The addition of jellyfish was interesting but you had to make an effort to look through the sauce.

The utter letdown of this dish, however, was the fact that the taupok and the youtiao were not grilled on the spot. They were just left in a heap and served together with the sauce. This resulted in the dish being cold and a little soggy.

Hoover Rojak (Whampoa Drive)
Whampoa Drive Food Centre
Blk 90 Whampoa Drive
#01-06
Tel: 021 4593 

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Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

I don't eat chicken rice that often because of that long lasting taste that garlic leaves in my mouth. So, when I do, I make sure I go for good chicken rice. Today, I decided to try Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice. There was a queue which took about 15 minutes for me to reach the front. 

Seeing that everybody in front of me opted for the Steamed White Chicken Rice ($2.50, $3.50 option available), I decided to get that as well. Honestly, that isn't something that I would risk having garlicky breath over. The rice is passable and the meat is tender. The rather spicy chilli sauce complements the chicken well. However, I'm not accustomed to the taste of the soup.

Also, there's just something missing about the chicken- smoothness and chewiness factor. Compared to Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, I would opt for Tian Tian.

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice
Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-82 

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Lian He Ben Ji Claypot 联合本记煲饭

Armed with a list of famous food to try in Chinatown Complex, we ended up at Lian He Ben Ji Claypot 联合本记煲饭 because it was the only one still open at 730 pm. The people seated at the tables near this stall seem to be eating only one thing- the Claypot Rice. You get to see claypots lined up and cooked over charcoal. 

Different kinds of claypot are available. We opted for the Sausage Claypot ($8, other options include $5, $10, $12 etc.) Honestly, what did I not like about this? Nothing, really nothing. The chicken was moist, the rice with sauce was fragrant, the sausage was sweet- nothing to fault. Scrapping the sides of the claypot is always the best part of eating claypot rice. Scrape the sides and you get a non-charred crispy layer of rice with a light burnt taste. Scrape the bottom of the claypot and you get a charred crispy layer.

If you are really famished, don't queue for this because there's a long wait (at least 30 minutes)- it takes time for the smoky taste to permeate the dish! Or you could order the BBQ seafood next door while waiting, it smells incredible too. Claypot rice is not on my radar normally, but I have to say this stall sells pretty amazing claypot. 

Lian He Ben Ji Clay Pot Rice 联合本记煲饭
Chinatown Complex Food Centre
335 Smith Street
#02-198/199
Tel No: 6227 2470 

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Tiong Bahru Lee Hong Kee

I asked a friend who stays in Tiong Bahru what the best thing to eat at the Tiong Bahru Market was. Without hesitating, he answered "Lee Hong Kee la!" The resolve of the answer coupled with the queue made it beyond doubt that I had to queue at Lee Hong Kee Cantonese Roasted. 

I opted for the Char Siew and Sio Bak ($3). After having one mouth of meat and rice, my first thought was, "Did I just get conned by my friend?" It's not that it's not nice, just that I think it's overhyped. It's my fault that the roasted pork's skin is no longer crispy because I asked for the sauce. But the char siew was not as sweet as I liked it to be, and perhaps was too fatless. For some people, you may like this combination of char siew- fatless and not so sweet. 

The abundance of gravy went well with the rice and the roasted pork was quite lean as well. They also serve a special concoction of chilli sauce (not your normal chicken rice chilli sauce). 

While the portion and taste is worth $3, there's this stall in Tanjong Katong, Nan Xiang Chicken Rice, where I really like the char siew- slightly charred, slightly fatty, and coated with sweet char siew sauce.

Lee Hong Kee Cantonese Roasted
Tiong Bahru Market
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-60 

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Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee (Hong Lim)

My first memories of curry noodles started when I was in secondary school. Every Thursday, they would sell curry noodles and I would definitely queue for it. Today, I tried the famous Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee. In prices of $3.50, $4.50 or $5.50, I opted for the smallest bowl. You can also choose from different types of noodles.

Don't go there without a packet of tissue paper. First, to wipe your perspiration from the spicy gravy. Second, to wipe the curry away from your mouth. Third, what else? To chope seat!

I haven't tasted curry noodles as spicy as this. The gravy is very slurp-worthy (those who are watching their waistlines please don't eat this) and is completely absorbed by the thinly sliced tau pok. There are also other ingredients, such as potato, chicken and fishcake. They don't skimp on the ingredients. The uncle also makes it a point not to scoop the layer of oil in the big pot into the individual pots.

For $3.50, this portion was just right for me although those with bigger appetites should get a bigger bowl. I was lucky to get my food within 5 minutes before the queue got long. But there's usually a queue so run to Hong Lim to get your food! Tasty and worth its price.

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee 
Hong Lim Food Centre
Block 531A Upper Cross Street
#02-58
Tel No: 9243 0601 

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Bangkok Express

Many think of Newton Food Centre as a chopping board for tourists. Complaints of how the food is overpriced and not that great are rife. But you'll be surprised that there are actually many stalls selling good and affordable food. One such stall is Bangkok Express. 

The Pad Thai ($4.50) had a generous portion of peanut and was not oily. The prawns were also fresh. 

I had the Tom Yum Soup with Noodles ($5). Spicy and sour, every slurp of the noodles was tasty! Furthermore, they don't skimp on their ingredients.

Four or five prawns, together with lots of sotong and mushrooms make this a truly delightful tom yam!

The standard of Bangkok Express doesn't lose out to the run-of-the-mill Thai restaurants in Singapore. The difference is that the portion might be a little smaller, although the money you save compared to eating in a restaurant is probably rather significant!

Bangkok Express

Newton Food Centre
500 Clemenceau Ave North
#01-004

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Makansutra Glutton's Bay

Makansutra Glutton's Bay is a place for tourists who want to try Singapore's food as quickly and as fuss free as possible. It is also for locals in the area who want to get a relatively cheap meal. These hawkers are specially handpicked by the Makansutra team.

I never knew this, but upon checking out their website, you can actually request a sampler which includes 7 dishes (or more) and costs about $30. Check out the website if you're interested. After dinner, you can walk along the river and I promise you, the views are fantastic.

Oh, but here's where the BUT comes in. If you are not looking for convenience or beautiful scenery, but just CHEAP and GOOD food, I suggest you make your way to the hawker centres in Singapore, such as Old Airport Road Food Centre and Maxwell Food Centre. The food there is likely to be cheaper and tastes either as good or even better (if you know which stalls to go to). Plus you have a larger variety to choose from.

Three of us spent $30 here which is unexpectedly quite cheap. Although you could still get a few dollars shaved off if you ate at a hawker centre. I have to say that the portions here are quite big thereby justifying their prices. 

But the standards of the food vary across the stalls. The hokkien mee ($6) (lots of ingredients- you normally don't see 5-6 fresh prawns in your plate) and fried carrot cake ($6) were delicious. The chicken wings (not reflected) were also nicely BBQed ($1.30 for 1). 

The satay ($7) was below expectations. It was too hard and you could actually chew the bones. 

The kang kong ($6) was largely decent and spicy although too oily.

Overall, this place has pretty good standards and a great location. But if you're looking for a place with a larger variety and probably cheaper and better food, head down to the hawker centres!

Makansutra
Esplanade Mall
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-15

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忠于原味 (Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles)

Before you read anything else, I suggest you watch this 8 minute long video on 忠于原味. Unless you are really hungry and can't wait to join the queue. It tells you what meat is used for the char siew, including the meat from the pig's armpit 不见天. There are also two other kinds of meat. 

I didn't know what was good at Tiong Bahru Market so I just joined the longest queue. The other stall which had a really long queue was the stall selling Lor Mee. To get me to the front of the queue, it took me 30 minutes.

Is the wanton noodles really worth queuing up for? Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think it's worth queuing up for 30 minutes. I'm not sure which part of the pig I got because to me, while it was chewy, it wasn't particularly stunning. It's definitely better than the hard kind of char siew though. Everybody raves about the char siew marinate but I felt that it wasn't flavourful enough. Maybe all that waiting made me lose my sense of taste.

I think what really stands out is the noodles- Really bouncy. If you saw the chef cook, you would know why. He boils the noodles in the water, then puts it in cold water, and then puts it back in the hot water, ensuring its QQ quality.

The wantons weren't particularly special but they were good enough. 

At $2.50/$3.50 a bowl, this wanton noodles comes cheap. However, all that time spent queuing up might be a negative factor.

忠于原味 (Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles)
Tiong Bahru Market
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-30

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Tow Kwar Pop

The rojak at Tow Kwar Pop makes your heart go "Pop pop, pop pop!" Okay, that was an awful slogan from me. 

The wait for the rojak here can be a little long because they do everything on the spot so you can be assured that your rojak tastes fresh. 

What I love about the rojak ($4) is how everything is toasted. Warm and crispy. The cuttlefish was also a welcome addition. The sauces were delicious and not overpowering. Those who love tau pok would love the Tau Pok with cucumber in it. Fruits also added to the appetising factor of this dish. 

One of the best rojak I have eaten in some time, after Apa Rojak at Lau Pat Sat closed down.

Tow Kwar Pop 

Tiong Bahru Market
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-06 

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Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee

Best Hokkien Mee in Singapore. Is there any other way I can say this? Alright, Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee has the best hokkien mee in Singapore! 

(photo credit: Love Singapore Food)

This doesn't taste like your ordinary hokkien mee. Dry version of the ordinary soup-soaked hokkien mee, yet hidden with gravy goodness within the nook and cranny of the noodles! The result is that you get dry noodles that are actually don't feel dry, but deliciously moist. The noodles are not soggy, prawns and sotong are fresh, lots of egg, fresh chilli and lime to add zest to this dish! 

Sold for $3/4/5. I've been eating this for a few years, many times a year. If that doesn't tell you how good the hokkien mee is, I don't know what does. 

Tip: Call them in advance and order the number of packets you want and specify the time. Otherwise, you will queue up for at least a good 30-40 minutes. Learn to ignore the looks of envy/irritation from the queue. Another tip, they close as they please, so call them up just to make sure that their stall is open.

Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee (Hougang)
Old Airport Road Food Centre
51 Old Airport Road
#01-32
Tel: +65 6440 5340

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Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Ho Fun

My knowledge of sea animals is like next to zero. To me, crayfish is like the cousin of lobster with a texture that is slightly less chewy than lobster. Speaking about lobsters, I sorely miss the lobsters I could get from Boston's supermarkets at USD$6.99 (on sale) for a very decent-sized lobster! 

It's not that often that you get to see seafood such as lobsters or crayfish in hawker centres. Sure, you have your zichar stalls that sells XO crab beehoon etc, but these are considered to be in the minority. 

The queue for the food at this stall is always long, and as you can tell, plenty of accolades to tell you how good the food is. (I'm not saying that they are always accurate, but at least they serve as a good guide.) 

And here's the Crayfish Hor Fun (without the gravy). This costs $6.50 (additional 50 cents for takeaway). You may consider it expensive, but just look at how those prawns and crayfish cover the hor fun till all you get is a GLIMPSE of the hor fun. The prawns are peeled for you (can't mention how much I love this gesture), and the crayfish is bursting with meat. The seafood is also relatively fresh.

The sah hor fun is very smooth and the gravy went well with this dish. My only gripe was that the gravy was a bit too dilute. But I suppose it's okay, just in case it became too starchy. Plus that mild peppery taste in the gravy- just a little goes a long way!

If you are craving for crayfish, but not willing to fork out anything more than $10, this is a good option for you!


Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Ho Fun 

Hong Lim Food Centre
531A Upper Cross Street,
#02-41A
(Closed on Sundays)

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Singapore Hawker Stalls Move Indoors (NY Times)

Click on article to read about how Singapore Hawker Stalls are apparently moving indoors. And hawker centres recently came into the limelight because of an analogy by Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing. 

"(For example,) you go to Peach Garden, you eat the S$10 XO Sauce chye tow kuay (fried carrot cake), you can be quite happy, right? Because you're satisfied with the service and so on.

On the other hand, you can go to a hawker centre, even if they charge you S$1.50, you might not want to eat it if the quality isn't good."

And here's a facebook note In Defence of Hawkers.

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Lao Ban Dou Hua (老伴豆花）

Singaporeans love queuing. Singaporeans love queuing for good food. Singaporeans love queuing for good food that is cheap.

This is the beancurd ($1.50) from Lao Ban Dou Hua (老伴豆花) from Old Airport. Unless you have been living under a hole, you would have heard of this new food phenomenon. Queues snake around like nobody's business and everybody snaps at least 20 bowls of beancurd at one go.

And there is actually an uncanny resemblance between the man on the plastic bag and the real man behind this stall (Mr Li Hui Shing). His wife (Mdm Hui Ywai Kwai) doesn't look that similar though.

So how's this different from other soya beancurd? Makansutra tells us that they use fresh soy bean milk, tame it with coffee-mate like milk and malt mixture with some gelatin. Then it's steamed, cooled and chilled for a few hours. Some even claim that they have found the recipe to this stall that attracts insane queues.

(photo credit: Lao Ban Soya Beancurd)

Maybe because expectations were too high, or maybe because yesterday I had tried something like this at Amoy Street Food Centre already. But my first response does not match the hype that it deserves. Yes, it's incredibly smooth, push it through your teeth and your teeth becomes an instant soya bean machine making beancurd into soya bean milk (new function for teeth). Unfortunately, it was a tad too sweet for me. Unlike the normal beancurd where you can adjust the sweetness level by telling them how much syrup to put, you can't tell them to adjust it here simply because there's no syrup!

It's lovely to try the beancurd form of soya bean and to participate in the national activity of queuing. Here's just an idea, but maybe they could sell different sugar levels (thereby adjusting the sugar level before refrigerating it) so that it can cater to different tastes, just like bubble tea. That said, here are just my two cents worth and in any case, you should give this new food phenomena a try!

Lao Ban Dou Hua (老伴豆花）

Old Airport Road Food Centre
51 Old Airport Road
#01-127
Tel: +65 8181 2201

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Koo Kee Yong Tau Foo

Koo Kee Yong Tau Foo remains my favourite Yong Tau Foo of all time. There are a few branches located around the island but if I'm in the area, I will drop by Lau Pat Sat and have the yong tau foo.

This is a set, which comes with the noodles and the yong tau fu. And please get the sauces as well because they are really good- one sweet and one spicy.The noodles are chewy, minced meat not too mashy, yong tau fu that comes with a variety, and a clear soup that goes well with the noodles! 

I loved this stall when I was 10, love this stall now. (so you thought I was going to reveal my age) So simple, yet so delicious.

Koo Kee Yong Tau Foo 
Lau Pa Sat Festival Market
18 Raffles Quay
Stall 112 

Tel: +65 6226 0117

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