Caught wind of Sim’s Ngoh Hiang having moved to a shophouse unit of their own along Joo Chiat Road fairly recently — the establishment having grew from being an online business launched during the nation’s Circuit Breaker, to being a humble stall situated in one of the coffeeshops located in the Crawford Lane neighbourhood. It was also the Crawford Lane location that I had first tried their Ngoh Hiang — something which I found to be pretty stellar at the point of time.

Now occupying an entire shophouse unit at the ground floor, Sim’s Ngoh Hiang has also expanded its menu offerings beyond their Shrimp Fried Bee Hoon, Fried Chicken Wings and Ngoh Hiang offerings; that being said, coming to Sim’s Ngoh Hiang without ordering the Ngoh Hiang is kinda missing the point — or so, I would have thought. To be really honest here, it could have been by sheer luck that I have gotten my Ngoh Hiang come freshly-fried upon order during my first visit to their Crawford Lane location; the ones here felt less stellar considering it lacked the crunch and piping hot temperature that I had during the first impression, though it could have been partially due to the fact where I was also waiting for the Fish Ball with Noodles (Dry) to arrive before going for the first morsel. That being said, I still like how old-school the Ngoh Hiang here is — meaty, yet filled with loads of chestnuts for a crunch whilst being well-packed without the meats coming loose from within; all that while not being particularly greasy despite being a deep-fried item. The accompanying chili was also as stellar as before; zippy, tangy and carrying a good spicy kick with a hint of raw chili seeds, putting the “hiam” in “hiamjio” as they call chili in Hokkien.