Got to learn about the opening of the a new stall at One Punggol Hawker Centre whilst scrolling around social media recently; this would be that of noōu which is located in the spot formerly occupied by the now-defunct Happy Pot 锅锅了. They can be found in a stall situated in a corner that is along the same stretch of stalls as where Canton Claypot Rice is located. Whilst we did not confirm if there are any relations between the stalls, we did note that nōou does use a SGQR that might suggest that it is being run by the same people that operates PokeQPan Teppanyaki Bento within the same hawker centre. As one would notice, noōu’s signboard suggests that the establishment serves up Japanese-inspired Minced Pork Noodle — this isn’t the first time we had come across such a statement, considering this is very much the same concept behind establishments such as Li Yuan Mee Pok (previously Ah Li Mee Pok) and nooodon (previously 51 Noodle House). Patrons would opt for the noodle set featuring the combination of condiments that they would like to go for, before opting for the type of noodles (i.e. Mee Pok or Mee Kia) that they would like to have; there is also no spicy, mild spicy and spicy spiciness levels to choose from, and patrons can also order Add-Ons for their order as well.

noōu does not describe the elements that comes with their various noodle dishes on the menu; with that being said, it can be observed from our order of the Chashu Bak Chor Mee that the dish does feature elements such as pork meatballs, pork slices, pork liver, minced pork, crispy pork lard and braised mushrooms apart from the Japanese Chashu slices as mentioned. We had specified for our order to come with Mee Pok, whilst we had opted for the spiciness level to be Spicy. Giving the entire bowl a toss before digging in, we did feel that the Mee Pok was done to a springy consistency whilst lacing the mix of vinegar and chili to provide a savoury and tangy note which comes at a spiciness level that should be manageable for those whom are tolerable to less than moderate levels of spiciness. Thought the various pork elements were pretty decent including the pork liver which didn’t carry any undesirable stench — does seem pretty clean to us. The Crispy Pork Lard does come in fairly huge chunks without being particularly greasy; still very crisp as promised in its namesake and adds an element of crunch to the bowl of noodles; the braised mushrooms also added a soft, bouncy bite as well and were pretty flavoursome on their own. Meanwhile, the Chashu does seemed to have been marinated, torched and drizzled with sauce for flavour — mainly featuring lean meat, the Chashu provides a meaty bite; all that whilst coming with a savoury note and a contrast of sweet-savoury flavour similar to what can find in Teriyaki sauce without any undesirable porky stench.