Gimee Face (Hougang)

We also tried the 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗥𝗶𝗯𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗹𝗲 ($5.50), which fared much better. The pork ribs were tender and masterfully marinated. The sauce in the noodles was also pretty decent, and complemented the pork ribs well. This was a relatively good bowl of noodles, but didn't sufficiently wow us.

Innovation is a good thing, but sometimes being too fanciful can be shooting yourself in the foot.

Not your typical 𝘣𝘢𝘬 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘦 (minced pork noodles). Gimee Face ("noodles" and "face" are homonyms in Chinese) offers not just the typical bcm, it also serves up interesting variations such as Abalone Pork Noodle and Spicy Volcano Mee Kia.

Not wanting to deviate too much, I chose the 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗡𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗹𝗲 ($4.80). This was basically a bcm with mala (i.e. spicy and numbing) sauce added. And therein lies the problem. Not a fan of vinegar-heavy bcm to begin with, the mixture of vinegar and mala sauce just tasted weird. Although the different components (pig's liver, sliced pork, minced pork, meatball) were ably executed, they couldn't save this bowl of noodles.

Original flavour @ $3.80

Cheap and good. The ingredients were generous and the noodles were great. The meatball felt like they were handmade and were super soft. The mushrooms also tasted very good.

Will try other flavours.

texture of the meepok is good. soup very tasty. portion just nice. will return to try other flavours.

Ba chor mee's take on volcano ramen. It was surprisingly better than expected. There's lots of ingredients as you can see. The mee kia was cooked very well. And the soup, although quite sharp, was good to drink.

Came across the social media accounts of Gimee Face pretty recently, and found their menu items rather interesting hence the trip down to Hougang just to give their noodles a try.

Apart from serving up the usual renditions of the all-familiar minced meat noodles, Gimee Face offers quite a number of options that gives that local classic a modern twist — examples include the Spicy Volcano Mee Kia Soup, as well as the Mala Spicy Pork Noodles which I opted for here. On first look, the bowl of noodles look nowhere different from the usual Bak Chor Mee served elsewhere — the only difference lies with the dollop of Mala paste that is served atop that usual mix of Mee Pok, pork liver, minced pork, mushrooms and pork balls. Give the noodles a mix with the sauce and the various condiments, and the difference is evident in this bowl — it’s significantly more saltish, yet carries a slightly heavier hint of spiciness as compared even to their usual renditions, while also providing a slight numbness that tingles the tongue that is essentially what Mala is all about. The noodles here are a little softer than the texture I usually prefer, but it’s still of a consistency which I would think that some may love. When tossed, the Mala flavour does seem pretty consistent throughout the whole bowl, though my favourite element would be the pork ball — absolutely soft and springy, it is also not particularly porky in flavour; rather impressive on its own. Another rather peculiar addition of a condiment to the variant here would also be the canned mushrooms, which helps to provide a variance of texture against the usual shiitake mushrooms that are added to the standard bowl of Bak Chor Mee.

Really appreciate how these new hawkers are seeing standard hawker favourites in a very different light — such renditions of minced meat noodles would be rather unthinkable a couple of years back; all these being a by-product of how food trends have came over the years, and the innovative approach to introduce new flavours to old-time classics. The Mala Spicy Pork Noodles would work well for mala lovers; albeit more heavy-handed, but a great fusion that is worth a try!