hawker (noodles) 🍜

Doesn’t look like it packs any spice at all, but the dry cintan noodles ($4) is one of my favourite dishes here precisely for its special chilli! Hand-made noodles are tossed in a mixture of dark sauce and belachan. It’s served with meat, mushroom, some vegetables and topped with shallots & ikan bilis. They’d pack their rich soup into a separate container for you!

They store owners had adjusted their opening hours, so catching them is always a treat! The wait can get quite long but surely that’s testament to their popularity. Ordered my favourite Penang char kway teow ($4) - the takeaway box retains heat surprisingly well, though the portion felt a tad smaller than usual.

My family patronises this store for its tze char! Waiting time may be a tad long given it’s popularity, but it’s worthwhile given its price and quality. We finally tried their pig trotter bee hoon ($15) - tossed in a dark sauce, the noodles are extremely flavourful with a hint of sweetness. It also comes with a variety of ingredients!

I’m not the biggest fan of char kway teow, but this plate ($3) was surprisingly delightful! The sauce was sweet but not too heavy, with a nice wok hei flavour. The stall is pretty generous with its portion and ingredients!

This store looks rather unassuming and is perhaps better known for its char kway teow, but I love the hokkien mee ($6) here! Their dry rendition lacks the gravy typically seen, but still packs a punch in terms of flavour. I particularly love the brine reminiscent of prawn noodles!

Of all their options available, I order the fish hor fun ($4.50) least - while it features the same starchy sauce with a prominent wok hei flavour, I prefer the variety in the mixed seafood version or the flavour in the beef version! Nonetheless, the fish slices are smooth and fresh.

Residents of Toa Payoh would be familiar with this exceedingly popular tze char store! They are also famous for their white bee hoon ($12) - it lacks the usual gravy, but more than makes up for it in flavour. Rich with hints of wok hei, it also comes with lots of ingredients!

Settled for this after failing to find the dumpling noodles posted by another burppler! The portion of wanton noodles ($3.50) was pretty sizeable, with thick slices of charsiew. Found the wanton a little small with too much skin, but the filling was good! Enjoyed the lighthearted conversation with the stall owner and his friend :-)

Kopitiams are really unassuming, and most serve the same selection. But this stall does a mean dry chilli noodles ($4.50) that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere!! The noodles are bouncy with a great bite. It’s heaped with toppings like minced meat, mushrooms and ikan bilis! Best of all is the chilli paste - spicy enough to prompt tears, but keeps you coming back every time.

This shop is well known for its wanton noodles, but they always sell out early! So I tried the dumpling noodles ($3) - the thin noodles were bouncy and tossed in black sauce. The dumplings impressed me - thin skin, lots of meat and prawn inside!

The soup here is lighter than most, but the briny taste of shrimp is still evident and I like that it isn’t too oily. The pork rib prawn noodle soup ($5) is really substantial, with 2 prawns and 3 ribs. The pork is fatty but tender!

This is a relatively new stall compared to the other heavy weights at this food centre, but this far surpasses Xie Kee Hokkien Mee! With noodles perfectly cooked, a flavourful broth, plenty of ingredients and chilli that packs a punch, this is definitely the Hokkien mee ($3) I’ll queue for every time 🥳🌟