Hawker Food

Chili ban mee ($5) ⭐️ 4/5 ⭐️
Penang prawn mee soup ($6) ⭐️ 3.5/5 ⭐️
🍴Discovered this Muslim-friendly food centre at Harbourfront and it was a great find!

The chili ban mee was one of the better ones around with chewy and firm noodles tossed in a savory and umami sauce with mushroom undertones. Enjoyable mix of flavours and textures with the punchy chili, oozy onsen egg, juicy mushrooms, and crispy ikan.

Penang prawn mee was an aromatic and rich broth, albeit on the sweeter side. Served with two fresh prawns, tender chicken meat, and half boiled egg.

📍Chili Ban Mee, 01-103/108, Boleh Boleh! @bolehbolehsg, Harbourfront Centre, 1 Maritime Square, Singapore

Hearty and nutritious bowl with a yummy assortment of ingredients. The soup is on the creamier side and a soothing, savory blend of tea and herbs with garlic and ginger undertones. While Hakka Thunder Tea Rice (Margaret Drive) still holds its spot as number one for the richer and thicker broth, this lighter rendition is worth a try!

Joined the 30+ min queue for this popular curry noodles and while it was a value-for-money hearty meal, personally wouldn’t say it’s worth the long wait.

Unique combination of wanton noodles & sweet-style chili with hainanese curry. The thin egg noodles were nicely QQ and soaked up the generous loading of sauce. The curry was a non-spicy and lemak rendition with stronger coconut fragrance (personally would have preferred stronger spice). The deep fried breaded chicken cutlet was tasty on its own and went well with the curry, but unfortunately lacking in crispness.

📍Cantonese Delights, 02-03, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, 531A Cross St, Singapore

𝐐𝐐 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐓𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐤𝐤𝐢 ($3.30) - Soft and chewy rice cake in a cheesy flavourful sauce. Did find it on the sweeter side and would have appreciated stronger kick. Pairs well with springy ramen (+$1.50).

Other dishes:
𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐞 ($4.70) - Always a fan of lu rou fan and this was an enjoyable rendition that was savory with the right level of sweetness & saltiness. Appreciated the ratio of fatty:lean pork and braised egg.

𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐭 ($4.30) - Tender meat with crackling golden brown batter, topped with tasty seasoning.

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Channeling associate woo with the hearty seaweed roll generously stuffed with ingredients. Delicious mix of flavours and textures from the sweet omelette, kimchi, and vegetables. *Pre-orders are required.

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Comforting and slurpworthy noodles of generous portions and decent prices. The mee sua had aromatic broth with meaty and herbal undertones, and depth from addition of hua diao jiu. Served with tender and flavourful pork liver, meat slices, handmade meat balls, mushrooms and a creamy egg. Very satisfying with the thin noodles soaking up the broth as time went on without becoming too soggy.

Their sheng mian featured thicker eggy noodles in a starchier egg-drop like soup. Was disappointed that there weren’t any fresh prawns (unlike the advertised image) but enjoyed the fresh and soft handmade fishcakes.

📍Chye Lye Ah Ma Mee Sua 再来阿嬷面线, 02-21, Kampung Admirality Hawker Centre, 676 Woodlands Drive 71, Singapore (other outlets at Jalan Besar & Bukit Panjang)

A decent bowl at an affordable price that satisfied lor mee cravings but wasn’t particularly memorable. The base gravy was thick but quite light in flavour. One can fully customize the bowl to their desired flavour profile by adding their free-flow sides of raw chopped garlic, chili, vinegar, soya sauce, and coriander. Enjoyed the umami notes from the prawn-based sambal chilli. The smallest bowl comprised one crispy wanton (could do with more meat: skin ratio), fried fish (enjoyed this for the tender meat and light batter), fish cake, ngoh hiang, and pork belly.

📍@tiongbahrulormee, 02-80, Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre, 30 Seng Poh Road, Singapore (other outlet at 558 Balestier Road)

Signature ipoh curry ($5.50)
Dry chicken curry ($4.50)
⭐️ 4/5 ⭐️
🍴Enjoyed these hearty and delicious curry noodles on a rainy day. Their curry was a delicious mix of coconut and various spices, fragranced and brightened with curry and mint leaves. Not too spicy or creamy, a moreish rendition that we slurped up.

Signature ipoh curry was a soup version - lighter on the palette with stronger coconut flavour. Came with a generous array of ingredients - crispy roast pork, chasiew, shredded chicken, tau pok, and long beans. In comparison, the dry curry was thicker and richer with tender chicken chunks and thick-cut potato. Would have preferred for softer potato and more crunchy beansprouts. Tough choosing a favourite but the signature inched out in being more complex and palatable (the dry can get rich nearing the end).

📍Jian Zao Ipoh Curry Noodle, Stall 5, Blk 332, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, Singapore

Still so good!! Definitely recommend trying when in the area. If you love cockles, do add more ($1) for fresh and chewy goodness

Famous Old Airport Road hokkien mee Nam Sing has arrived in the West! Now a third generation family business, it’s a satisfying slurp-worthy rendition. It isn’t the richest in seafood flavour and could do with stronger wokhei but brings back a certain nostalgia (given my childhood days of eating this at Old Airport). Do remember to request for their homemade sambal (aside the cut red chilli) for elevated umami flavours.

Run by an ex Crystal Jade chef, the wanton noodles channels classic HK vibes. The 5 plump wantons were filled with QQ fresh prawn mixed with minced pork. If nitpicking, found the skin a tad thick. We enjoyed the chewy and al-dente thin noodles but found them a tad starchy with a mild alkaline taste (read that they use duck instead of chicken egg which might contribute to this). The noodles were tossed in a light sauce that while fragrant, wasn’t the most memorable.

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Offering only one item on their menu with different noodle types, this soup-based bak chor mee hidden in a corner hawker is a hidden gem for warm and hearty soup. Made from the long simmering of pork bone, the cloudy broth had a stronger meat flavour than most with piquant pepper notes.

We especially enjoyed the flavourful handmade meatballs that were firm yet tender; Just wished there was more than 2 of them. The pork wanton was good but forgettable. We liked both the silky smooth kway teow and the QQ mee hoon kueh which had a nice chew.

📍@soonhengporknoodles, 120 Neil Road, Singapore