MBFC Bubble Tea Stall #13 (Marina Bay)

This one is probably an oddball that those working in the Central Business District are likely to recognise — located in the recently re-branded Kopitiam food court (previously NTUC Foodfare) at Marina Bay Financial Centre, the Fishball Noodles stall probably stands out for its rather odd signage that indicates “Bubble Tea” instead. Indeed; this stall used to be operated by a certain tenant called Ju Fu De Cha which had vacated the stall sometime back. This said stall also once housed the short-lived outlet of the I Like Chicken concept — a brand name that serves Korean fried chicken, fries and burgers after the move from its previous stall within the same food court. Now a stall that serves up Fishball Noodles, it is interesting to note that it is still run by the same folks whom are behind Ju Fu De Cha — these folks apparently also run other brand names such as Frank's Western Kitchen and Ju Fu Mala Kitchen as well. The poster at the stall makes references to its incredibly weird identity; refers to themselves as MBFC Bubble Tea Stall #13, and serves up quite a limited menu — one would only find Fishball Noodles, Minced Meat Noodles and Laksa here for noodle dishes, while those going for soup can go for Meatball Soup or Fishball Soup as well.

We found ourselves visiting the stall since we had been holding ourselves back on visiting the location itself; the Kopitiam food court had never been an attractive location for how crowded it is during weekday lunch hours, though we went on an occasion where we were tight on time and was having quite a craving for Minced Meat Noodles anyway. As with most other establishments, the Minced Meat Noodles at MBFC Bubble Tea Stall #13 comes with the choice of dry or soup — noodle options are limited though, considering how we did overhear the staff informing a patron that they do not have Mee Kia here. As one would expect, the Minced Meat Noodles at MBFC Bubble Tea Stall #13 comes with Mee Pok by default; comes with pork slices, minced pork, fish cake, meatballs and some mini Ngoh Hiang to go along with the noodles. One can call the Minced Meat Noodle here pricey — $6.50 is indeed not cheap for such a dish, but this was one bowl that comes chock full of meat; we hadn’t quite seen a stall that serves such a generous portion of meat with their minced meat noodles. Going for the noodles first after giving them a toss around the sauce, the sauce mix isn’t too heavy in flavours here — the lightly savoury notes from the soy sauce was well-balanced with a slight tang from the vinegar; even the spiciness from the chilli was rather mild here. The noodles itself was springy — done just about right. Amongst all the different types of meat here, the pork slices were a little lacklustre; carried a slightly heavier porky note than we had expected, but all the other elements worked well and especially so for the mini Ngoh Hiang that added a contrast of flavours from all the other porky elements. Another thing which we felt that the bowl here was missing out on was the lack of pork lard; certainly could have done slightly more to the dish if included. With all that being said, the Minced Meat Noodles is a decent eat at $6.50 — one that comes with a good portion size for those who aren’t too picky with their food in general; something fuss-free which we wouldn’t mind having again.