Little Cart Noodles Had been passing by the newly-opened Little Cart Noodles House whilst having lunch in the area on some days which we made a trip back to the office. Conveniently located just a short distance away from Telok Ayer MRT Station along the Downtown Line at Far East Square — the shop unit taken up by Little Cart Noodles House being just right beside Yin Ji 银记肠粉店:; the latter being best known for their Guangzhou-style rice rolls (i.e. Chee Cheong Fun) which we also pretty fond of when we made our visit some time back. Hailing from Hong Kong, this is the very first outlet that is situated in Singapore — the original stall being a shoebox-sized stall unit which only comprises of a small area for those who intend to dine-in to stand around and consume their cart noodles. For their outpost in Singapore, the shop is well-decorated — there both dine-in seats being located inside the shop unit and outside of the shop unit; the outside seating being pretty similar to that of the surrounding eateries within the same complex. To create a more inviting environment for diners to dine-in within the shop space, there is a wallpaper that on the walls that depicts an illustration of a typical street scene in Hong Kong; there is also a wooden replica of a cart where cart noodles were typically dished out from. With Hong Kong-style cart noodles being their specialty here, it is needless to say how it would be the only item that is being served up at Little Cart Noodles House; that being said, patrons to get a choice to opt between the variant of cart noodles that comes dry or with their homemade broth — there is also a choice to opt between different types of carbs such as yellow noodle, thin egg noodle, thick / thin rice noodle, hor fun or Nissin Noodle. There are three levels of spiciness available – Standard, Less Spicy and Non-Spicy. Those whom do not fancy noodles may also opt for the rice option as well. Patrons would get to pick between four different “products” that comprises of noodle, rice and toppings — the toppings include a wide variety of meats and braised innards, as well as processed meat and vegetable options, each carrying their own price tag. Ala-carte sides are also available to share around the table — this would include items like the Beancurd Skin Roll with Superior Broth and Fried Shisamo; just to name a few.
Being one who would prefer to have dry noodles over soup noodles, we opted for the dry option for our order; we also went with the Standard level of spiciness, whilst our choice of the four (4) toppings would be the Fried Pork Chop, Fried Egg, Fish Roe Ball and Thin Egg Noodle. On first look, our Little Cart Noodles does look a little sparse — this is especially considering how the bowl seems to be of a size more catered to the variant that comes with homemade broth; the egg noodles were being covered by the other toppings that we went for, while a dollop of chilli comes in the middle. The dry variant of the Little Cart Noodles also comes with a bowl of soup on the side — the same homemade broth that is also served with their cart noodles that come with the homemade broth. Giving the noodles a toss to give it a good mix of the sauce, the spicy sauce at Standard level of spiciness really gives a good spicy kick that would even tickle the taste buds of those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness — the sauce being aptly savoury whilst does carry that hint of spiciness that seem to come from chili peppers and pepper itself. The thin egg noodles are almost akin to the ones that one would have expected to come with their Wanton Mee; they are light and springy — coated with all of that spicy sauce as one tosses the noodles around. While the Fried Egg did not carry the molten egg yolk that would have been a crowd pleaser on its own; the Fried Egg does feature quite a crispy underside from being griddled on the pan — something which we found to be particularly satisfying and would even do well with the homemade broth version of the cart noodles here. The Fish Roe Ball is yet another crowd pleaser that we have gotten — probably commercially-made, but biting into the firm fishball reveals a fish roe-filled inside; all that providing a light umami flavour that is difficult to resist. Meanwhile, the Fried Pork Chop was decent; not one that we would find familiar to the pork chop that Din Tai Fung serves up with their egg fried rice, but still quite a considerably tasty slab of meat that was free from any undesirable porky stench — could be a little hard to chew on certain parts but still pretty juicy overall. The accompanying bowl of Homemade Broth does taste pretty light an especially clean — almost akin to a very refreshing, MSG-free variant of the soup that usually accompanies a plate of Hainanese Chicken Rice; a great base to the braised items that they have to offer.
As far as it gets, Little Cart Noodles House seems to provide a pretty authentic take to the Hong Kong cart noodles experience in a pretty comfortable environment — they have managed to keep their menu pretty flexible with a decent variety of noodles and toppings to keep the cart noodles here to the true spirit of what it is back from the place that it originated from. We thought that the overall execution was pretty commendable, while the price point for the Little Cart Noodles were fairly reasonable depending on the toppings that one selects from the menu — an average Little Cart Noodle would have cost thereabouts of $10 a bowl; portions being pretty decent and would be something that some office workers might be able to afford as an everyday eat even. That being said, establishments that primarily serve up Little Cart Noodles in Singapore don’t seemingly last long enough — the most successful of the lot probably being Legendary Hong Kong which has managed to run a kiosk within Jurong Point, as well as an outlet in Funan specialising in Hong Kong cart noodles, though establishments serving up the same which have since closed down includes the now-defunct Nerdy Noodles 四眼仔 at Bugis+, and Fei Gong Cart Noodles previously situated in a coffeeshop at Blk 80 Marine Parade Central which was often mentioned on social media. Still, Little Cart Noodles House does seem to garner quite a good crowd during lunch hours — the eatery is often seen operating at full capacity with all tables filled, and a small queue outside waiting for seats; perhaps an establishment specialising in cart noodles that would be around for quite some time …
