Porky Dorky Caught wind of the a new dining establishment named Wu Lao Lao 吴姥姥 that had recently opened its doors within Marina Bay Link Mall — Wu Lao Lao takes over the former premises of the previous location of SaladStop in the underground pedestrian mall which is a little bit of an obscure spot to say the least; this is especially considering how the shop unit is tucked right towards the end of the linkway leading up to The Promontory near the outlet of Old Tea Hut there. It is interesting to see how Wu Lao Lao had segmented the space for their operations here; the side facing the other shops within Marina Bay Link Mall is the counter where one can use the tablets placed beside the takeaway collection counter to place their orders for food — this can also be said as the frontage of the eatery considering the use of space here. As one makes the turn around the “self-ordering kiosk”, they would be able to find that there is quite a number of dine-in seating available for those whom intend to seat in and have the food on the spot; the furniture and fittings are simple but seemingly tasteful as well giving the space a chic and modern touch — the dining chairs being plastic ones with a rattan-esque appearance, while dining tables come in a wooden accent. Wu Lao Lao’s menu is segregated into categories comprising of Small Dishes, Signature Noodle Bowls, Popiah Roll, Coconut Basmati Rice and All Day Toastie. Beverages available at Wu Lao Lao includes Nanyang-style Kopi and Teh, as well as a decent variety of Iced Premium Tea and Iced Milk Tea — think the likes of Lychee Assam Tea and Okinawa Milk Tea, as well as fancy concoctions of coffee such as the Honey Milk Coffee.
It seems that Wu Lao Lao prides themselves over their noodle offerings and popiah rolls; after all, the category in the menu for their noodles does bear the word “signature” as well — we had also been fairly drawn to their noodle offerings when skimming through their menu online; this is considering how they do have a few items on the menu that surrounds around the theme of Dry Chili Pan Mee, as well as that of Mee Hoon Kueh. That being said, there are other items on its menu that seem to be inspired by mainland Chinese-style noodle dishes, as well as the Thai Tom Yum Mama. We are folks whom would not give up the opportunity to go for anything Dry Chili Pan Mee; we found ourselves eventually opting for the Porky Dorky. Wu Lao Lao describes the Porky Dorky to come with elements such as Dry Chili Pan Mee, Minced Pork and Pork Chop — this would be on top of vegetables, soft egg, Ikan Bilis, fried shallots and spring onion that they have claimed to include for all items listed in the Signature Noodle Bowls category of the menu. Orders are made through an online POS system with payment being made on the same platform; the eatery does adopt a self-service concept when patrons are to collect the orders at the counter, though the staff do seem willing to help serve orders to the table if they have the capacity to do so.
Giving the Porky Dorky a little bit of a toss, we found that this variant of the Dry Chili Pan Mee does not seem to come with black sauce; a little bit of a contrast with the one from Chilli Pan Mee (Batu Rd) at Telok Ayer. What seemingly gels the entire bowl together here is pretty much the soft egg, runny and jiggly with a molten egg yolk, mixing it up into the bowl makes the entire bowl come with a silkier touch — makes the noodles particularly slurpy and helps the crispy chili to cling and lace around the noodles. The noodles itself are pretty similar to the broad Ban Mian that we are used to seeing elsewhere; a little chewy in terms of texture, but catches on to the dry chili and minced meat so well to achieve that savoury and slightly smoky and spicy note that one would often associate with Dry Chili Pan Mee. There is also a good proportion of crispy pork lard that adds a lot of texture to the dish; that compliments the serving of Ikan Bilis that also comes with the dish. The Pork Chop itself attempts to follow the style of the Din Tai Fung-esque pork chops that was trendy to be served with noodles at stalls that also offer Din Tai Fung-esque fried rice; at least visually. That being said, it does seem like Wu Lao Lao had made this variant their very own with the pork chop being especially tender and easy to chew; the pork chop also carrying a bit of sweetness without any undesirable porky stench that came along.
We had also tried The Luncheon & Egg Popiah Roll during our visit, which comprises of elements such as lettuce, luncheon meat, egg omelette and crispy bits. We liked how the The Luncheon & Egg Popiah Roll felt like an American-style breakfast fusion-style Popiah with its savoury notes typical of cured meat and varying textures , though the lack of sauce also made the item felt like the elements lack some form of integration to bring them altogether as a dish somewhat. The Kopi we had was on point though; robust with a caffeinated kick from the Robusta beans without being overly sweetened. Wu Lao Lao does seem to be targeting the office crowds here pretty squarely; at least so from their operations which seems to suggest that they are a quick-service diner. Its food items are actually surprisingly decent; while we not necessarily call their Porky Dorky close to the Chili Pan Mee served at Chilli Pan Mee (Batu Rd), they do serve up quite a good rendition that is worth the price that they are asking for. That being said, there is also room for improvement for some of its items like the Luncheon & Egg Popiah Roll. Prices of the items listed in the Signature Noodle Bowls and Coconut Basmati Rice section of the menu range between $5.90 to $11; the lowest-priced being the Fish Fillet Coconut Basmati Rice and the priciest being the She Sells Seashells from the Signature Noodle Bowls section of the menu. We do foresee ourselves returning to Wu Lao Lao to give their Coconut Basmati Rice offerings a go; always happy to find places that serves up good Nasi Lemak without causing a dent in the wallet!