Heng Kee Laksa Prawn Noodle (兴記虾面）

Heng Kee Laksa Prawn Noodle (兴記虾面）

Tian Tian Fa Carrot Cake 

 

Sunday morning, went to Lor 8 Toa Payoh to have breakfast with my wife.  Walk a few rounds and uncertain which stall to try as not very familiar with this hawker centre.

Saw a long queue at this stall at #01-40 and would trust the Toa Payoh residents’ taste will not be too bad to queue at this prawn noodles stall (most other stall are without queue).  No accreditation display on the stall – so I taught WOW ! finally I found a good prawn noodle stall that has not been picked up by the food critics.

 

 

WOW – see pei pai jiat ( taste real bad !).  No wonder there is no one write about this stall.  The noodle is soggy.  Chili is so bland and tasteless.  The worst is that the owner seems to love to see a long queue that he is trying so hard to slow down in prepping the food.  Sorry lah, Toa Payoh residents!  I really not sure why you guys want to queue up for this prawn noodle stall !  Speechless !

 

The soup is pathetic.  One of the worst you can get !

Moral of the story – queue not necessary good!

Tian Tian Fa Carrot Cake 

The consolation is while waiting for the prawn noodle, getting a bit of impatient and ordered a carrot cake from the stall opposite (#01-42).  Not bad !  Crispy outside, the kway is quite soft.  Not too oily and not too salty.

 

Heng Kee Laksa Prawn Noodle (兴記虾面）

#01-40, Lorong 8 Toa Payoh Market and Food Centre

Blk 210 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh

Tian Tian Fa Carrot Cake 

#01-42, Lorong 8 Toa Payoh Market and Food Centre

Blk 210 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh

 

Lam’s Abelone Noodle

Lam’s Abalone Noodle

 

I remembered the 小碗面 concept was first started by Ah Lam.  He has been very successful at one stage but now there are many stalls using Ah Lam’s noodles and I am not sure whether they belongs to him or not.

Besides 小碗面, Ah Lam is also famous for offering abalone with the meepok.  He is also famous for selling sharks’ fins soup at his hawker stall.

 

The stall at the junction of race course and Balestier Road (near civil service club)  is definitely owned by Ah Lam as this is the only stall that sell noodles with Abalone.  The basic noodles comes with 3 pieces of braised abalone, half onsen egg , one fried fish ball, minced meat and pork slice..

 

It is disappointment all round : from the noodles that are too soggy, chilli has no punch, abalone is tasteless and overall experience is not fantastic.  Ah Lam noodles forgot about getting the basic right.  The gimmick of having abalone in the meepok is no longer enough to draw the crowd if the other key items are not getting right.

Lam’s Abelone Noodle

460 Race Course Road

2.15pm – 10.30pm(Closed on Mon)

Depot Road Huang Ji Wonton Noodle (黃記云吞麵）

Depot Road Huang Ji Wonton Noodle (黃記云吞麵）

 

Located at Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre, the stall sell quite a few types of noodles (Wonton, Shui Kaw Shrimp dumpling, Beef Brisket, braised chicken feet, spinach made noodles etc).

I saw a customer ordered the wonton mee and the owner added a lot of gravy on the noodles.  So I decided to go for plain without adding the gravy as I want to try the texture of the noodles as I was told the noodle is made by the owner.  Adding the gravy will made the noodles too soggy and could not taste the springiness of the noodles.

 

$3 a plate comes with generous portion of char siew and a lot of vegetable.  I skip the fried wonton and the owner give me one shui kaw.

 

 

My overall experience for this stall is disappointment.  Char siew is plain.  Soup is plain.  Wonton and shui kaw are ordinary.  The chili is so diluted and tasteless.  The only + point is the noodle which is springy but because I did not ask for the special made gravy, the owner does not how to add the oil + soy sauce + sesame oil which make the noodles so bland.  I will not recommend this stall.

 

Depot Road Huang Ji Wonton Noodle (黃記云吞麵）

#01-84, Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre, 115 Bukit Merah View

 

Song Kee Fishball Noodle 松记鱼丸面 (Serangoon)

Song Kee Fishball Noodle 松记鱼丸面 (Serangoon)

 

Do not confused by this Song Kee (松记）with the one at Newton circle.  They are not related.  However, they are the same as the famous fishball store at Toa Payoh Lor 5 Hawver Centre.  This Serangoon stall starts at 7.30 pm till late (3 am).  The one at Toa Payoh starts at 10 am till around 10 pm.

 

There is no queue at this stall as you can order and sit down and you will be served.  But it is very crowded and hardly able to find empty table.  But they serve very fast, which is a fantastic thing for a impatient guy like me.

 

The lady boss convinced me to order $6 as it serves additional meat ball and fish dumpling.  No regret !  The home made meat ball is very good.  The fish dumpling (her giao) is one of the best (if not the best) in Singapore.  The liow (filing) of the fish dumpling is full of flavor with generous portion of dried sole (ti poh).   Fish ball is very good too.  The lady boss said the fishball is $0.50 per piece and meat ball is $2 for 3 pieces.  I will order next year for my CNY steamboat.  They should do away with the tau po as it is nothing special.

 

Soup is quite tasty but nothing spectacular.  The disappointment is the noodles.  There is nothing wrong the way they cook it.  Not soggy and not too hard.  But the chili and may be not enough lard and without ti po make the noodle rather bland.  I have the same comment for the Toa Payoh Lor 5 stall too.  This is one area they really need improvement.  Overall, it is edible but not fantastic – which is a pretty as their fishball/meatball and fish dumpling are so excellent.

 

Over at Serangoon stall, parking is a challenge.  I get hold of the lady owner’s HP number and can call to pre-order.  Park my car on the road side for a few minutes and tapoa the noodles back is an option when car park lots are all taken up.

Song Kee Fishball Noodle 松记鱼丸面 (Serangoon)

532 Upper Serangoon Road

7.30pm to 3am .