This is no longer a closely held secret. I am sure many people have tried this Singapore-style ramen and raved about it. But I would still like to chronicle it on my humble site because it is worthy of the price, the calories, the long queuing time and the Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition (or even more than that)
Everything is handmade, fresh and artisanal. Just the wantons alone are enough to impress you on first taste. Made with 100% fresh Indonesian pork with shrimps, the wantons are bigger than average; unbelievably plump and springy. Then, I hit up on the Crispy Potato Wrapped Prawn that easily surpassed the standards of dimsum served in local Chinese Restaurants.
With these promising signs of a good bowl, I fast forwarded enthusiastically to savour the Mee Kia, cooked just al dente and shaken free of excess water. Ooh, surprisingly robust. We noticed that some seasoning were scattered on the noodles before it was draped in charsiu and that could explain why the noodles itself were flavorful on its own already.
But there lies the danger. The sambal chilli, which was very salty without any fiery kick.
I stopped mixing the sambal chilli with the noodles because it could potentially ruin the bowl. In other words, the sambal was slightly redundant because it didn't add value to the dish. That's a pity because I could imagine how kick-ass shiok this bowl would be if the chilli was good. Even chilli padi or dry chilli flakes could work. But I am not a noodle professional. So some may argue that making the chilli too outstanding might just rob the limelight from the noodles.
Slurping on, I reached the piece of fat-flecked charsiu that require little effort to chew. And as we always save the best thing to the last, the molten egg. The perfect version with luscious orangey yolk, achieved not only by precise execution but also choice of superior eggs.
$9 bowl (noodles portion same as $7 bowl but with more toppings)
In short, it tasted like a bowl of delicious Wanton Mee with all the necessary components of a ramen. I read somewhere about how tedious and time-consuming it took for the folks behind this stall to prepare everything daily. And I can ascertain now that this ain't no media hype. Every cent and effort invested has bore fruits on the taste. I'm so proud of this Singapore-style ramen which I thought was even better than Japanese ramen, tsukemen or mazesoba.
Wonderland dream of noodly bliss. It's a happily ever after ending for my noodle story.
A Noodle Story
01-39 Amoy St Food Centre
7 Maxwell Rd Singapore 069111
Mon-Fri 11.15am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-7.30pm
Sat 10.30am-1.30pm
Closed on Sun and PH