This is a very biased report because this wan-ton mee stall
has great sentimental value to me. The history of this wan ton mee stall dates back
to when I was just a kid, barely able to peer over a table. Mom & Dad would
bring me to a corner coffeeshop in Tanglin Halt market and feed me with (in my opinion
then) the best wan ton mee I had ever eaten. I remember then that the business was
pretty darn good and we had to wait ages for our plates of steaming hot noodles to arrive.
Then they moved. We lost contact for maybe ten years, and just year before
last, when we went to Blanco court for their then famous kway chap, I noticed a huge
queues forming outside this unobtrusive looking wan ton mee stall and this other fried
fish soup stall. My curiosity was immediately aroused. Next trip down to
Blanco court, I and my friend had planned to try the fried fish soup. We left KK
Hospital early (shh, don't tell anyone) and arrived almost at 11 am. The fish soup
stall was already trailing a long queue. The wan ton me stall had about 5 people in
front (did I mention it was self-service?). That is a comparatively short queue by
her normal standards. She sure knew how to take her time with the noodles, but I
believe all good things come to those who wait. And wait we did... she gave TLC to
every single plate of noodles she cooked up. Best of all, we get to
"configure" our own garnishings. That's a big plus coz I like lots of the
fried onions on my noodles.
The long-awaited arrival of our noodles was greeted by soft cheers from those at our
table. The mood was further cheered by the fantastic plate of wan ton mee that
they'd received. The noodles were well cooked, but not overcooked such that they
were still springy to the bite. The cantonese call it "song" (go ask your
cantonese friends or something). People never believe me when I tell them that this
lady scoops up a 'random' number of wan ton for each bowl. My favourite way of
describing it is that there are so many that by the time you are almost done counting
them, they swim around and make you lose count! That's how many she gives!!!
For the more scientifically inclined, we had an average of eight wan tons, with a 95%
confidence interval of seven and ten! And they don't taste bad either! Yee Sze
did complain that the soup was a little sweet, but I kind of like it that way.
Anyway I'm biased (as I've already explained) so don't pay attention to anything I say.
The noodles come with huge CHUNKS of great tasting char siew! No wimpy slicing
and dicing for this lady, she really hacks it off! And if you've seen her chopping
at her char siew, you'd actually believe me! For the health conscious, there's
plenty of vegetables in this dish. Here's a tip, ask for a LARGE bowl of soup, that
way she gives you much more vegetables with it!
Now the greatest thing about these noodles has to be the chili sauce. This chili
sauce is REALLY hot stuff!
Forget I said what I said in the earlier paragraph, the greatest thing about these
noodles is THE PRICE! THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE LARGEST MEAL I HAVE EVER HAD IN
SINGAPORE FOR $2!!! (Does this remind you of a recent McDonald's television advert?)
By the way, did I mention that her pork spare rib noodles are also very remarkable?
Most other places I know would only serve you spare-ribs, and you'd be lucky to get
soup. This lady gives you a whole bowl of soup PLUS seven maybe eight won ton with
your spare rib noodles! And for the same price! We thought she was mistaken at
first, but believe me there was no error!
OK, so enough of my biased reports, here's what has happened so far: the stall
has moved to Amoy Street Hawker Centre because Blanco Court had to close down. I
hear that they're still packing in the crowds, though I haven't had the opportunity to
verify this for myself. Is the food still as good? You tell me.
- Yuen Ho
