Chinatown Complex Food Centre is one of the biggest hawker centre I have ever been too. I am not familiar with what is nice over here. So what I did was to do a quick walk around and spot where the queues are and then zoom in to one that interest me.
After walking round the whole hawker centre that took a whole 15 minutes (not thanks to the layout), I decided to try the Teochew St Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle 潮洲街香菇肉脞麵. What caught my attention was the word Teochew and the queue. There was a queue 5 people in front of me. I queued for at least 20 minutes before it was my turn to order. 20 minutes when there was only 5 people in front? Well, you heard this correctly!
There were only 2 people manning the stall. A uncle, who did the cooking and preparing. While the auntie took the order and collected the cash. Normally, in other stalls, the person takes the orders from customers also prepares the ingredients for the chef (uncle). Not in this case. In fact, the uncle prepares all the ingredients himself. I even saw him going to the fridge and taking out more ingredients. Despite the queue, he was not anxious (kan chiong) and did take any short cut (kudos to him). I was certainly impressed as he took great care in cooking each bowl of noodles.
Bak Chor Mee $3 |
I ordered the Bak Chor Mee 肉脞面.
Bak Chor Mee $3 |
This bowl of Bak Chor Mee was excellent! The Mee Pok was cooked perfectly! Soft yet springy. A generous portion of ingredients such as braised mushroom, lean meat, minced meat, fish cake, crispy fish and even pork lard was given. I especially like the braised mushroom as it was not only flavourful but also soft. The sauce; a mixture of vinegar, chilli, oil and (who knows what other secret ingredients) complemented well with the noodles and ingredients. It enhanced the taste of the whole dish and was lip smacking despite the spiciness.
Bak Chor Mee $3 |
The soup (pork stock) was simple yet flavourful. The meat ball and fish ball was average, nothing to shout about.
It was a fulfilling meal for me. Not only did it taste good, it was also value for money with generous portion of ingredients and worth the wait (queue). This is one stall worth patronising and I am sure there are many more stalls worth a try at Chinatown Complex Food Centre. Anyone who frequently patronise the food centre here has any other recommendations? With so many stalls, I am sure there are lots of hidden gems here.
It was a fulfilling meal for me. Not only did it taste good, it was also value for money with generous portion of ingredients and worth the wait (queue). This is one stall worth patronising and I am sure there are many more stalls worth a try at Chinatown Complex Food Centre. Anyone who frequently patronise the food centre here has any other recommendations? With so many stalls, I am sure there are lots of hidden gems here.
Teochew St Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle 潮洲街香菇肉脞麵 (Chinatown)
Blk 335 Smith Street
#02-23 Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Opening Hours: Wed to Sun 1230pm - 9pm
Closed on Mon and Tue
Location
Location
Hey, that's my fave dish! Gosh, they even give the dried fish! It's hard to find stalls adding this type of fish in it as it's expensive :<
ReplyDeleteyea! I heard Hong Lim FC has a similar stall.
DeleteI love Tiong Shian porridge just a street away from this hawker centre. Amazing porridge. Love the silky chicken and the kung pao sauce fish fillet.
ReplyDeleteme too!! And their raw fish is darn good too!
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