Famous K. L. Hokkien Mee at ABC Brickworks Food Centre

A friend sent me a picture of this Kuala Lumpur (KL) style just the other day. It intrigued me to go try it. There was no queue during lunch on a weekday. I decided to go with the $5 portion, there is also the $4 and $6 portion available. I waited at the stall while it was cooked upon order. I requested for an extra handful of lard to be added. It was served with a saucer of belachan chilli. 

I tossed it before partaking the first mouthful, it was satisfying though not particularly memorable. I know I could not compare it to what I had tasted in KL but this is good enough since we are not able to travel now.

There is also another stall by the same name serving the KL style Fried Hokkien Mee in this food centre. I decided to try it for comparison's sake. There was no other customer at this stall during lunch. I ordered the smallest portion at $4, there is also the $5 and $6 choices available. 

I was surprised that I got it almost immediately. It was scooped from the wok and added in the ingredients then served to me. My dining companion said, "The texture of noodles was too soft. I could also taste that the ingredients were cooked separately with not much flavor from the dark sauce." It did not taste warm perhaps as the result of leaving in the wok for too long. 

There were a few posts circulating on those foodie groups comparing these 2 stalls with different likes and dislikes as taste is subjective.

ABC BRICKWORKS FOOD CENTRE

6 Jalan Bukit Merah SINGAPORE 150006

Fatty Cheong : wanton mee with fried egg

There are 2 stalls by the same name in this food centre by the same owner, the original stall is to focus on roasted meat and the newer stall is to serve wanton mee.  I happened to seat right beside the latter stall and caught sight of 不见天云吞面 and decided to give it a try. The portion consists of a sunny-side-up fried egg and 2 wantons with noodles. There were a few customers before me so I stood there for about 5 minutes before receiving it.

I was pretty excited to try the char siew, it did not disappoint. It is comparable with another stall at Tiong Bahru Food Centre serving the same dish. The addition of a fried egg has no relevance as it did not enhance the taste, it is kind of 画蛇添足 in Chinese. The adding of fried egg is actually started by a noodle stall at a coffee shop in Bukit Merah. The owner of that stall added it to the wanton noodle for her nephew who follows a vegetarian diet.

My dining companion commented, "The char siew is very nice, it has a good balance of fat-lean ratio for the desired tenderness." It is made from from the unexposed armpit of the pig, supposedly the part that is highly sought after. Noodles were cooked to the right texture. They serve the chilli separately on a saucer. 

This is a worth trying Wanton Mee if happen to be in this food centre.

FATTY CHEONG

6 Jalan Bukit Merah #01-52 ABC Brickworks Food Centre SINGAPORE 150006

Pung Pung kitchen at Holland Avenue

Met up with friends to have dinner at this cze cha place founded by Chef Pung Lu Tin, a well-known celebrity chef. We decided to go with some of their signature dishes. The coffee shop was crowded on a Sunday for dinner but not all of them ordering from Pung Pung Kitchen but from Kin Hoi, a stall serving Cockles Thai Style, Top Shell Salad, Mussels Thai Style, Thai Honey Grilled Pork, etc.

The Signature Charcoal Tofu ($10.00) came first. It is steamed tofu with charcoal powder added to give it the black color and topped with a handful of pork floss and chopped spring onion. It was quite a small piece and just enough to share amongst the 4 of us. 

The Marmite Pork Chop ($10.00) came next. It tasted just fine with no surprises. 

Fish Belly with Tofu Soup ($6.00) was quite a big portion of its price. We even wondered whether did they made a mistake. It was a hearty choice for a rainy evening. 

Slice Fish Sambal Hor Fun ($10.00). We were quite impressed with this dish. My friend even suggested that it would tasted nice when taking it away. This is a unique dish that tasted like Chilli Crab Horfun that I tried once. 

Sambal Sweet Potato Leaf ($10.00) tasted just fine. It costs as much as a meat dish which just did not seem to be justifiable. 

Fried Meat with Fermented Bean ($10.00) came when we have almost forgotten about it. It was surprisingly good, much better than the other that I had recently. 

The Signature Opeh Leaf Bee Hoon ($10.00) came last. We waited for about 30 minutes and no sight of it, they must have missed it out. We reminded one of the service staff and waited for another 10 minutes before it was served. We were told that the opeh leaf was run out and it is going to serve without it. My dining companion took a mouthful and said, "This is not better than the one by the White Restaurant. "

The total bill was $64.00. We were left feeling satisfied and will likely come back again. 

PUNG PUNG KITCHEN

Block 6 Holland Close SINGAPORE 271006

Operating Hours: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm / 5.00 pm to 9.30 pm