Featured in Makansutra and Burpple
Sold out by about 9am
There’s bak chor mee, mee poh tah and Teochew mee, all culinary gifts the Teochews showered onto this delicious land of ours. Their mee kia and mee poh sell out so fast each morning that they have a prepared sign saying “mee pok and mee kia sold out” that appears by about 9am. The soup version, that has a flotsam and jetsam of minced pork sitting in the broth, comes nicely sweet and is brewed with prawn shells (you can see it simmering in the soup pot). The toppings of fresh shrimps, fish balls, greens, fish cakes and fried shallots are so comforting. I like their dry version and do ask for a shot of black vinegar with their offending and stinging sambal.
Traditional Teochew Style Noodles With A Nostalgic Taste
If you spot a queue at an old hawker centre made up mostly of sexagenarians, septuagenarians and the occasional octogenarian (although they usually get the privilege of sitting as they wait their turn), JOIN IT STRAIGHTAWAY. Chances are whatever the hawker is dishing out, it's very good. That's how I discovered "Teowchew Kway Tiao Mee" at Whampoa Hawker Centre.
For me, this is "old school" noodles at its finest. My order of "kway teow" and "sek mee" came in an awesomely sweet soup. The generous amount of fried shallots, garlic bits, chopped coriander, spring onions and crunchy pork lard had me loving it even more. And because I'd overheard a couple of customers asking to "加料” (add ingredients), the lemming in me did the same when it was my turn. So I ended up with two halves of a prawn instead of one, plus an extra helping of their fresh, handmade fishcake and fishballs. All for a modest $4. Oh yes, one thing about their fishballs - they really are the smallest and cutest ones I have ever come across!
On the signboard, you’ll find the words “Teowchew Kway Tiao Mee”. “They did the name wrongly, it should be ‘Teochew Kway Tiao Mee’, but we just left it as it is,” explained Su Ting, 31, the great-granddaughter of the stall’s founder.
Teochew Kway Tiao Mee started as a stall along Balestier Road and moved into Whampoa Drive Food Centre during the 1970s when the hawker centre was set up. The stall is now run by the founder’s two granddaughters, Christ, 60, who handles the cooking, Susan, 55, who preps the ingredients, and great-granddaughter, Su Ting, 31, who takes the orders.
While there’s no time for chit-chat, you’ll find the trio to be approachable and friendly. As for the queue, be prepared to wait up to 30 minutes for your order. Also, the food sells out quickly. If you’re in the queue at 10 am, you may not be able to get a bowl of this traditional Teochew-style soup noodles.
The humble-looking stall sells the perfect bowl of Teochew Kway Tiao Mee, which you can have them in either the soup or dry version. Each bowl comes with peeled prawns, minced meat, mini fish balls, fish cake and beansprouts, and is topped with chopped spring onions and coriander.
You would be pleased to know that their fish balls and fish cake are freshly made and not storebought. The recipe hasn’t changed much since the 50s. Some of the ingredients were replaced or dropped according to customers’ requests.
The savoury soup, cooked with prawn’s shells, is what you want at this stall. It is flavourful, light, not too salty and doesn’t feel thick or oily. It has that comforting vibe that you get when you eat homecooked food. And if you like, free soup top-ups are available, too.
We recommend that you go for the dry version as it also comes with a decent-size bowl of its delicious soup. For the dry version, noodles are tossed in black vinegar and delicious spicy-sweet sambal. For a more textured bite and taste, choose egg noodles with kway teow for your noodle option. If not, kway teow on its own is just as delicious.
From my fans since last century!
Cheap eats · Great food · Healthy options
The kway tiao noodles is great and the broth is nice! Value for money!
Large portions · Great food
Order the Dry Large & Soup Large. A lot of ingredient in it definitely value for money for the amount of ingredient in it. Not to forget the very shiok chilli.
Will order again
Thank u for the yummy food! Ordered yesterday and it was delivered hot! Will order again!
Wenxin Serene