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Wai Hai Lou Casual Chinese Restaurant Menu & Review. Satisfying Simple Staples 外海楼

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I was blown away by the depth of savoury beefy sweet flavours of this soup. The beef brisket was soft, juicy and beefy sweet. The noodles had a nice light crunch to the bite. This ranks in my mind in the top band of beef noodles in Singapore.

Then, now till 30 Sep 2020, they are selling this for $2.50 nett 😮 Hey, one can argue till the cows come home about which is best beef noodles in Singapore but this surely is the cheapest till 30 Sep 2020 (normal price $7.50++). While there, I tried out their hand made chee cheong fun (rice rolls) which I felt were not bad too. Don't say I eat quietly, boh jio hor... 😝

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Restaurant name: Wai Hai Lou 外海楼
Address: 25 Smith St, Singapore 058939 (Chinatown)
Tel+65 6226 1232
Hours: 11:00am - 3:00pm | 4:00pm - 7:30pm


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There was hardly a soul at the once bustling Smith Street (Chinatown) during lunch today. Smith Street restaurants are hard hit by Circuit Breaker social distancing measures since 7 Apr 2020 and stoppage of tourist arrivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.



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Wai Hai Lou is a small restaurant. It has two levels, this is the ground floor. Decor is simple, minimalist but comfortable enough.

During lunch today, other than us, there was only a couple.

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Wai Hai Lou's menu consists mainly of staples like chee cheong fun (rice rolls), noodles and rice dishes. Ben was raving about their handmade chee cheong fun and noodles.

When this beef noodle came, my mind was still not in gear. The bowl of soupy noodles looked ordinary but the beefy aroma from the soup caught my attention right away.

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I was quite mind blown by my first mouthful of this soup.

"Can you taste the three types of meat; chicken, pork, beef in the soup?" Ben asked.

Oh... yes..., that's why it tasted so good with layers of savoury sweetness and beefiness together in every spoonful.

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The noodles were thick and heavy with a nice tender crunch to the bite. The subtle wheat flavour was overlaid with savoury sweetness from the beefy soup clinging to the slurpy strands.

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I like my beef brisket in meaty chunks but this comes thumbnail size. But, man.... they were soft, juicy, and oh.... so... sweet beefy. The morsels were quite fatty which I love... but you have been warned 😄

I dare say that this has to be best beef noodles $2.50 can buy in Singapore, some say in JB and Batam also. I know lah... it is a trap. Once we are addicted to this beef noodles right... the owners are confident that we will come back and pay the full price $7.50++ after the promotion ends on 30 Sep 2020.

If you are scared that that might happen, don't... 😱

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We had their chee cheong fun too. This is the Fresh Prawn Rice Roll (price $6.50++).

The rice rolls are freshly made on order with rice flour ground with a rice grinder right there in the kitchen. Even the rice is imported from China to ensure that it is the right one for this chee cheong fun.

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The rice roll sheet is thin and was quite stretchy with good tensile strength, so it had a nice soft subtly crunchy chewy bite.

The traditional savoury sweet watery sauce complements well the rice roll which has a subtle natural rice taste. They don't have pasty fermented bean sauce nor sambal chili which we are familiar with in Singapore and Malaysia.

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We also had a pair of Pork Liver Rice Rolls ($7 a set).

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The fresh pork liver was sliced a little thin, so they came out slightly stiff. But, together with the soft crunchy chewy rice roll wet with savoury sweet sauce, each mouthful was really quite a pleasure.

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Signature Fried Rice with Fresh Prawn $8++. I am told the chef whips up a mean fried rice with wok hei... but today's not the day 😅 You can try your luck when you come 😄

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Obligatory crunchy leafy Kai Lan lightly stir fried with oyster sauce for $5.50++, why not right?

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This Prawn and Pork Fried Dumpling is a Must.



I was delighted with the light snappy crispiness of the wanton shell and the juicy sweet prawn, pork and water chestnut filling. No grease on the crispy shell at all.

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So how?

Come here for the $2.50 beef brisket noodles. The pork trotter noodle is also on $2.50 promotion (I didn't try it but you may want to check it out). Reminder: $2.50 promo ends on 30 Sep 2020.

While here try out their various rice rolls. Get the stir fried Kai Lan and must not forget the deep fried dumplings.

Come back share with us how you find the food 😄


Johor Kaki is the best Malaysia food blog in 2013, and best Singapore food blog in 2013 and 2014.

Date visited: 26 Aug 2020

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