Honest Review Ah Sing Teo Chew Minced Meat Noodle @ Hong Lim Hawker Food Centre. Is the New Kid on the Block a Chip Off the Old Block?

By now, most fans of the legendary Ah Kow bak chor mee would know that he has retired. His stall unit at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre has been taken over by Ah Sing Teo Chew Minced Meat Noodle 亚诚潮州肉脞面.

Ah Sing (no relation to Ah Kow) is still trying to establish himself in Hong Lim Food Centre - he got very large shoes to fill. Ah Sing is growing his own fan base but very slowly. Some people (like me) still can't get over the closure of Ah Kow bak chor mee.... 😞

I did stalk Ah Sing's stall a couple of times and was quite impressed with his earnestness and spirit at work.

Today, I finally gave Ah Sing Teochew minced meat noodle a try, more than 3 months after first spotting him at Ah Kow's old corner.

The mound of mee kia (slender noodles) was set in a pool of sauce and topped with minced pork, lean pork slices, stewed mushroom, a wanton, bak pok (lard crouton), and chopped scallion. Ah Sing apologised that there was no tee poh (dried sole fish) as he had a supply problem that day.

A good toss coated my slightly springy noodles with a slick greasy, robustly savoury tangy spicy lardy sauce. It's a taste profile that reminds me of popular bak chor mee stalwarts like Tai Hwa which truth be told, I am ambivalent about. But, I do know that many people like their bak chor mee with this complex, robust taste.

I always give extra points to stalls that serve spongy savoury stewed mushroom in their bak chor mee. When I saw Ah Sing making his stewed mushroom after closing the stall (a few months ago), I told myself that I must come back for his bak chor mee.

There was a large wanton.....

filled with a knob of tender minced pork.

I like these little soft-crunchy bits that were like thick white fungus. Not much flavour in itself but the texture is interesting, adding character to Ah Sing's dish. This was the first time I came across something like this in my bak chor mee. Have you?

I asked for more bak pok and Ah Sing responded generously with a heap of crunchy crackly lard croutons.

The soup was light weight but sufficiently sweet savoury.

The handmade fish ball had a nice soft spring and slight fresh fish taste.

Not Ah Kow but Ah Sing serves a nice bak chor mee / minced meat noodle in his own right. Give Ah Sing at Hong Lim Market a try and maybe you will like it too.

Share with us how you find the new kid on the block.

If you need to reminisce about the legendary Ah Kow bak chor mee 👈 click

Restaurant name: Ah Sing Teo Chew Minced Meat Noodle 亚诚潮州肉脞面

Address: Upper Cross Street, #02-43, Hong Lim Food Centre, Singapore

Hours: 8:30am - 5:00pm

Date visited: 14 Dec 2020