Recently, a wanton mee stall at block 632 in Yishun took the social media world by storm with two hour queues for their authentic Hong Kong style duck egg noodles. Its main selling point is owner chef Kin was formerly with the Crystal Jade chain of restaurants. As a wanton mee lover, I was curious and eager to give it a try.
My first time here was last week - I walked over after my annual appointment with my dentist in Yishun. The queue extended to the next block and I decided that I ain't going to wait that long for a bowl of wanton mee.
Today, I dropped by just after 7am on the way to run an errand. Chef Kin was in the house.
I was number 4 in the queue and waited just 10 minutes even though a
gentleman ahead of me ordered 7 packets 🙄 (They have a limit of 10
packets per customer.)
I got the classic Hong Kong style wanton mee for $5. They also have a "dry" version, beef brisket noodles, etc.
I appreciate it that the noodles were served in a nice ceramic bowl, the kind we get at upscale noodle houses or restaurants.
There's a mound of egg noodles, stalks of choy sum greens, five wantons
and a sprinkle of spring onion.
Such a pretty spoon.
The soup was light and mildly savoury. I can taste a bit umami
from ti poh
which I like. There's also old hen, Jin Hua ham, and pork in the soup
(all the essential ingredients in an authentic HK wanton mee soup). The
savoury soup was nice but I would like it more if the flavours were a
little more robust and there was more depth of flavours.
The noodles were the quintessentially HK slender angel hair type. The duck egg noodles imported from Hong Kong were light and done tender, springy, crunchy. I like it though it was just a tad softer than my idea of ideal.
I like the savoury taste of the slurpy noodles from the soup clinging to
the strands. There was none of that alkaline taste sometimes found in HK
style wanton mee.
The wantons were good sized and wrapped in silky smooth skin.
Inside is a compact ball of minced Kurobuta pork and chopped sea prawn. There wasn't much seasoning so the porcine sweetness and the sweet taste of fresh prawn dominate. The ball of prawn and pork was tender though there was hardly any pork fat. It's a very nice wanton.
There's five of these in a $5 serving, making it good value for
money.
They have a nice chili sauce which you help yourself with, if you opted
for the "dry" version. It has a well balanced savoury spicy taste, though
the heat is on the mild side.
A dab of chef Kin's chili sauce really boosted the taste of the noodles. (Hong Kong chefs might be tearing out their hair when they see such desecration 🤭 )
I like chef Kin's Hong Kong wanton mee. I will eat it regularly, if I
live nearby. Otherwise, I will go for it when I am in the area and when
the queue isn't too long. Everything is nice and the best things here for
me are the wantons and chili sauce. It's good value for money too - the
same bowl of wanton mee that I just had would cost around $10 at Crystal
Jade.
Next time, I shall try their (prawn) dumpling noodle and beef brisket
noodle.
Written by Tony Boey on 28 Sep 2021
Tengcc KC said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDeleteTony, actually there may be no queue during weekdays off peak time, sweet spot is around 3 to 4pm. I would tabao the raw uncooked duck egg noodles imported from HK. can cook the noodles with any ingredients at your disposal. Ho Chiak!!!
George Georgis said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDeleteVery typical of Sporean. Old saying.. 新屎坑
Why never queue at Crystal jade resturant for the same bowl of wanton noodles??
i will not try now but much later. Why? If after 6 months, if the taste is same as day 1 than we are really going for a super wanton noodles.. I will be a long time supporter
Wai Peng Heng said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDeleteNo i wont, with that time spent i could have gone to a restaurant to have similar quality of food even though the price tag is higher, similar concept of time = money
Nice , honest review!
ReplyDeleteTan David Chao Hsiung said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDeleteif u have nothing better to do and need to kill time why not. if you want to try because of the fanfare recently - the stall will be there and will not run away soon. i am a firm believer of economics - the current pricing is a promo to attract the fanfare and drive up sales. which it has already achieved now. selling cheap and still more effective then paying for newspapers advertisement. singaporean loves to see long long queues. interesting enough this strategy does not work in hong kong. the hongkees believe their taste buds and not the queues. true pricing is coming into play - up prices or cut quantity. most likely a 10 per cent up tick is coming soon. another year or so the stall will be up for sale and sold for a good price. chef kin will be another poster boy and standing beside new stalls and endorsing them. remember loyang big prawn noodles lolx. all the best to those that have time to queue an hour or two.
Jessica Tan said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDeleteIf it’s similar to CJ then NO WAY! I won’t even q 30 mins for the Mak’s in HK. 2 hours is a very long time for something that one can have for $10 at CJ. Savings of $5 over 2 hrs is $1.25/hr! I think working at M pays more!
Wan tan Mee so so not Worth to queued 2hours.
ReplyDeleteIf I give you $5 to Q 2hrs for me, will you take the offer? I guess NO right? Then if I give someone $5 to Q for me then must well pay $5+$5 sit comfortably at crystal jade with aircon n not need Q. Most important the chef won't need to rush in the cooking so quality maintenaned. I was there last week but walk off after asked 3 patron's review and they say OK lah but not worth the Q. It is not a food that is at that level I will Q 2 hrs for it. Last time I Q 1hr for 国记 wanton noodle, but not now. I believe after awhile like 3mths the Q will be reduce within 30min.
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