Today's food foray is costly in calories, carb and cholesterol. Finding myself in Mei Ling Market & Food Centre, I circled the 50 - 60 food stalls to decide which to bet my meagre calorie, carb and cholesterol budget on.
Stall name: Tan Song Heng 陈松兴
Address: Stall #02-40, Mei Ling Market & Food Centre
Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Queenstown station
Hours: 10:00am - 1:00pm (off on 1st & 15th day of lunar month)
Sprawling new hawker centre, four of the stalls had queues though none very long. Tan Song Heng caught my attention because of the aroma of fried garlic and savoury sauces coming from the smoking wok as I passed.
The signage says "Newton vintage brand", which got me excited. Could this be the long lost, legendary fried kway teow stall across from Newton Food Centre? No, replied the lady boss. She knew exactly what I was referring to. "Uncle passed on long ago. We are from Newton Food Centre." 🥺
Tan Song Heng serves fried kway teow and fried Hokkien mee. Most customers went for their fried Hokkien mee. I ordered fried kway teow as my heart was set on it after smelling the fried garlic and sauce.
Due to calorie, carb and cholesterol budget constraint, I ordered the smallest serving which came at $4.
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| My camera stole another customer's fried kway teow |
Higher SES (Social Economic Status) servings at $4.50 onwards come with prawns.
The fried kway teow noodles were served smoking, sizzling hot 👍 I like the aroma of caramelised sauces from the plate of dark noodles. For me, smell of caramelised sauce more than wok hei is the most important criteria of a plate of good fried kway teow 😬 Of course, if have both it would be perfect 💪 (Needless to say, taste is subjective lah.)
The kway teow noodles were fried till mostly broken, so it is easier to eat with a spoon. The noodles were wet with water, sauce and tasted lardy savoury sweet with a hint of heat (as I asked for chili). There's hardly any wok hei though.
Tan Song Heng's fried kway teow reminds me of one of my favourites at Ang Mo Kio Central 724 food centre but Tan's rendition is wetter, has less wok hei, less lard but similar taste and smell. So, its in the band of better char kway teow in Singapore for me 😁
There were chye sim, bean sprout, fish cake, lup cheong, and quite generous amount of see hum (blood cockles) done just right for me (i.e. not over done, not raw).
Quite a few greasy la pok (lard croutons) too, though they were not that crunchy.
Oh... seeing almost everyone in the line going for their fried Hokkien mee, I rejoined the queue for the smallest $4.50 serving.
The fried Hokkien mee was smothered in rich savoury lardy eggy sauce but a little heavy on salt and seasoning (?).
Came with a couple of prawns - they were just fresh enough and had lost most of their natural flavour. (Meaning, no need to get the higher SES fried kway teow 😬 Save on calories 😁 )
There were also blanched pork belly which was nice, fish cake slices, but crucially no squid.
If you are in the Mei Ling Street area and it is your char kway teow day today, can give Tan Song Heng a try 😁 Not among my top favourites but I prefer this over most in Singapore.
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