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| 進春 Chin Choon Prawn Noodle 📍265 Bukit Batok East Ave 4, Singapore 650265 (stall in De Tian 德天 coffee shop) 🚅 15 minute walk from Bukit Batok station ⏰ 7am - 3pm (Mon & Weds off) |
Decades ago, I was living near Upper Bukit Timah Road. I remember three stalls from there which I often had my breakfast - a black sauce pork & prawn noodle shop, a Teochew sliced fish soup stall, and a wanton mee / chicken rice stall with roast chicken and pork. I don't know the names of any of these favourites. I just know where they were located along Upper Bukit Timah Road. They were my reliable places of habit 老地方,习惯的味道.
That, of course, was a very bad idea. Because after I moved and Upper Bukit Timah Road was re-developed, I lost touch with all of these three shops which were like signposts of a part of my life 🥹 Signposts with no names 🤔
Throwback.
The gritty old corner shop served a kind of mixed pork and prawn noodle. I like the thick spongy yellow noodles they used and their signature viscous thick umami savoury sweet black sauce, chili sauce and lard blend.
Described by today's influencers as "Malaysian style" but I have not come across any prawn noodle like this in Malaysia. (Dark sauce doesn't automatically mean "Malaysian".)
The dark tea colour soup was robust but with balanced crustacean umami, savoury soy sauce and porcine sweet flavours.
The pork-prawn noodle was my top choice breakfast. Top choice lunch was the wanton mee and roasts place. The fish soup I reserved for slow, relaxing weekends.
Coming back to the Upper Bukit Timah black sauce prawn noodle shop, it moved to nearby Teck Whye Estate under the name Lai Heng Prawn Noodle. I knew Lai Heng was from the old Upper Bukit Timah Road shop as it had all the unmistakable DNA of the savoury sweet lardy black sauce prawn mee. But, I have not been back at Lai Heng since I moved out of the area (15 years ago).
Recently, I came across good reviews of Chin Choon Prawn Noodle in social media. It's the dark sauce type of pork-prawn noodle, not commonly found in Singapore nowadays.
Then, I read that Chin Choon Prawn Noodle was actually from the shop at 826, Upper Bukit Timah Road i.e. my old breakfast haunt from the 1980s.
Curious, I made a trip down to find out.
Chin Choon Prawn Noodle stall is now at De Tian coffee shop at block 265 in Bukit Batok (actually quite near to its old address, if you drive).
Of course, the ambiance is completely different. De Tian 德天 is a HDB coffee shop. The old place was a corner shop house in front of the old Tan Chong Motors warehouse. At that time, we could pull our cars right to the front of our tables when we ate.
The menu at the front. I was here around 10am, so there was no queue.
I had the dry version of pig tail noodle.
The young lady cooking was very friendly. I asked for more lard, she gave me lots of fried shallot as they (lard and shallot) were mixed together she said.
The fried shallot were the factory fried kind, re-fried at the stall I believe as they were quite dry and don't have much aroma or flavour.
The yellow noodles were tender but slightly more slender and not as spongy as what I remember. The savoury tasting dark sauce coated the strands well but somewhat flat, missing the umami, sweetness and lardiness I remember. I asked for a bit of chili sauce, so there was a very slight heat.
The joints of pig tail were stewed till tender, then rested which also drained and dried it a bit. I dipped it in the soup to rehydrate them a little.
Skin, fat and meat, they were all nicely tender, soft, porcine sweet with a subtle savoury overlay.
I love the greasy soup. The taste profile was porcine sweet with underlying crustacean umami and soy sauce savouriness. My memory is it was more umami last time.
But, anyway this was still enjoyable.
I was alone, so didn't have any more tummy space but next time, I shall have the pig tail and liver in soup with a bit of optional obligatory carbs.
If you are one of those like me whose work day was powered by dark sauce prawn and pork noodle at Upper Bukit Timah Road - your fuel for life, reason for waking up every morning is still here at 265, Bukit Batok.
It's changed, we've changed, but we are really still us, the same.
*If you know where are the roast stall and Teochew sliced fish stall, please share with me. Also please share where else we can find black sauce prawn noodle in Singapore or Malaysia.
Oh..., re-discovering Chin Choon reminded me about the other spinoff from Upper Bukit Timah black prawn mee which I have long forgotten about.
I need to pay a re-visit and document Lai Heng Prawn Noodle in Teck Whye soon.
Stall name: 進春 Chin Choon Prawn Noodle
Address: 265 Bukit Batok East Ave 4, Singapore 650265 (stall in De Tian 德天 coffee shop)
Nearest MRT: 15 minute walk from Bukit Batok station
Hours: 7am - 3pm (Mon & Weds off)
Written by Tony Boey on 11 Nov 2025
Who is Tony Johor Kaki?
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