Yong Chun Wan Ton Noodle vs Kim Huat Wanton Mee 📍115 Bukit Merah View 永春 PK 金发云吞面

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115 Bukit Merah View Market & Food Centre has at least three wanton noodle stalls. The two more popular ones are Yong Chun 永春 and Kim Huat 金发.

Yong Chun stall #01-56 and Kim Huat stall #01-05 are actually located back-to-back to each other.

Yong Chun has much higher social media clout being listed in the Singapore Michelin guide and covered in many local social media platforms.

Kim Huat has a lower social media profile but has its own following.

For this comparison, I ordered the same small wanton mee serving with top up of sui kow (shrimp dumplings). $5 at Yong Chun, and $5.50 at Kim Huat.

Yong Chun's noodles felt heavier, tender slightly firm, crunchy. Kim Huat's felt lighter, less firm, slightly more springy.

I like my noodle to have more body and bite, so my vote goes to Yong Chun for noodle texture.

In terms of sauce, Yong Chun's was more lardy and aromatic than Kim Huat's. But, Kim Huat's chili was sharper, nicer.

As a lard person, Yong Chun's sauce has the edge for me.

I feel Kim Huat's char siew was more tender, has greater infusion of flavours from the sweet savoury seasoning and marination. (Both didn't have the char of Apollo oven roasted char siew like here.)

The wantons were about the same with Kim Huat's just a bit denser, and more substantial.

Between Yong Chun and Kim Huat's sui kow (shrimp dumpling), I prefer Kim Huat's as it has nice prawn umami sweetness. Yong Chun's has more crunchy water chestnut, so if you like water chestnut, then maybe you may like Yong Chun's sui kow better.

Kim Huat's soup was aromatic, porcine sweet and subtly peppery. Yong Chun's soup was about the same but milder.

Both Kim Huat and Yong Chun obliged my request for more lard cheerfully - perhaps it's my white card (I mean white hair 🫢 ). Appreciate it lah.

Both were fresh, crunchy crisp, oil saturated and aromatic.

I like both, and would go for either, though will eat more often at Yong Chun as I like my noodles heavy, dense and smothered in lard with a touch of spicy heat. Yong Chun's sauce also tastes closer to what I remember as my childhood wanton mee flavours.

To me, Kim Huat's prawny sui kow was a winner and their wantons were better too.