Ah Qing Traditional Lor Mee (阿慶古早味滷面), Smith Street Food Centre

So we succumbed to curiosity and tried Ah Qing Traditional Lor Mee (Red Zone, #02-094 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) because of the queues we've noticed about their stall. They're just next door to Jiakali.

This was the bowl with fried fish and fried chicken. Not a fan of how both fried meats were processed into small bits that they were textually similar, robbed of any intrinsic mouthfeel. That and the measly amount of protein for a $6 bowl. It was otherwise not bad once the sliced chilli, minced garlic and vinegar came into play.

Beef sang meen (生面) from Xing Long Food Stall (興隆菜社)

Possibly the first time at Xing Long Food Stall where the food was outright disappointing. This was supposed to be black bean sauce sang meen with beef. The sauce didn't taste like black bean sauce. At all. Beef was bicarbonated to death. Just on the threshold of morphing into an unidentifiable protein matter with blurry textures.

Revisiting 参香肉脞面 (San Xiang Bak Chor Mee)

Have been meaning to come back to San Xiang Bak Chor Mee for some time and that hasn't happened until recently. I hadn't realised that the stall has garnered a fandom. There were a lot more people in the queue than the last time. I wonder how much the loss of Mr Meepok contributed to it. 😬

Ended up with mee pok like the last time because it's been a while and the basic bowl was what I wanted to get back into what I remember enjoying about their noodles. The toppings were not in a separate bowl of soup like they were previously. Will try a noodle variation the next time. 

Revisiting Curry Craft

Back at Curry Craft. The bowl I got today was curry mutton bee tai bak/rat's tail noodles/老鼠粉 with extra mutton. The raft of beans has been replaced by eggplant with fish paste.

More stuff from Koo Kee (高記)

I like Koo Kee's yong tau foo with chee cheong fun. Like them "白" so to speak with just sesame oil and light soya sauce so that I can taste those rice rolls. Portions are kinda tiny though which leaves you wanting more. It's like getting a double cheeseburger from McD. 😬

The other thing that's worth considering was the steamed meat patty with rice - said steamed meat patty was pretty similar to the one from Steamed Society. There's a combo which comes with soup. Sichuan mustard green (四川菜) soup's not bad. Vegetables were pretty tender but with none of the spiciness.

Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim (惹蘭大公老林), Tanjong Katong Road

There's a number of Jalan Tua Kong, some with associated 'Lim' noodles around. Did I even make sense? 😂 Of the limited ones I've tried, I'm ranking this one (248 Tanjong Katong Road) as the best.

This bowl appears to be what I understand as Teochew noodles, not bak chor mee even though they're pretty similar and lines get blurred over the years. Pretty generous amount ingredients and I love those Teochew meatballs - which are a mixture of minced pork and fish paste if you didn't know. Would have been great if there wasn't some of those kansui taste in the mee pok. That being said, it's not a deal breaker.

There's a bunch of other "local delights" which looked pretty decent. Got ourselves some butter sugar toast. Will definitely consider coming back.

Mincheng Bibimbap, Tiong Bahru Plaza

Mincheng Bibimbap (#02-136 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road) replaced Paik's Noodle at Tiong Bahru Plaza. These guys are like...Chinese bibimbap?

I'm not feeling for their kimchi. I'm not sure why but I didn't like it.

I'm normally not a dolsot bibimbap person. But technically this wasn't a stone bowl...😂. I picked the one with pork and cheese and I needed the cheese to melt.

Wasn't bad tasting. I guess the main difference from Mincheng's bibimbap and the Korean ones we've had is the flavour of the sauce (I'm not sure what this was but it didn't taste like gochujang) and there's salted mustard greens (梅菜) in it. Still not a fan of these in hot bowls.

There's a seafood tofu soup. Seafood-y tasting with clams and some sus looking prawns.

In retrospect, one can definitely tell the difference between the bibimbap here and some of the nicer Korean variety which will have a price tag that commensurates with their quality and/or quantity.

Fatt Choy Eating House (發財餐館), Haji Lane

Not impressed as a whole with Fatt Choy Eating House (10 Haji Lane).

Pork lard fried rice was a little underwhelming.

There's lard and dark soy sauce flavouring in it for sure but the fried rice was bland and definitely not great fried rice by any stretch of imagination.

This helped.

This was their original Roxy laksa. I've never had the original and I didn't think that those would have tiger prawns. Those prawns were nice and unexpectedly sweet by the way. The broth even had a particularly prawny crustacean dimension to it.

Not a fan of their ngoh hiang. Didn't like the crispy fried bean curd skin. Much prefer the regular skin. One could taste pork and prawns in them but it wasn't enough to save it.

I've had my share of lamb skewers and I'd rank these at the bottom of the list. At $18, they were also the most we've ever paid for lamb skewers. The meat looked aburi-ed, not grilled. While it had the prerequisite cumin flavouring, it didn't pack the oomph and also would have benefit from having a bit more salt. Lamb was chunky, chewy and lacking of a good fat to meat ratio that would have brought out better flavours. Waste of money. 👎🏼

Teochew St. Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (潮州街香菇肉脞面), Smith Street Food Centre

Been wanting to try the bak chor mee from this stall (Yellow Zone, #02-023 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) for a while. This was their $6.50 signature noodle. Pretty loaded with the works. I was initially scoffing at how soft the mee pok was but it for some reasons grew on me. Saucing is pretty wet here. I liked the quality of their toppings. Special mention goes to their stewed mushrooms and the fragrant combination of ti poh and lard. Verdict was I enjoyed it with the sliced chilli. Will come back.

Set C for 2 meal from Putien Mama

That's the Set C for 2 meal from Putien Mama. There's a selection from a couple of proteins and a vegetable dish going for $28.80. Which isn't a bad deal.

Ended up with some things we liked like their sweet and sour pork with lychee.

And their fermented red rice wine chicken.

Tried their luffa with pork lard for the first time. Both the gourd and lard soaked up that delicious savoury gravy. If anyone hadn't realised, all their sauces were rice thieves.

Nasi lemak from Faith Nasi Lemak (信心椰浆饭)

Finally got to try the nasi lemak from Faith Nasi Lemak. This was the Set B at $5 which edged it into the category of pretty good value. The rice wasn't as aromatic as I hoped so this was one where the sambal definitely helped. A couple of things did bother me. That chicken thigh was a little dry. 魚柳 was freshly fried but a little too greasy for my liking. 

Bee hoon kuey teow soup from Uncle Beh Pork Noodle

Note to self: The soup rendition of pork noodles from Uncle Beh Pork Noodle was less intense and garlicky than the one from dry bowl. Gotta remember that. Still a pretty good eat though.

Wild grouper in laksa soup from Hai Kah Lang (海脚人)

I enjoyed this as much I as the tom yam broth from the last time. This laksa broth wasn't the thick Peranakan variety obviously. It's thinner, still flavourful and very drinkable. At least for me it was. I'm starting to feel that the soup from them is the thing to look forward to rather than the fish.

Roast duck with roast pork rice from 威胜碳烤烧腊

More roast meat rice from 威胜碳烤烧腊. Today's roast pork was really fatty. $9 in Feburary 2026 for posterity.

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice, Ngee Ann City/Takashimaya

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice has opened a restaurant in town called Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice (B2-36A Ngee Ann CIty, 391 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6900 4320). So they're no longer boneless? 🤔 Anyways, there's a slew of other stuff on the menu other than chicken rice. That seems to be how all these old chicken rice brands that expand end up.

Chicken's pretty decent. Quarter portion was bigger than I imagined.

Chook has jelly beneath the skin.

But it kinda feels a little different from eating them at Tiong Bahru Food Centre.

There's Hainanese crispy pork on menu too. I liked this even though I'm generally not a fan of crispy pork with the exception of the ones from the defunct Blk 38 Curry Rice. These were crispy, lardy and savoury. Loads of crunch and porcine flavour.

Even the curry that accompanied those crispy pork was delicious. 

The pickled mustard green were much more intense than those that I remember from their Tiong Bahru stall.

Bean sprouts quite nice. There're bits of salted fish in it.

Egg.

This outpost has chicken rice made using basmati and Niigata Koshihikari rice. Might come back and try those another time. 

Ah Lim (阿林), Soy Eu Tua Coffee Shop

Ah Lim is located in the same coffeeshop (Soy Eu Tua Coffee Shop, 15 Upper East Coast Road) as Chendol Melaka - stall's literally a coin's flick away. This was their $8 bowl. There's plenty of minced pork in this one. Okay-ish tasting bak chor mee as a whole but I also thought it was a little pricey. And not particularly memorable.

Old Master Hong Kong Grill (炭烧香港烧腊), Smith Street Food Centre

Noticed Old Master Hong Kong Grill (Yellow Zone, #02-006 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) which I had initially thought was the Old Master Roasted Grill stall that disappeared some years ago.

Decent roasts here. Roast pork (烧肉) had a good bite and the duck breast slices were relatively tender. Love the sweet char siew sauce. What didn't work for me were the char siew. We ordered 半肥瘦 and this was probably 85% 瘦. Those looked a lot better hanging in the stall than they tasted.