Hokkien Man – Hokkien Mee by Former Les Amis Chef, the Queue is …

There’s a new hokkien mee in town and everyone is crazy about it. And that’s Hokkien Man’s Hokkien Mee, which is whipped up by a former Les Amis Chef.

I paid my first visit on two Sundays ago at about 11.30am but didn’t get a chance to try it because it was “sold out”. So we went to the nearby hawker centre to have our lunch instead. After my lunch, as I was walking back to the carpark, I walked past Hokkien Man again and saw a queue. Puzzled, I joined the queue and see diners buying hokkien mee again (I thought it was sold out?). Once again, I was disappointed because it was sold out before I could place my order.

I wasn’t sure how the queue system works, but decided to go back the following Tuesday morning to try it. When we reached at 9.50am, there was already a queue. We stood in the queue for 45 minutes before we finally could place our orders, and waited for another 30 minutes to get our food. Apparently, the chef was busy cooking advance orders before taking new orders.

The Hokkien mee here costs $4, $5 or $6. We ordered four plates of noodles which arrived in two batches. My girl friend and I each ordered the $4 portion. Oh man, the portion was really generous. But because we probably received the last two plates from the wok of noodles, the noodles had kinda dried up and it was sticky and gooey. To be honest, I enjoyed a wetter version so this wasn’t what I like.

The boys in our group ordered the $5 and $6 portions. Theirs took longer to arrive because it was from a fresh new batch. It was so much better and I wish there was better consistency in the noodles. I reckon because it takes time to scoop out every plate of noodles, so by the time it reaches the end of the batch, the noodles are all dried up already.

The new batch of noodles was wetter, and tasted better (you can probably see the difference in the texture in the images above). According to 8days, the prawn stock is simmered for three hours with garlic-fried prawn heads, pork bones and squid. Chef prepares the prawn stock using the same method of cooking lobster bisque.

Each plate of noodles was loaded with wild-caught grey prawns, sliced pork belly, beansprouts and chives. The noodles, which soaked up the rich and sweet prawn stock, were served with a homemade sambal chilli. I find the chilli a little too sweet and heavy for the Hokkien mee.

This plate of hokkien mee is above average, but chef probably needs more time to work on the consistency of the noodles. He also probably has to work on the queue system. I don’t think he should take advance orders now, because it is unfair to those waiting in line.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.