Tian Xin Wanton Noodle 天心云吞面 is a stall specialising in noodles located in Sidewalk Eating House which is located at Excelsior Shopping Centre along Coleman Street. In fact, this Eating House is located just next to Funan Digital Mall, facing the Central Fire Station along Hill Street. Sidewalk Eating House was packed with hungry office workers during my visit on a weekday lunch hour. This was probably so due to the many offices located nearby. Frankly, I had no idea what to eat and decided to just go for one with a queue (Singapore mentality tsk tsk). Hence, I settle for Tian Xin Wanton Noodle 天心云吞面 as there was about 10 people in the queue (the longest queue at the Eating House). I ordered the Minced Meat Noodles aka Bak Chor Mee. The Minced Meat Noodle was available at $3.50 or $4.50. As usual being a glutton, I ordered the $4.50 version. I seldom see any stall providing so many different type of condiments. Normally, the stall owners would add it for you themselves to control the quantity. Minced Meat Noodles $4.50

The Minced Meat Noodles $4.50 was served with a bowl of soup, similar to what you can get elsewhere. For my noodles, I ordered Mee Pok; flat yellow noodles. Minced Meat Noodles $4.50Minced Meat Noodles $4.50

I was pleasantly surprised by the big bowl of Minced Meat Noodles which was filled to the brim. They were extremely generous with the ingredients and noodles. I should have ordered the $3.50 version (you have been warned). Despite the generosity, it was an average bowl of Minced Meat Noodles. It was a pity the Mee Pok was overcooked and had lost its springiness, and the sauce (including vinegar) was not flavourful enough.

Undeniably, I must admit that this stall is reasonably price. In addition, the service provided was good. The Auntie was friendly; she would ask if you want certain items and always had a smile. Judging from the long queue, this seems to be one of the more popular stall.

Tian Xin Wanton Noodle 天心云吞面 (Coleman Street)

Coleman Street

Sidewalk Eating House

Excelsior Shopping Centre

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Handmade Noodles has always been my comfort food since my secondary school days when I had to have my lunch outside whenever there was extra lessons (remedial) or ECAs (now called CCAs). I was first introduced to this hot, soupy bowl of noodles aka handmade noodles by Qiu Lian Ban Mee 秋莲板面 which was then a popular stall chain with long queues. I wonder how many experience first started with Qiu Lian Ban Mee too? Kee Chiu (raise your hands)?

Fast forward to today, Qiu Lian Ban Mee 秋莲板面 does not seems to be as popular and there are similar many competitors. If you have noticed, in most hawker centres, major coffeeshop and food court, there would definitely be at least one handmade noodles stall which speaks a lot about the demand. Of course, part of it is attributed to the fact that the owner of the coffeeshop and food court might have specifically stated that they are looking for a handmade noodle operator as they would want a variety of food to be sold. As the Qiu Lian Ban Mee stall at Bishan Blk 504 S11 coffeeshop had closed, I had to get my craving satisfied elsewhere. Hence, I visited the Qiu Lian Ban Mee's 秋莲板面 stall located in Super 28 Coffeeshop at Blk 184 Toa Payoh Central. As it was a weekday lunch, the coffeeshop was filled to the brim. There was a queue of about 7 persons long at Qiu Lian Ban Mee. Normally, the queue at handmade noodles stall gets clear quite fast. However, in this case, I had to wait for slightly over 30 minutes before I could land my hands on my bowl of noodles.

The main reason was because there was only 1 person operating this stall. She was took the orders, prepare the ingredients, cook and collect the cash from customers. The Qiu Lian Ban Mee's menu which is the nearly the same at all other coffeeshops.You Mian $3.50

As per SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), I ordered a bowl of Yu (You) Mian $3.50. You Mian $3.50

It was quite a decent bowl of handmade noodles. The broth was tasty and flavourful. Another positive aspect was that it was not salty. The you mian were well cooked, soft and fragrant. The other ingredients (egg, vegetable, pork) in it were pretty standard for a bowl of handmade noodles.

Handmade noodles is my type of comfort food. I can eat it everyday and this is normally the food I would go for when I am at a new coffeeshop or food court. Somehow, it seems to be a safe choice for me. Nevertheless, I have encountered my fair share of stalls which sells horrible handmade noodles.

ps: AMK Curry Puff is located just next to this Qiu Lian Ban Mee stall! In case, you have not heard of this yet, AMK Curry Puff is operated by the ex-owner of Tip Top Curry Puff (Ang Mo Kio). The owners of Tip Top Curry Puff sold off their business 2 years back. The minority shareholder owner started AMK Curry Puff as being the minority shareholder, they had little influence in the sales of Tip Top Curry Puff. Hence, after Tip Top Curry Puff was sold off, they started AMK Curry Puff and continued in what they were passionate about - selling and making delicious curry puffs!

I made yet another trip down to Pek Kio Food Centre just to try the prawn noodle from Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodle 華記大蝦麵 (managed to visit on Dec 2013!). However, stall was closed. (It seems that the owner is not feeling well and has been advised by the doctor to rest indefinitely.)As such, I decided to try Lai Hiang Pork Rib Prawn Mee 来香肉骨虾面, the other prawn mee stall in Pek Kio Food Centre.There was a long queue at the shop, around 8 people long. I waited slightly more than 15 minutes before I was able to order and collect my order (self-service). Prawn Noodle (Soup) $2.50

I ordered a bowl of Prawn Noodle (Soup) $4. Prawn Noodle ($2.50)

The Prawn Noodle was quite decent. I thought that the soup was excellent. It was light brown in colour, clear, sweet and rich in flavour. The plus points was that it was not salty. The ingredients were pretty average and the prawns a tad too small. At $2.50, I can't complain too much about the ingredients, but it was really a great bowl of prawn soup if you are someone who prefers your soup to be light and easy on the throat.

Overall, the prawn noodle was not bad. However, I will not make a special trip down just for this.

ps: if you are here, do try freshly made Chee Cheong Fun. Its cheap and good!

China Whampoa Homemade Noodles located at Blk 91 Whampoa Drive Market & Food Centre specialises in homemade (handmade) noodles. This stall is well known as it has been featured on several TV programmes related to food. I visited China Whampoa Homemade Noodles on a Saturday morning. I was surprised that there was no queue at this stall. The reason was because they customers were told to find a table nearby and come back at a certain time (e.g. half an hour later) to collect their bowl of noodles. They serve a variety of noodles such as Ban Mee and You Mian. In addition, these were available with prawns, abalone clams, sliced fish, pig's kidney or even with abalone! Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4

I ordered a bowl of Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4 and had to wait for slightly less than half an hour before I could collect my order. Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4

The Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian was delicious! It consisted of abalone clams, vegetable, minced meat and ikan bilis. The homemade noodles (you mian) was springy, soft and flavourful! It tasted slightly different from the other homemade noodles stall and seems to be accompanied by a hint of sweetness.

The soup was refreshing. It was robust, sweet and not salty. One unique ingredient which was used was the mani cai 马尼菜(aka sweet leaf). This was an essential ingredient as it provides a natural sweetness to the soup. Chilli Paste

The homemade chilli paste was slightly sweet with a extremely spicy after taste. Despite the spiciness, it was just so shiok (addictive) that I continually dipped the minced meat into it or just add some to each spoonful of noodles. By the end of this meal, I nearly finished all the chilli paste and found myself with swollen lips (just like Angelina Jolie's bee stung lips - sexy) haha.. You have been warned! Notice the containers of chilli paste? They started selling the chilli paste to customers after receiving feedback.

Service wise, it was impressive as the owner was attentive and polite. He never once snap at customers when some kept asking if their food was ready. In addition, when I wanted to pack some back home, he voluntarily offered to put the soup in another separate takeaway bag. Not all hawkers does this! Kudos to him.

Overall, China Whampoa Homemade Noodles serves one of the best bowl of homemade noodles in Singapore. Both China Whampoa Homemade Noodles and Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle 文尼城市面粉粿 are uncanny similar to each other. And maybe that is why I also rated Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle as one of the best!

I am a huge fan of Teochew Style Bak Chor Mee (Minced Pork Noodles) and have always visited Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle (Lavendar) located at Crawford Lane to satisfy my craving.

Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Pork Mee 亚九香菇肉脞麺 located at Hong Lim Food Centre has been in operation for more than 60 years, like Hill Street Tai Hwa it also specialises in Teochew Style Bak Chor Mee. I have been eyeing this stall for sometime and took the opportunity to try this on a Saturday afternoon. I arrived slightly after 1pm and saw a long line of people queuing in front of the stall. There was more than 10 people in the queue in front of me. I contemplated patronising some other stalls as I was starving. But in the end, my desire to try this won the battle and I found myself queuing at this stall.Other than the long queue, the only tell tale sign that this stall is famous/popular is the Singapore Hawker Legends Makansutra signboard showcased at the left of the shop front. Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Pork Mee offers just two items; Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle and Teochew Dumpling Soup which comes in 3 difference prices (again similar to Hill Street Tai Hwa). It also offers 6 types of noodles and the prices for adding extra ingredients were clearly stated on the menu pasted in front of the stall. The queue was extremely slow moving and I only got my food after queuing for 40 minutes! While I was in the queue, the greedy side of me decided on getting a Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (Mee Pok) $4 and Teochew Dumpling Soup $4. After all, I had come down just for this and since I had to spent so much time queuing I may as well kill two birds with one stone and try both! Logical? Mushroom with Minced Meat Mee Pok $4

As with all authentic Teochew Style Bak Chor Mee, vinegar (an essential sauce) imported from China was added into the Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (Mee Pok) $4. The ingredients which included minced meat, meat slices, braised mushrooms, dumplings and fried crispy flat fish (扁鱼) were fresh. I particularly liked the fact that they were generous with their fried crispy flat fish and braised mushrooms. However, the dumplings were disappointing as it lacked in terms of flavour and bite. Luckily, the special chilli sauce complement well with the vinegar (I requested for more vinegar). Teochew Dumpling Soup $4

The Teochew Dumpling Soup $4 reminded me of Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian 兴记肉脞面 at Bedok 85 as it looked cloudy with minced meat floating in it.Teochew Dumpling Soup $4Teochew Dumpling Soup $4

The Teochew Dumpling Soup $4 consisted of 8 pieces of dumplings, minced meat, braised mushrooms, fried crispy flat fish (扁鱼), seaweed and Garland Chrysanthemum (Tang O).

It was a terrible mistake ordering this. The dumplings as mentioned earlier was disappointing. To add on to this, the soup was bland although it looks so flavourful in the photos above.. Overall, the Bak Chor Mee was a decent. It was better than most other stalls, but not a die die must try. Moreover, Hill Street Tai Hwa's version was much better. As for the Teochew Dumpling Soup? My advice would be to give it a skip.

Ah Kow Mushroom Minced Pork Mee 亚九香菇肉脞麺 (Hong Lim Food Centre)

#02-42 Hong Lim Food Centre

531A, Upper Cross Street

Opening Hours: Thurs to Sun 8am to 5pm

Close from Mon to Wed

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