Thursday, September 06, 2018

Armpit Char Siew Wanton Noodle (忠于原味云吞面) - Worth The Hype? @ Tiong Bahru Market [Singapore]

What do you actually look out for in wanton mee? The noodles or the often pathetically-small wantons? For me, i consider the char siew to be of the highest priority. Hence, when i watched a television show a few years ago and heard of this 不见天叉烧, i know it's a matter of time before i paid it a visit. 

Although indicated in English as premium cha shao, the direct translation is in fact never-see-the-sky as this particular part of the pig doesn't normally face the blue sky; the armpit! Sounds a bit disgusting if you compare it to the human's version but it was said to taste heavenly! 

With about 50 minutes to go before my lunch appointment somewhere near Tiong Bahru Market, i couldn't resist joining the queue even though there were almost 20 persons in front of me.

About halfway through - i honestly didn't think too much about the prices as i figured it would be around S$5.00 a plate; similar to the price i would have forked out for for Kay Lee Char Siew. Turned out the premium cha shao wanton noodle was priced at a minimal of S$6! 

I am so not going to waste my 15 minutes of queuing; especially when i saw the ladle of sauce that was poured over the noodles as it reminded me of the famous Kok Kee Wanton Noodle at the now-demolished Lavender Food Square.

After 30 minutes of wait, i finally got my plate of premium cha shao wanton noodle! Okay, i prefer to call it armpit char siew wanton mee! Now, did you feel that something is off? While featuring a good ratio of fat and meat, the outer later appeared to be of a lighter colour and less caramelized. 

Taste wise, it wasn't as tasty as i expected it to be since it lacked the honeyed, charred flavour that i often find alluring in restaurants like Kay Lee and You Kee. Those not into fatty char siew would likely enjoy it as i personally felt it was more a cross between a fatty and lean type of char siew.  

Sadly, the sauce also didn't manage to impress and while it was still a good (note, not fantastic) plate of wanton noodle, i would likely go for the normal S$4 char siew wanton noodle next time. 

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Location
30 Seng Poh Rd, 
#02-30, Tiong Bahru Market
Singapore 168898

Operating Hours
8.00 am to 1.30 pm
(Closed on Mondays and Fridays)

Pricing
Premium (Armpit) Char Shao Wanton Noodle - S$7.00 a plate

Additional Information
Pregnant ladies, those with infants and those who are physically disabled need not queue! And i think you can also pre-order (limited to higher value wanton mee) by SMS / Whatsapp; for the number, kindly approach the store. 

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