Swee Guan Hokkien Mee (水源福建面) - Freaky Long Queue @ Geylang Lorong 29 [Sing Lian Eating House]

Just when i thought i have covered most of the food stalls in the infamous red light district of Geylang, the sight of this long queue in a coffee shop elicited a touch of surprise. 

This is what i called fate - i had been driving in circles in order to find an empty parking lot and every single time my car passed by the coffee shop, our curiousity deepened. 

Necessity requires us to check out the queue! The source came from this Hokkien Mee stall with a name i have never heard before; Swee Guan (in Chinese, it means the source of water; could be the owner's name).

At an exorbitant price tag of S$8 in a non-airconditioned setting, the strong aroma of heavily fried hokkien mee (and significantly bigger prawns) helped to discount the grudgingly high price and i was actually expecting to experience an epic moment of this common Singapore dish. 

Wrong! This is the moment when I cannot fathom the reason(s) for such popularity! 

Don't get me wrong; the wok hei was easily one of the heaviest i ever have for Hokkien Mee (they use charcoal, not gas!). The issue i had was the quick aftertaste; the unpalatable chao tar (burnt) twang.

=====

Location

549 Geylang Road 

(Lorong 29), Sing Lian Eating House