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Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Heritage & Taste: 10y+ hawker sells Hokkien Mee in a mall
Ever sat at a hawker centre in the sweltering heat thinking, I wish there was air-con? Hidden in the basement of at Dhoby Ghaut is Heritage & Taste, where you can savour various local delights in the comfort of furnished seats, cool air-conditioning and old-school mandopop hits. Although this place has only been open for slightly over a month, the owner has been making Hokkien mee for over 10 years now. He used to run He Ji Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodles down by Crawford Lane but decided that he wanted to open in a mall instead as hawker centres were simply too hot. The restaurant only has a communal table and high table, and can only seat about 9 diners. However, customers can also enjoy their meal at the open seating area just outside, in the central area of the level. Of course, the main dish on my agenda was their Heritage Fried Hokkien which caught my eye on social media. I got it in its Regular (S$6.80) size but it is also available in Large (S$8.80). You can even add on S$1 for a Set with Drink. On first impression, the portion was pretty standard but their plates and utensils were what caught my eye. They looked just like the purple melamine ones you see in hawker centres! The Hokkien mee came with the standard fare—a mix of thin bee hoon and yellow noodles, together with a good amount of fried egg. I'm not sure if this is their usual, but the ratio of thin bee hoon to yellow noodles seemed to be higher than the usual Hokkien mee. The thin bee hoon in particular absorbed quite a bit of the stock, but not to the point of sogginess. In fact, it just made the noodles more slippery which made them oddly satisfying to eat. Flavour-wise, there wasn't much of the wok hei taste that many Hokkien mee lovers look out for. There was, however, a light umami taste that was easy on the palate. The star of the show for me has to be the chilli– fragrant, savoury and with a hint of tartness that cut through the noodles. It had quite a bit of fire that tied the whole dish together very well. The Hokkien mee also came with 2 prawns and a few pieces of sotong. Both were pretty fresh but taste-wise, didn't stand out much. There was also a bunch of pork lard which I wish had been just a tad bit crispier to contrast the soft noodles. The Four-Eyes Zai Fried Hokkien Mee: Hyped-up old-school wet HKM that's only open for 4 hours When I saw one of my favourite hawker dishes on the menu, I instantly knew I had to get it. Heritage & Taste's Char Kway Teow combines the usual kway teow and yellow noodles, wok-fried in a sweet dark sauce that has a slight smokiness to it. As with the Hokkien Mee, it comes in Regular (S$6.80) and Large (S$8.80) sizes, with an additional S$1 top-up for a drink. The char kway teow came with thinly sliced lap cheong (Chinese sausage) that added a nice sweetness and tau geh (mung bean sprouts) with a nice crunch that complimented the noodles. They were generous with the pork lard and hum (cockles) in this one, which I'm sure many will be excited about. However, I did think that the hum wasn't the freshest, as there was a strong briny aftertaste that had me picking them out by the third bite. That being said, the kway teow itself was addictive and I almost neglected my Hokkien mee to wolf down these sweet and savoury smooth noodles. It also had a slight spice from the chilli that was fried into the dish, making for a full-bodied, indulgent meal. As a bread enthusiast, I had to try their Heritage Toast (S$3.80), which came with 2 pieces of bread and 2 soft-boiled eggs. I'm unsure if this is the bread they usually serve, but I got what seemed to be slices of a baguette, which were extremely crisp yet somehow disintegrated the moment I put them in my mouth. The thinly spread layer of kaya was on the sweeter side and didn't have the pandan-y taste I'm used to. However, paired with the thick slabs of butter in the middle, it didn't make too much of a difference. It was especially shiok when dipped into the runny and creamy soft-boiled eggs! Noodles and bread are 2 of my favourite foods in the world, so I must say this meal at Heritage & Taste left me deeply satisfied despite certain gripes I had about it. The Hokkien Mee and Char Kway Teow are addictive and make for a simple and quick meal, especially if you are working or studying around the Dhoby Ghaut/Bencoolen area. Although the pricing is slightly steeper than what you would usually find in a hawker centre, I think it's reasonable for the location and environment you get to enjoy it in. Expected damage: S$7 – S$10 per pax Quan Ji Cooked Food: Wok hei-laden plates of char kway teow & Hokkien mee with crispy pork lard The post Heritage & Taste: 10y+ hawker sells Hokkien Mee in a mall appeared first on
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Four-Eyes Zai Fried Hokkien Mee: Hyped-up old-school wet HKM that's only open for 4 hours
I'm not a fried Hokkien prawn mee fanatic. It's not my favourite dish. Despite that, I've learned that I have very specific preferences regarding it: It must be the 'wet style', and absolutely no thin bee hoon. Only thick bee hoon and yellow noodles for me, and the ratio must be just right to avoid the yellow noodles overwhelming the entire dish. Thus, when The Four-Eyes Zai Fried Hokkien Mee popped up on my Instagram feed, I wanted to put their noodles to the test. The Four-Eyes Zai Fried Hokkien Mee is located at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre. As for why the main signboard says 'Fatty Cat Curry Rice', it's because Damon, the owner of Four-Eyes Zai, shares the stall with his cousin who sells curry rice during lunchtime. The stall has been gaining quite a following since its opening. Some of the reviews made bold claims, such as 'The best Hokkien mee in town! Seriously!!!!!' The waiting time can be as long as an hour, so I arrived as early as I could. I didn't see a queue, and thought I lucked out. Nope. The Four-Eyes Zai Fried Hokkien Mee uses a buzzer system. After I made my order, I realised that at least 5 people were ahead of me. Dang it. I sat down and prepared myself for a wait. The Four-Eyes Zai Fried Hokkien Mee sells their titular dish in 3 different portion sizes: S$6 (S), S$8 (M), and S$10 (L). There's also the option to add Egg for S$1, and extra ingredients are S$2. I went for the S$8 portion with added Egg, for a total of S$9. I ended up waiting about half an hour for my food. It was served on a very flimsy styrofoam plate with disposable chopsticks. While it doesn't bother me too much, I know some diners may find this off-putting. There were a few bits of lard sprinkled on top. The lard didn't retain its crunchy texture for long – some of them got soggy and mushy as I was about halfway through. I had asked for extra egg, and for S$1, this was about as much as I got. Not impressed. I found more egg bits later, but some of them were completely charred and unpleasantly bitter. I ended up not eating those and shoving them to the side. I scooped up some noodles. They were slightly softer than al dente from being simmered in the stock, which had collected into a viscous puddle under the noodles. While I could taste the prawn essence in the broth, I didn't find it umami enough. There also wasn't much wok hei, if at all. The more I ate of the dish, the stronger the taste of the yellow noodles became. At one point, all I could taste was yellow noodles. Urgh. This opinion goes against what most fried Hokkien mee appreciators say, but I think I like my noodles much firmer and less 'soaked'. The S$8 portion comes with 4 decently sized prawns. I am pleased to report that each of these prawns tasted fresh and sweet. Hup Seng Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle: Is this HKM a worthy 'hidden gem'? The sotong rings likewise were also fresh and cooked to the right doneness. I liked that they were sliced thicker for a more substantial bite. Strips of pork belly were generously sprinkled throughout. Well-cooked and flavourful, they added nice contrasts in texture and bursts of savoury meatiness. The chilli was perplexing to me. Tasted on its own, it was very spicy and had a pronounced bitter aftertaste that I didn't like at all. When mixed with some of the noodles and broth, the bitterness was gone, but it also didn't add much apart from making everything spicier. I really wanted to like this fried Hokkien mee, but a combination of factors kind of dragged the plate down. The lack of wok hei, the texture of the noodles and how overpowering the yellow noodles got, the chilli… I thought all the individual ingredients such as the sotong, pork belly and prawns were good, but the noodles couldn't bring it home for me. If you'd like to try Four-Eyes Zai's Hokkien mee, take note that they are only open from 5pm onwards until 8.30pm, except for Sundays when they start at 10am. Expected damage: S$6 – S$10 per pax 618 Hokkien Mee: Is this highly-raved Hokkien mee worth the hype? The post The Four-Eyes Zai Fried Hokkien Mee: Hyped-up old-school wet HKM that's only open for 4 hours appeared first on
