Mui Siong Bak Chor Mee – Delicious, Umami, Livery

Mui Siong’s Tampines franchise is situated in an air conditioned coffeeshop. The premises are pretty clean & well ventilated.. In fact, I was quite cold when I was there ‘cos it was raining heavily outside. But I’d imagine the aircon would be good respite from the usual sweltering heat outdoors, on other days.

Bak Chor Mee

My honest verdict: Sibeh shiok. Especially in this cold weather.

This $5 Minced Meat Noodles gives you a good portion of noodles, tossed in a deliciously balanced ratio of vinegar & chilli. It is oily enough to lubricate the noodles without leaving an icky film all over your mouth.

Plenty of Liver in Umami Soup

The star of this, though, as everyone says, is the ingredients & soup. The liver needs no introduction – thiccccc AF, & lovingly cooked to soft perfection. Best of all, ’tis without a hint of gameyness or the powdery mouthfeel you get from overcooking. The pork slices, balls, & minced meat were all satisfactory as well. & as for the soup? You’ll be lapping up all its umami goodness, leaving no drop behind.

📍 Jin Xi Lai (Mui Siong) Minced Meat Noodle – 478 Tampines Street 44, #01-221, Singapore 520478

High Hopes that Fell Flat – Ah Gong Minced Pork Noodles

Storefront of Ah Gong Minced Pork Noodles

Had high hopes for Ah Gong Minced Pork Noodles – I mean, claypot bak chor mee sounds quite heavenly.. But the soup was super salty, & I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Claypot Bak Chor Mee

Ingredients in the Signature Claypot Bak Chor Mee ($4.50) were not bad – minced pork, pork balls, dumplings & fish maw slices. But the soup… I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m hoping this was just an off day.

30¢ off Sugar Cane Juice

The uncle that served us was so cheerful & lovely, though! & with each bowl purchased, you get a 30¢ off coupon for sugarcane from the drinks stall a few stalls down at #01-08, which I ended up using. So that mitigated the less-than-desirable experience here..

💵 Accepts cash
📱Accepts ePayments e.g. Singtel Dash, GrabPay

Ah Li Mee Pok – Japanese Fusion Bak Chor Mee

My all-time favourite bak chor mee (BCM) is the one served by Ah Li Mee Pok. A disclaimer: This isn’t your regular BCM. It’s an elevated, fusion type of BCM that still retains some local elements of traditional BCM.

I’ve been patronizing them for years; on weekdays, the lines get snakingly long by the time 12PM rolls around. I’m always here early to beat the crowd.

Noodles Galore from Ah Li Mee Pok

Anti-clockwise from top left:

  1. Bombdiggity soup for 4 pax
  2. Shoyu Mee Pok ($6.40 nett)
  3. Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles ($4.40 nett)
  4. Special Mee Pok ($4.40 nett)

I love their Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles/BCM because:

  1. It’s affordable!
  2. It’s flavourful & delicious. Texture of the noodle is good; vinegar, chilli & sauce live in umami harmony.
  3. They are super generous with ingredients – sliced pork, pork balls, minced pork, abalone, & pork lard. I find that I finish my noodles way before I’m done with the ingredients. So rare!
  4. Their soup is THE BOMB, actually has a delicious umami taste. There is a pleasant kind of sweetness that maybe is from clams or prawns or some kind of seafood?

During this #circuitbreaker period, they accept online orders for self-collection & delivery. By default, you pay for a packaging fee of $0.20 per bowl. To my surprise, I received a refund of my packaging fee ($0.80 total) with a kind note explaining why – it’s because I brought my own clean containers. Very appreciated!

Ordering online is simple; & you can indicate your preferences before adding to cart:

  • Noodles – Mee Pok/Mee Kia/Kuay Teow
  • Style – Dry/Soup
  • Chilli Level – Yes/Less/No (their chilli isn’t very spicy)
  • Vinegar Level – Yes/Less/No

If you’re opting for the dry variant, do indicate that you’d like to takeaway the soup as well. You really can’t miss out the soup, trust me on that.

Special Mee Pok (background) & Bak Chor Mee (foreground)

For variety’s sake, my family ordered a Special Mee Pok just to try it out. Unfortunately, it was comparatively disappointing & fell quite flat. The sauce wasn’t as tasty & there wasn’t a lot of it so the dish was pretty dry. The only plus point was the prawn as an ingredient… Which I can do without.

Will stick to my usual favourite next time. To me, the star dish really is their Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles.