My favorite nasi padang stall at the Kovan food centre is usually closed on Wednesdays, so when we visited the market + food centre yesterday, I had the noodles from the Ah Hui Big Prawn Noodle stall. Meanwhile, my darling was clutching his food bible a.k.a. Dr Leslie Tay’s ‘The Ieat-Ishoot-Ipost Guide to Singapore’s Shiokest Hawker Food’ guide, which I’d purchased for S$2 at Epigram’s recent book sale. Here’s how our conversation went:
Me: (tucking into prawn noodles) “Eh, go order your food lah.”
Him: “I don’t know what to eat” (refers to guide)
Me: (as we’re seated in front of a wanton mee stall with a long Q) “Get this wanton mee lah. See? So many aunties and uncles queuing for this. Sure good!”
Him: “Long queue doesn’t mean the food is good, ok?” (Fervently flipping through the pages of the food guide)
Me: (thinking: Whatever)
Him: “Oh. Kovan… yes. (finger on page) Ok. I’ll go look for this Yi Shi Jia Wanton Mee.”
Me: (major eyerolling) “Eh hello. It’s this stall right next to us…”
Long story short, we’re both right. He should have just listened to me when I told him to queue for the wanton noodles, instead of looking through the guide when common sense could have told you that there’s this long queue in front of the stall because obviously lots of people like the noodles. And he’s also right because I did not like the wanton noodles, even though so many other people did. LOL 😀
Firstly, I found the char siew a bit too bright red in color; I’m more used to char siew that looks like a duller red with charred edges. Secondly, the noodle strands seem to be sticking together in lumps. Ok I’m so bad at describing them but suffice to say, not my favorite kind of noodle. I prefer the wanton mee at the Tampines round market.
I’ve tried the Ah Hui Big Prawn Noodle before, so I can tell you it’s just as good as when I had it the last time. 😀 Because I’d noticed one guy ordering his noodles previously and asking for a large bowl of soup, I’ve been doing the same ever since. ‘Cos the soup’s so yummy! 😀
If I have to decide between spending $4 on prawn noodles or $4 on wanton mee, the choice is clear. I’m picking prawn noodles. But you should go ahead and try them both. Perhaps you’ll agree with the uncles and aunties in the wanton mee queue. 😀
And as usual, it’s the soy milk with pearls for me, from the Selegie soya bean stall.
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I’m not someone who relies on food guides; I actually bought them to give out to friends who visit Singapore. I’m always ordering from the same stalls. I even get the exact same drink every single time. Are you like that too? 😀 I like to think that it’s super easy to tabao food for me, ‘cos I have very specific food preferences. (You don’t even have to ask what I’d like to have!) Yes, I’d rather miss out on (new) potentially awesome food finds than risk ordering something I end up not liking.
So with the Kovan food centre, it’s either nasi padang or prawn noodles. Preferably both. ‘Cos the tasty soup complements that spicy sambal. 😀 😀
