Yan Kee aka BK Eating House

When people talk about BK Eating House, they refer to this fishball noodles stall. It's like Yan Kee and BK Eating House are synonymous. They have no identity outside of each other.

Go around and ask "eh you know the Yan Kee fishball noodles?" I promise you, most people will say "don't know." If, however, you ask "eh you know the BK Eating House fishball noodles?" Chances are people will go "yar yar yar, that one." Try it!

Well, Sharon and I are a bit queer. We know it as the "Circular Road fishball noodles." We first went there to try their dry mee sua. I love mee sua. But that's a different story. Anyhow, we weren't very impressed by it. I prefer the authentic mee sua in soup. What struck us though, was the fishball. The fishball here is quite 'tok-kong'.

Bak Chor Mee (mee pok tar). The pork was tender but no way as tender as Meng Kitchen. It also came with only ONE slice of mushroom. ONE. And ONE mandatory leaf. Might as well don't give right?

Another thing about this place is that I think they think vinegar is very expensive. You can hardly taste any vinegar in this at all. I like my mee pok to be laced with a tinge of vinegar, that baffling acetous twang that whets your appetite and keeps you wanting more and more.

That said, the sauce was still commendable. Definitely above average. Just not shiokalicious.

The noodles were slightly limp, but as usual, because we let it sit for too long. Nonetheless, this bak chor mee is definitely better than Singapore's average bowl.


I had the fishball noodles (mee kia) The mee kia was very good. I liked it a lot. It was 'hou-Q-ah', springy with a bite. Loved it.

The fishballs were as usual, fantastic. This was what we came here for anyway. The fishballs are, according to the stall, "special handmade fishballs". Very very springy, with a high fish:flour ratio. Only thing is that they are very big and I don't really like big fishballs. I like them bite-sized, don't know why.

I remember liking the East Coast 132 mee poh kueh teow mee fishballs very much. I should go back and try them again, to see which fishball I prefer, that or the Yan Kee one.

Yan Kee

Boat Quay BK Eating House

21 South Bridge Road

meng kitchen

I live in the North and I find it so unfair that all the good food is anywhere but in the North. Everytime I want to find something to eat, there's nothing spectacular I will crave in the North. There is an absolute dearth of good food in the North. Hear me restauranteurs/food stalleurs.. Come save us Northies. Petrol is expensive, I don't want to travel half of Singapore to get a good fix.

Meng Kitchen is one of the best places in the North I would say. Their bak chor mee is extremely popular. Come here on a Sunday afternoon and expect to wait up till about an hour. It's not cheap too, at $4 a bowl. It is the Tai Hwa of the North. It's actually a far cry from Tai Hwa, but nonetheless, I think it is really quite good.

We decided to check out their fish soup and fishball noodles.

Their fish soup is very very peppery. They added so much pepper when you scrutinize the fish slices, you can see spots of pepper settled on them. I like pepper so I liked this. However, I do think that most people will find it too peppery.

The fish soup is also saltier and more savoury than most other fish soups. This is probably because they used a lot of MSG. (I couldn't stop drinking water when I got home.)

The fish was much too overcooked. It was tough and just bad. They added a lot of ginger in the soup to mask the fishy smell to no avail.

It is tasty, but only because of the abundance of MSG and pepper. This is merely average.

This is the fishball noodles. Sharon prefers the bak chor mee over the fishball meepok. The fishballs were not springy enough and a bit limp. I've had it before and I'm not sure if this is just an off-night. They are normally quite springy.

The chilli here is quite shiok. The balance of the vinegar to sauce was immaculate. You can still taste the vinegar but it was not overpowering. I found this very agreeable. Sharon only likes her noodles with vinegar here and at Tai Hwa. She thinks that the proportions at Tai Hwa and Meng Kitchen are just right. (Hence reaffirming my point that Meng Kitchen is Tai Hwa of the North)

The noodles were a bit overcooked for some reason. They were a bit soggy. They are normally perfectly Q. I guess the standard really differs from day to day. Catch them on a good day, and the noodles are perfect. Catch them on a not-so-good day and the standard dips dramatically. "dramatically, it's really dramatically lor" says Sharon.

I still think these noodles are good, just that we had it on a bad day. And the bak chor mee is a lot better than the fishball noodles so try that if you come to Meng Kitchen.

Meng Kitchen

246B Upper Thomson Road

the canteen - but hardly canteen prices

I've always wanted to check out The Canteen. The crab mee pok always looks so inviting whenever I pass it. Today we finally made the effort to go down.

This canteen is anything but school canteen standard. They sell simple "canteen" food at very not canteen prices. Toast is a whopping $8.50.

You can tell it is upmarket just from the place itself. The decor is chic, clean and very tasteful. I particularly like this shot.

Even the ladles are lacquered beautifully. Their cutlery is top-quality, heavy and thick. Their spoons and their chopsticks are according to Sharon, "for giants". So this is Les Amis' canteens' standards, for those with "giant" wallets to match as well.Their serviettes are the thickest I've come across. It's like a napkin! It's even the size of a proper napkin. I almost wanted to ask them for the napkin dish to put the serviette on it. Yes, that IS paper. Atas is like that la. The kiamsiap gui in me wanted to bring some home.

XO sauce lao shu fen aka mee tai mak. I HATE mee tai mak. I have never ever ever liked it. But I decided to try it for the XO sauce.

It turned out really well. The mee tai mak is extremely smooth and not the inferior powdery type I used to eat in pre-primary. It literally glides down your throat. The texture was fabulous. Prepared to perfection I say.

The sauce was great. I thought that this dish was very unique. Extremely savoury and packed with a full-bodied punch. It was very satiating, the meat sauce was very fragrant, and the chilli was gratifying. The only thing is that towards the end, it got very oily and that took away from the pleasure of eating it, but as Sharon said, "without the oil how to make it pang?"

The crab mee pok. I was quite disappointed when it came because it looked so average.
It tasted average too, I actually think I prefer my $2.50 bak-chor-mee. Somehow crab doesn't do it for me when it comes to meepok. Only meat can. The soft-shell crab was aight. It was freshly-fried so when we bit into it, the oil spurted into our mouths. That was good. But other than that, aiiighhtttt..

I thought that the noodles were a bit soggy (but Sharon insists that it is because we let it sit for too long cos we were busy taking pictures). Aye, but whatever the case, it's really no big deal. Without the bak chor, the mee pok just doesn't hit home, it's just not shiok enough. Crab is just too... genteel for this.

I must add however, that as we got to the end of the meal, the mee pok started to grow on us. There was a lot more crab at the bottom and more sauce too. (But I sompa we mixed in the sauce evenly. We are both very particular about proper mixing when it comes to noodles.) Does it mean that they should be more generous with the sauce and the crab?

The meal came up to about $40 for 2 small mains (guys should not eat here). The most expensive "hawker" food I have had. I don't think I will be coming back here anytime soon, unless I 'zhong' 4d or something.

The Canteen by Les Amis

Shaw Centre

1 Scotts Rd

#02-10

Singapore 228208