Mama’s Kent Secret Recipe

Was scrolling through social media and got to learn that Mama’s Kent Secret Recipe had recently made their move out of Kent Ridge; we had previously given these folks a visit when they were still located within the food court named Eureka Taste within National University Hospital MD6 — Centre for Translational Medicine some time back. It seems that the location had closed down fairly recently, and the folks behind Mama’s Kent Secret Recipe had made the move to Yi Ho Eating House 億和餐室 coffeeshop at Blk 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza where they had once operated out of before their move to Kent Ridge. The Yi Ho Eating House 億和餐室 Coffeeshop at Blk 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza will be the very same one which houses stalls like Noodle Doodle and the popular Fei Ma Hakka Yong Tau Foo that made its return to this particular coffeeshop after a short stint at Blk 161 Bukit Merah Central. Mama’s Kent Secret Recipe occupies a stall half the size of a usual stall unit within the coffeeshop; the stall itself as well as where it is currently located is fairly reminiscent of its earlier days at the same coffeeshop under a different operator, and was previously occupied by the now-defunct 古早 生肉面 Heritage Pork Noodles. A stall that is perhaps best noted for their Penang fare since their early days in its founding in 2015, Mama’s Kent Secret Recipe serves up a mix of ride and noodle dishes which are well-portioned for individual diners. Patrons can also opt for the various Add-On Sides listed if they wish to go for more ingredients with their order.

We have previously tried the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Noodles during our visit to their now-defunct Kent Ridge location and we did find ourselves impressed with it — so much that we had decided to just settle for the same this time round when we made a visit to their Tanjong Pagar stall. As with how things were previously, the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Noodles is also available in rice format as the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Rice, and that there is no price difference between the rice and noodle variant for the dish. Mama’s Kent Secret Recipe does not describe the elements that are featured in their various dishes listed on the menu; that being said, it can be observed from our order of the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Noodles that the dish does come with a dry curry that also comes served with chunks of bone-in chicken chunks and chunks of potato, beancurd puff, as well as slices of fresh onions — there is also only one type of noodle to be served by default with the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Noodles which is the Thick Bee Hoon. The use of Thick Bee Hoon does come across as rather peculiar; the typical Malaysia-style curry noodles would tend to feature handmade noodles that are tossed in dark soy sauce to be drenched with a dry curry gravy instead. The choice of noodles that the stall has opted to serve the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Noodles in could likely be attributed to how Mama’s Kent Secret Recipe had all along been an establishment particularly known for their Penang-style Laksa which primarily also uses the same type of noodles — perhaps more towards not having to stock up a variety of different types of noodles, whilst the lack of dark soy sauce is more aligned to the general flavour preferences of the masses here.

The Thick Bee Hoon somewhat adds a chewy, Japanese Udon-like texture to the dish; the noodles being especially smooth and slurpy whilst the curry gravy coats every strand of noodle as well. Given how the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Noodles is served as a dry curry dish, the gravy appears to be a little creamy; having thickened from the process of reduction over time, yet is still immensely fragrant and carried not only a strong hint of fragrance of the curry spices but also came with quite a good kick of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds even for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The addition of slices of raw onion seems to be yet another element that is inspired by that of the Penang-style Laksa; not only did it provide a crunch for a textural contrast against all else within the same bowl, but also added a slight zing that provided some sort of burst of flavours to the dish. We do feel that the chunks of potatoes and bone-in chicken can be cooked for a little longer — would prefer a softer texture for the noodles and a more tender consistency for the chicken as well. Despite so, the Malaysia Style Chicken Curry Noodles at Mama Kent’s Secret Recipe remains similar to what we had experienced during our visit to their Kent Ridge location some time ago — still pretty delicious overall. Prices of their rice and noodle dishes at their Tanjong Pagar stall now ranges between $7.50 to $11; the lowest-priced dishes being the Penang Laksa (Small) while the prices dish available is the Traditional Vinegar Pork Trotters with Rice — a little higher than what one would expect out of a coffeeshop stall set-up but still relatively reasonable for lunch within the Central Business District. We do think that Mama Kent’s Secret Recipe would likely see queues forming during lunch hours in time to come; would definitely be interested to be back again to give their Penang Laksa a go!