Grandma Ban Mee has been a stall that I had been looking forward to try at Amoy Street Food Centre for quite a while — the stall’s operating hours as listed at their shopfront suggested that they were only open on weekdays, so it was pretty much a surprise to have found them in operation when we made our visit here on a Saturday afternoon.

Wasn’t quite a Mee Hoon Kueh person until I had been exposed to a home cooked rendition of the dish by a friend’s family for quite a while — and that’s how I found myself learning to appreciate the noodle dish; especially those that features handmade noodles that painstakingly made from scratch and torn by hand. Grandma Ban Mian’s Mee Hoon Kueh is just that sort of Mee Hoon Kueh I am looking for — opting for the Mee Hoon Kueh Chilli sees the bowl of hand-torn noodles come with their mix of chili, dark sauce, a soft-boiled egg and Ikan Bilis coming in an entire package; the item also comes accompanied with a bowl of spinach soup that comes on the side. Grandma Ban Mee’s Mee Hoon Kueh is everything to love — the dark sauce provides a rich, earthy and savoury note that goes so well with their punchy chili that would work well for those with moderate tolerance to spiciness; tickles the taste buds sufficiently without being too overpowering — all that with the chewy hand-torn noodles that wasn’t too doughy. Mixing the soft-boiled egg into the bowl also provides a silkier texture for all of the condiments in the bowl, while the Ikan Bilis carries a good crispness that provides for the myriad of textures that goes on within the entire bowl. The accompanying bowl of spinach soup was surprisingly clean-tasting, yet flavourful — does it job well where it cleanses the tastebuds from the heavier notes of the dark sauce and chili from the bowl of Mee Hoon Kueh Chili

I have few foodie friends who actually swears by the various items that Grandma Ban Mee has to offer — and having finally tried them, I think it is easy to understand why; it is pretty homey comfort food that speaks to the soul — all that with great execution and served with love considering all the handmade goodness that is going on in here. It’s little wonder how Grandma Ban Mee is one of those stalls with a short queue at any point of time during the Saturday afternoon which I made my visit — and one of the stalls that is being talked about periodically on social media. Yet another one of those dishes I would be thinking of if I am around the area, and even likely to develop cravings for to revisit them again.