Was walking around the Alexandra Village neighbourhood one day and found a rather unfamiliar sight at Alexandra Central — Alexandra Central had been seeing some movements in terms of the F&B establishment operating within the building in recent times; while there are establishments like Prata Alley that had recently made its move into the mall, there are also establishments like the now-defunct Blanco Court Fish Soup Fish Head Hotpot that had vacated the space that they used to occupy there. Located around the perimeters of Alexandra Central facing Jalan Bukit Merah is a new F&B establishment named Liu Lang Mian 流浪面; while the name itself is one that should be pretty new to most, this is not the first time that these folks are entering into the local F&B scene. In fact, the same folks that run Liu Lang Mian at Alexandra Central was the folks behind the online-based business named Soba25 — the chef-owner behind the brand also being previously worked in the kitchens of Lola’s Cafe, Kilo Kitchen and Raw Kitchen Bar according to some sources. The space at Alexandra Central can be considered to be rather tight with limited seating mostly being wall-facing seats, though also one that features a lot of nostalgia with old-school photo and posters being pasted on their feature wall. The menu at Liu Lang Mian features sections dedicated to soup-based noodles, dry noodles and ala-carte sides; the drinks menu in the meanwhile offerings patrons with canned drinks, Hot Osmanthus Oolong tea, as well as a small variety of beers and ciders.

Visiting Liu Lang Mian on weekend evening, we were lucky to have made our visit a little early considering how the store was slowly filling up with people as we were having our dinner there. We have given a few of their noodle offerings a try; in fact, it does seem that Liu Lang Mian has a focus on serving their style of Japanese Soba with a local element — they call their offerings “local fusion” here, their concept being a “Singaporean Noodle Bar”. Each noodle dish that we have had carried its own character, and the DBJ Chicken Mazesoba shines in its own right here. The menu describes the DBJ Chicken Mazesoba to come with elements such as Doubanjiang stir fry minced chicken, Wonton crisps, Nori (i.e. Japanese seaweed), pickled mushrooms and an Onsen egg — the item comes to the table with an aesthetic that is largely similar to that of the Japanese Mazesoba, with other elements like the spring onions and shallots not being mentioned in the description. Giving everything a good mix, the Soba itself comes laced with all of that Doubanjiang stir fry minced chicken, Nori and Onsen Egg that gives the dish a bright bean-y and savoury and umami note with a silky touch from the broken egg yolk and egg whites that had been mixed into the noodles; the flavours being close to that of a typical Japanese Mazesoba and the texture of the noodles being sufficiently firm for a good bite. As we dig in further, the pickled mushrooms gave a good earthy bounce, but also came with an unfamiliar tangy note which was really unique — somewhat close to that of the mushroom minced meat noodles that we had grew up being all familiar with that bridges this version of a Mazesoba closer to one that comes with a local fusion element. The Wonton Crisp does provide for a crispy crunch; though one that is not overly tough and dense and was also not greasy nor reeked of the undesirable notes of overused oil. Overall, a rather tasty bowl of dry noodles that would suit those looking for a flavoursome affair.

Apart from the DBJ Chicken Mazesoba we had also tried their soup-based noodles; the Lor Bak Soba may come with three (3) pieces of Lor Bak that may not come with a heavy note of braised sauce absorbed by the meat for the shiok factor, but one thing we absolutely loved about the Lor Bak Soba was its interesting use of salted duck and Niboshi (i.e. Japanese Small Dried Fish) in the making of its broth. This resulted in a light broth that was both umami and savoury to dig into without clouding the tastebuds; just enough to whet the appetite to go for more. We were also impressed with the texture of the Soba here, which carried quite a fair bjt of bite that is similar to that of the noodles used in Hakata-style ramen in terms of texture; the Lor Bak also being sufficiently tender without coming with any porky stench as well. Meanwhile, the Signature Chilli Soba comes with what seems to be a dark sauce base that is accompanied with chili crunch; something that we found to be quite close to Lao Gan Ma-esque chilli that provides a savoury, smoky kick of flavours that should do just about right for those whom are tolerable to slightly lower levels of spiciness. We also liked the Ah Mah’s Ngoh Hiang made using their friend’s grandmother’s recipe; crisp and light on the exterior without being particularly greasy, yet well stuffed with meat and came with bits of water chestnut for a good crunch in between — pairs well with the slightly tweaked Thai-style chili which is provided on the side. Noodles are priced from $11.80 to $14.80; considering the amount of effort placed on making each menu item going down to the various elements involved, it does seem that a lot has went into the R&D work at Liu Lang Mian to ensure each offering is presented at its very best in front of their patrons — such a price range would hence be considered reasonable for the level of quality and execution that is showcased in their dishes. It is needless to say that Liu Lang Mian is certainly a spot worth hitting just to see what they are all about; one that has certainly built a unique character of its own!