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Buangkok Hawker Centre had most certainly opened much to the fanfare of the residents around the area considering how there is finally a hawker centre which would provide them with a wider variety of food options to go for — the area has been well noted for having quite a limited number of eating spots prior to the opening of Buangkok Hawker Centre / Sengkang Grand Mall. The opening of Buangkok Hawker Centre also saw a rather interesting mix of stalls operating within the hawker centre; while there are quite a number of tenants operated by the Fei Siong Group located within the hawker centre, there are also a bunch of tenants that had made their first appearances here as well. Whilst not new to the local F&B scene, White Lor Mee can be considered as one of the more interesting stalls that are located in the food centre. White Lor Mee is by the same folks behind Ming Chung Restaurant — Ming Chung Restaurant being an establishment at Maude Road in Jalan Besar that most notably serves up Heng Hwa / Putien cuisine since its founding in 1933. While Ming Chung Restaurant is a fully independent eatery that can be described as a zichar restaurant with an extensive menu of communal dishes, White Lor Mee can be said as a scaled-down version that focuses on the iconic noodle dishes usually found in places serving up Heng Hwa / Putien cuisine. Items that can be found in White Lor Mee’s menu include the Lor Mee and the Fried Bee Hoon, while the selection of side dishes at White Lor Mee includes Stir-Fried Flower Clams, Prawn Roll and Kai Lan with Bean Curd Skin.
We have been wanting to check out Ming Chung Restaurant for quite a while and it was needless to say that we have had White Lor Mee on our minds for quite a while since its location at Buangkok Hawker Centre is definitely more convenient than that of Jalan Besar for us. Given that this is our very first time giving White Lor Mee / Ming Chung Restaurant a try, it is needless to say that we decided to go for the Fried Bee Hoon — an item that we are more familiar with and one which we also tend to order whenever we are at an establishment serving up Heng Hwa / Putien cuisine. White Lor Mee does not describe on the elements that comes with their Fried Bee Hoon, though it can be observed from our order that it comes with pork slices, clams, sotong, pork lard, prawns and greens. Digging into the Fried Bee Hoon, we really liked how the bee hoon here is all springy — also quite evident would be how the bee hoon has absorbed much of the flavours of the stock in which it was simmered in considering how flavourful and savoury it is on its own. There is also great execution in the way that the stock was reduced here; the fried bee hoon coming all dry without any excess stock puddling at the bottom. The slices of pork helped to add a slight note of meatiness, while the greens provided a refreshing crunch that provides a good balance with the fresh seafood that are included with the Fried Bee Hoon; this included the sotong that didn’t require too much effort to chew apart, as well as the briny clams that came clean without any undesirably gritty / sandy bits. The pork lard added isn’t quite a standard element that one would typically find in Heng Hwa / Putien-style Fried Bee Hoon; these carried a light crisp though they carried lesser of a crunch than what we expected — still adds sufficient flavour to the dish.
One significant exclusion of elements in White Lor Mee’s version of the Heng Hwa / Putien-style Fried Bee Hoon would be the shreds of dried seaweed and peanuts that are usually added during the plating of the dish — this also makes this rendition lack the usual umami notes that would have went well with the Bee Hoon itself which one tend to associate the dish with. We also noted the dish is best to be had when it is still warm; the flavours tend to get a little washed away after leaving the dish around for a while. It was a bit of a pity that White Lor Mee does not serve up the Heng Hwa / Putien-style Stir Fried Yam that one can find at some establishments serving up Heng Hwa / Putien-style cuisine; that being said, we did notice that they do serve up Prawn Rolls in serving sizes of 3 pieces or 8 pieces — the former being a great add-on for individual diners whom are looking to order a side dish without ending up with too much food to finjsh on the table. The Prawn Roll (3 pieces) comes with the three (3) pieces of Prawn Rolls, as well as a sweet, malt-like dip and Nonya Achar on the side. We quite liked the Prawn Rolls here; fried to golden-brown perfection, these were crisp and pretty much free from grease — the Prawn Rolls giving a light savouriness with its meatiness and with a slight crunch from water chestnuts that is included within.
Dipping them in the thick and sticky malt-y dip on the side provided a sweet note that went especially well with the Prawn Rolls, while the Nonya Achar on the side provides a refreshing and tangy soft crunch to reset the tastebuds. Whilst we wouldn’t be able to comment if White Lor Mee’s offerings does come close to that of what is being served by Ming Chung Restaurant considering how we had never been to Ming Chung Restaurant, we did think that White Lor Mee does serve up a pretty well-executed version of the Fried Bee Hoon that would satisfy cravings for the Heng Hwa / Putien-style Fried Bee Hoon. The prices of the mains are more approachable than the side dishes here — the Fried Bee Hoon and Lor Mee being priced at $6.50 for an individually-sized portion, while the Prawn Rolls are priced at $5 for the smaller portion size of three (3) pieces. Nonetheless, still something which we would likely find ourselves having again if around Buangkok Hawker Centre some other time!
