Nie Nie Mian 捏捏面 (Bukit Timah Interim Food Centre)

The time has finally come for Bukit Timah Market and Food Centre — while the old building has since been sealed off, the hawkers have also started to progressively start business at the interim location that is bounded by Jalan Seh Chuan and Chun Tin Road. Interestingly, the move of the hawker centre to an interim building had also seen the opening of several new stalls that were not part of the original hawker centre that was at Upper Bukit Timah Road. One of such stalls would be that of Nie Nie Mian 捏捏面; these folks are located in the part of the interim location where one can also find stalls such as the new outlet of Li Jie De Dian 李姐的店, as well as thatsmypizza.sg. Nie Nie Mian shares half a stall space with the outlet of Blanco Court Fresh Fish Soup; turns out that Nie Nie Mian and Blanco Court Fresh Fish Soup are run by the same folks behind Lao Gai Mee 老街面 — Lao Gai Mee 老街面 and Blanco Court Fresh Fish Soup also having stalls in the nearby Beauty World Food Centre at Beauty World Plaza. Nie Nie Mian is their new concept that centres around Ban Mian and Mee Hoon Kuey, offering patrons with four (4) different items on the menu being the Ban Mian Dry, Mee Hoon Kuey, Curry Mee Hoon Kuey and Tom Yum Noodle.

It was clear from the start that what we had wanted to try would be the Curry Mee Hoon Kuey — despite the stall specialising in its Ban Mian and Mee Hoon Kuey offerings, it is noted that patrons to get the option to choose between Ban Mian, You Mian, Mee Hoon Kuey and Koka Noodles for their order. Patrons can also opt for their order to come with Add-On Items such as that of the Onsen Egg, Minced Meat, Meat Ball and Fried Ikan Bilis. Observing the process that goes in the preparation of the dish, it is noted that the Mee Hoon Kuey is handmade here — these folks actually do take out a slab of dough and breaks the dough into several pieces whenever an order for Mee Hoon Kuey is being made; something which we appreciated since there are not many stalls out there that serves handmade Mee Hoong Kuey out there. Apart from the Mee Hoong Kuey and the curry gravy that comes along, the Curry Mee Hoon Kuey also features elements like Minced Meat, Sayur Manis, Crispy Ikan Bilis and Crispy Fried Tofu Puffs.

The curry gravy here is surprisingly rich and pretty thick — one that really gives a punchy flavour with a level of spiciness that should suit those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness, though we do feel that the gravy is a little MSG-laden at the same time. Considering how the Mee Hoon Kuey is made, the Mee Hoon Kuey also came with a good chewy texture, while the minced meat does provide some bite and a a slightly vinegary meatiness to match up with everything else in the bowl. Whilst we liked the crispness of the Ikan Bilis especially considering how we dropped by Nie Nie Mian in the evening and that they were still able to retain a crunch, though we did find the crispy fried tofu puffs to be a little odd considering how they felt a little dry even though it does seem to be intended to be done the way it is — likely to achieve the crisp texture of Ring Ring Rolls even after soaked in all of that curry gravy. With prices of their food items being listed to be from $4.50 to $5.50, Nie Nie Mian is a pretty wallet-friendly option that Mee Hoon Kuey lovers can look forward to checking out whilst being around the Beauty World area.