Suo Fen 嗦粉 (Marina)

An opening that we had been looking forward to recently would be Suo Fen 嗦粉; a spot that we had been passing by regularly having seen it from its initial stage of renovations at the basement of Marina One. Taking up a shop space right beside the outlet of Kopifellas in the iconic building, Suo Fen is a food stall that is operating as a takeaway kiosk. The physical shop space of Suo Fen is actually pretty eye-catching; decked with a rather contemporary decor theme, the use of splashes of orange with a white background makes for a contrast of colours that passers-by would inadvertently notice. Considering the small shop space that it occupies Suo Fen does not cater for any dine-in facilities within its space; that being said, those whom intend to dine-in to have their food items from Suo Fen or any other F&B establishment in Marina One can find multiple areas where communal seating has been placed within the same level to consume their food on the spot. An establishment that serves up Chinese rice noodle dishes hailing from Guilin, China, Suo Fen’s offerings in its soft launch menu during the day that we had made our visit includes that of various forms of soup rice noodles; they also did carry one dry noodle dish which would be the Guilin Dry Rice Noodles for patrons to choose from also. Suo Fen also serves up a variety of side dishes which includes items from Soy Egg and Tofu all the way to items like Pig Trotter, Chicken Mid Wings and Whole Duck Wings. For beverages, Suo Fen does carry quite a line-up of trendy-looking drinks served in clear plastic cans that are prepared and sealed upon order — some of the drinks listed on the soft launch menu includes the Green Grape Jasmine Jelly, Red Date Tremella, Yuzu Tea and Red Bean Matcha Snow Mountain.

Skimming through the menu, it didn’t take us too much time to decide to go for the Guilin Dry Rice Noodles — it is our preference generally to go with dry noodles, and it was pretty straightforward for us considering how there is only one dry noodle dish being listed in the menu here; the Guilin Dry Rice Noodles is also a signature item here at Suo Fen as well. All noodle items at Suo Fen comes served in a branded paper bowl; the paper bowl having been sealed with a metal lid with a metal ring much akin to that of canned soft drinks — patrons would need to pull open the metal lid with the metal ring to reveal the contents within the bowl. Cutlery is also provided in a pre-packed utensil kit much akin to that of what some salad bars would serve up; packed within would be chopsticks, a plastic spoon and serviette. It is not being mentioned on what elements come with the Guilin Dry Rice Noodles; that being said, we were informed by the counter staff that it comes with pork slices. Apart from slices of pork, we did find half a braised egg, black fungus, cilantro, pickles and fried chickpeas that were laid above the rice noodles that are tossed in a spicy sauce. Giving everything a good mix, the rice noodles were surprisingly slurpy with a slight chew — the chewiness was something which we did not quite expect since we initially thought that it would come with less bite and with a softer texture; the flavours of the spicy sauce gave this fragrant, savoury, slightly tangy and light spiciness to the noodles — rather typical of mainland Chinese cuisine though without the grease. The pork slices included did not require much effort to chew; gave a meaty note and savouriness to the dish — the inclusion of cilantro cutting through all of the meats and carbs perfectly along with the tangy pickles that carried a crunch. The other elements are included more for the texture; the black fungus providing a soft and bouncy bite, while the fried chickpeas gave a crisp crunch though we would think that it might come across as a little too hard for some. Overall, a rather decent eat at $7.80; glad to always have more worthy dining options around the work place to pick from!