Yanan Ban Mian Noodle (Telok Blangah Drive Block 79 Food Centre)

Had the dry banmian for at least 10 times and still find it nice. I seldom have banmian in the past till I tried this. Standard is consistant I must say. The sauce and homemade chilli really makes their banmian stand out. The noodle are cooked just nice, not too soft nor too hard. Portion is just right for me too.

Opened by Ex-St Regis Chef, the one I tried was nothing really spectacular and slightly on the bland side. On the flip side, their minced pork balls and fried dumpling were yummy.😋👍

I have always believed that only Mee Hoon Kway that is hand torn, comes with Sayur Manis and chilli sauce can pass muster. Today I was proven there are exceptions.

This stall is located in Telok Blangah Drive market, an old HDB town. I ordered their basic Mee Hoon Kway in soup and added an egg ($4.10). I got a bowl of mee hoon kway cut in squares. But yet the dough did not clump together in an indistinguishable mass. The dough was a little chewy which is nice when consumed hot. The soup was light and clear with the hint of pepper added at the end, coming through. Instead of sayur manis, the thin strips of cabbage added sweetness to the broth.

Inside were three things that went well. The meat balls (about 4 pieces) were elliptical rather than round. They were well marinated and you could eat them without condiments like chilli sauce. The ikan bilis was crispy and fresh. And the shallot and garlic oil added to the bowl just before serving, gave extra dimensions in flavours of the sweet umami broth.

So for the first time I am finding myself gravitating to a second visit to this stall, one that does not conform to my norms of a good mee hoon kway, in order to try their dry version. By the way they also serve dumplings, fried and blanched versions, with different fillings. So yes, a second and maybe even third visit is required.

Greatly overpriced, especially given the small size of each, but quite addictive lah.

After some time, I gave their soup noodle a chance as well. Unfortunately it's as uninspiring as the dry noodle. Despite the marketing, the soup was like any ban mian soup. Luckily at least the main ingredient the meatballs were good.

Apparently opened by a hotel chef. I'm a bit torn. I could tell the seasoning took some design and it's good. The noodle he uses is also different and better. But I'm not sure prawns, fish fritters and fried wanton justify the premium price. Only the wanton was good. I also can't ignore how small the serving was.