Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Heads up, bak chor mee aficionados and Ang Mo Kio residents — or better yet, if you’re both. We’ve got just the spot for you to check out, and it’s Heng Ji Traditional Teochew Noodles.
So, what’s the fuss? Well, despite only opening recently, this humble spot has already drawn a fair bit of buzz across local foodie Facebook groups — earning praise for its nostalgic flavours and even prompting return visits from several reviewers.
Intrigued, I headed down to the Kopi Wu coffeeshop at Block 722 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 to check out this formidable new kid on the block.
Seeing was believing; I espied a good majority of diners happily tucking into bowls of bak chor mee. I’d been craving a good bowl of those porky noodles for weeks, so if anything could get me more excited than I already was, that was it. Mission accomplished.
Heng Ji Traditional Teochew Noodles’s menu is pretty straightforward, with 4 main noodle options: Pork Ball Minced Pork Noodle (S$4.50/S$5.50), Fishball Minced Pork Noodle (S$4.50/S$5.50), Fishball Noodle (S$4.50/S$5.50) and Laksa (S$4). There’s also Fishball Soup (S$4.50) and Pork Ball Soup (S$4.50) for those after something lighter.
Of course, I went for the S$5.50 portion of the signature Pork Ball Minced Pork Noodle, with the ever-reliable mee pok as my carb of choice. The mouthwatering bowl came loaded with a colourful medley of minced pork, pork slices, liver, meatballs, braised mushrooms and a sprinkling of crispy fried pork lard.
This feels like a good juncture to mention that each bowl is cooked to order — so be prepared to wait, and for perfectly good reason.
Spoiler alert: my cravings were more than satisfied. The noodles were faultless — cooked to a perfect al dente and thoroughly coated in a piquant, punchy sauce.
The ingredients were impressive, too, each one complementing the springy noodles beautifully. The minced meat and tender pork slices were my favourites of the lot: well-seasoned, flavourful and far from gamey. And while I’m not usually a fan of liver, these weren’t powdery in the least and I found myself savouring every piece.
I’m not sure my definition of “old-school” fully matches that of the Facebook folk, but Heng Ji Traditional Teochew Noodles’s rendition of bak chor mee certainly felt like the epitome of fuss-free goodness. There’s no doubt I’ll be back the next time a craving hits, and I’m already counting down the days.
Take this as your sign to drop by when yours call, too.
