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It’s without a doubt Singapore’s hawker scene has gained worldwide recognition because of its large variety of iconic national dishes that are extremely affordable.
Whampoa Market, a hawker centre and wet market all-in-one, has always been a crowd-favourite to find popular food gems such as prawn noodles, carrot cake and many more.
I visited the market to catch up with a friend over a quick breakfast and was captivated by a particular stall’s name. Best Lu Mian In Town was plastered with posters which heightened its credibility.
With only a few eager customers in line, we saw no harm in giving the noodle stall a try. After all, we were curious to see what the hype around it was.
Our bowls of lor mee were churned out in an instant and we chose the larger portion out of their two sizes, priced at S$3 or S$4.
We had to help ourselves to the complementary sides of minced garlic, vinegar and chilli, which we well appreciated because we could custom our bowls to our liking.
Our classic bowl of Lor Mee (S$4) was a comforting sight to be greeted with early in the morning and perked us up to get us to the grind.
I was rather surprised by the generous amount of toppings that came with the bowl — my dining companion and I agreed it was positively the largest portion we’ve ever had and were all the more excited to dig in.
For a mere S$4, it was definitely a steal as it came with chunky pieces of fried fish, braised pork slices and fried rolls stuffed with fish paste.
Lor mee consists of two main components and if you didn’t guess already, it’s the lor (gravy) and the mee (noodles).
I thought it was only fair to try the dish on its own, before adding other sauces. The noodles were cooked to a standard consistency; a perfect balance between al dente and being overcooked.
However, the starchy gravy tasted a little bland so we thought we’d accentuate that flavour with Best Lu Mian In Town’s condiments.
I preferred my bowl of lor mee with little more minced garlic, a small dash of chilli and lots of vinegar.
For me, these were key additions to take the classic bowl up a notch. But hey, don’t go hating me for it! I’m sure everyone’s got their own way of indulging in this hearty bowl.
Now on to the hefty portion of toppings, which we were most excited to try. The braised pork slices were tender and packed in an ideal fat to lean meat ratio. You could taste the dark soya sauce that was used as a marinade to produce its savoury taste.
The fish fillet nuggets, on one hand, was flaky and fried to a great crisp. Despite being soaked in the gravy, the meaty chunk was no lack of that crunch. On the other hand, I felt there was a strong fishy taste that semi-buried all the other flavours of the dish.
Plus, I noticed that Best Lu Mian In Town didn’t have one topping I considered a lor mee staple: braised egg. Usually, half an egg would sit grandly atop the noodles and gravy, but sadly, this one wasn’t graced with its presence.
Well, at least the large portion of meat made up for it.
Other than the rather lacklustre gravy, we were pretty happy with the portion we got. Unfortunately, quantity didn’t make up for quality here at Best Lu Mian In Town.
Home to many other famous stalls, Whampoa market certainly does not lack in options for a satisfying meal. Unless you have a strong craving for lor mee, we would suggest you settle for something else.
Expected Damage: S$3- S$4 per pax
