第三代 Di San Dai: Father-daughter duo sell affordable fishball noodles and porridge in Chinatown

Hidden in the nook on the second floor of Chinatown Complex is 3-month-old 第三代 Di San Dai, a father-daughter run stall serving homely fishball noodles and porridge. It is aptly named as such because there are hawkers in all 3 generations of the family.

The father used to run the stall on his own, back when they were located at Bedok 85 Fengshan Food Centre under the name Zai Fa Fishball Noodle since 2015.

His daughter, Val, was previously a vet nurse. It was only after her father got into a car accident and complications arose in her line of work that she joined him in running this stall. She mentioned not wanting her father to bear the weight of providing for their family alone.

What I tried at 第三代 Di San Dai

I went down at about 10 in the morning, and this secluded section of the hawker centre was empty, save for a few uncles drinking their kopi.

Their menu is concise with only 5 dishes, so I decided to try 1 noodle and 1 porridge dish: the Dry Fishball Minced Meat Noodle (S$4/S$5) and Chicken Thigh Porridge (S$5) were the day’s lucky contenders.

Depending on your preference, you can get the Fishball Minced Meat Noodle in either dry or soup form, and in 2 sizes, at S$4 or S$5. I got the smaller bowl for S$4, but the portion was substantial nonetheless.

There are 7 types of noodles for you to choose from: Mee Pok, Mee Kia, Mee Sua, Mee Tai Mak, Yellow Noodle, Guo Tiao and Bee Hoon.

I got the classic mee pok that came with 3 fishballs, a few slices of fishcake, minced meat, fried pork lard, fried shallots, spring onion and a piece of lettuce. There was also a bowl of soup included on the side.

The noodles themselves were springy, and although not al dente, still retained a good bite. Each strand of noodle was evenly tossed in a mix of soy sauce, vinegar and Di San Dai’s homemade chilli paste, which added a deliciously aromatic and smoky touch to the dish. Flavourful, but also not too spicy.

When I first bit into the fishball, I was shocked by how bouncy and smooth the texture was. They were savoury yet had a subtle sweetness to them. Although Di San Dai doesn’t handmake their fishballs, the owners shared with me their lobang—their supplier had a fishball stall so successful they started supplying them to other hawkers.

In the inconspicuous corner of the bowl lies the minced meat. Minced meat usually feels like an accompanying ingredient that sits there to make the noodles and fishballs look good. This one, however, was juicy and had soaked up some of the sauce, adding a hearty savouriness to the dish. I would be happy to eat this with rice alone, honestly.

The soup was clear and lightly layered with umami, good as a palate cleanser or simply to un-clump your noodles.

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The second dish I tried was their Chicken Thigh Porridge, which I added an egg to for an additional S$0.50.

It came with your standard porridge toppings like you tiao, fried shallots and spring onion. What was interesting was the dong cai, or “winter vegetable”, a form of preserved cabbage that is popular in Chinese cuisine. It was salty with a slight chew, complementing the mild flavour of the porridge well.

However, don’t be fooled by the simple-looking dish, because this porridge was thick and had a nice velvety consistency that carried the light flavour of white pepper and sesame oil. Every bite felt like being engulfed in a warm, comforting hug and made for a super satisfying breakfast meal.

The runny egg added a creamy consistency on top of the porridge, but taste-wise there wasn’t too much of a difference.

Nestled within the porridge are slices of the chicken thigh that were tender and subtly seasoned, though it would’ve been nice if there were just a little more chicken.

By the way, you can easily customise your dishes to your liking by asking the kind owners to add/remove condiments, such as the fried shallots and spring onions.

Final Thoughts

Both Di San Dai’s noodles and porridge were above average in my opinion, so I was surprised to see that there weren’t many people patronising this stall. Perhaps it was also because of their location within the hawker centre, but it is definitely worth the venture into the secluded part of Chinatown Complex.

Even when I was just ordering my food, the owners were friendly and offered their recommendations. They were also attentive in asking which condiments I wanted on my porridge etc. Overall, it was a great start to my day savouring these warm, wholesome dishes and conversations.

If you’re looking for a new stall to check out at Chinatown Complex, this is the one!

P.S. They only start selling their porridge at 9am.

Expected damage: S$4 – S$6 per pax

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