I remember my surprise the first time I tasted mee rebus. In particular, one thought from that day has stayed in my head: did someone accidentally pour satay sauce all over some mee goreng? Some of my friends think that’s hilarious but, in a sense, that sentence captures the range of tastes and flavours that come together to create this ever-popular local and regional favourite. Since that first time, I have gone on to eat mee rebus at hundreds of places, both in Singapore and around the world. When I asked around for the best mee rebus around our island, the name Hj Waliti Hj Mazuki came up a few times. I made my way down to Haig Road Market & Food Centre to see for myself if they were deserving of the reputation.
What I tried at Hj Waliti Hj Mazuki
Hj Waliti Hj Mazuki is a 50-year-old stall directly opposite the popular Afandi Hawa & Family.
At the very top of the menu signboard is Mee Rebus (S$3). Besides a few dishes that cost S$3.50, that is the most expensive thing you can get here. What an amazing economic miracle!
There were just 2 people ahead of me in the queue (at 2 p.m. on a weekday). I gave my order and it was served up within a couple of minutes. There were two fairly large containers of sambal and chilli, as well as kicap on the counter and customers were free to help themselves. I skipped them all, eager to get as authentic a taste of the mee rebus here without any distractions.
In appearance, the mee rebus was typical and indistinguishable from the dish served at countless other hawker stalls.
They had certainly been generous with the gravy as I could hardly see any noodles on the plate. The top half of an egg peeked out from the sea of sauce (say that five times real quick) and a liberal sprinkling of cut green chilli over it all. I carefully picked out each of the fiery little fellows, thanking the heavens that they had been placed right at the top instead of being camouflaged by the brown gravy.
Amongst it all was also half a lime. It turned out to be a heck of a trooper because there seemed to be an unending flow of juice when I squeezed. Garnishing and seasoning sorted, I dug in.
The yellow egg noodles were done perfectly and had just the right amount of chewiness and ‘bite’ to make for an engaging mouthfeel.
The hardboiled egg was nicely cooked through— phew! I really don’t like it when it’s half-done and still runny. No complaints about the ample gravy— it was made well and very flavourful.
With the crunch from the taugeh punctuating each bite and the wonderful aroma from the coriander serenading my sense of smell, I was beginning to understand exactly why this dish was so popular here. And then, I bit into something soft and gooey and not very pleasant.
I moved the noodles and sauce aside from where I had taken my last forkful and discovered a collection of little mutton bits. And it was not the good kind, either, just fatty bits and gristle that I would never have intentionally eaten.
It seems that it was just (totally unnecessary) filler that did not contribute anything to the dish. Rather, it sort of took my mind off all that I had been enjoying up to that point.
Most people think that I must be mistaken when I say that the meat (if you can call it that) in the mee rebus at Hj Waliti Hj Mazuki was mutton. Rest assured, I was as surprised as anyone and asked the trio at the stall; they assured me that it was indeed mutton. Judging by its quality and taste, though, the dish is much better off without it!
Final thoughts
Everything was going along swimmingly until the gristle incident. The gravy was just right and I was enjoying the noodles. With the egg done exactly to my liking and the ample garnishing, I was ready to give this mee rebus a pretty high score. Unfortunately, they slid down the scale slightly due to their unfortunate choice of ingredients.
That said, Hj Waliti Hj Mazuki offers a range of Malay fare at some of the lowest prices that you will find anywhere on the island. I plan to visit again to possibly update this review, as well as to try some of the other super cheap dishes. Stay tuned!
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Price: $
Our Rating: 3.5 / 5
HJ Waliti HJ Mazuki
14 Haig Road, Haig Road Market, #01-18, Singapore 430014
HJ Waliti HJ Mazuki
14 Haig Road, Haig Road Market, #01-18, Singapore 430014
