For the second instalment of our comparison series, I’ll be trying out both an affordable and atas version of Hokkien mee: Xiao Di Fried Prawn Noodle vs Reverie. What do you look out for in this dish? Is it the smoky wok flavour? The saturated prawn stock that gets absorbed like a sponge by the noodles? Or the freshness of the ingredients?
For me, it’s a combination of all of the above. Unlike the previous chicken rice comparison, where I had tried both spots before, this battle features 2 places I’ve never patronised in my life. Yaas, how exciting!
Contenders
I’m sure most of you are familiar with Xiao Di Fried Prawn Noodle, tucked away in the sleepy neighbourhood of Serangoon North. It’s situated within Guan Hock Tiong Eating House, an old-school kopitiam that has resisted modernisation, with no bright lights or neon signs in sight.
I don’t know about you, but this name always comes up whenever there’s a discussion about favourite Hokkien mee spots. Even my boss, Seth, swears by it — which, to be honest, made me a little nervous.
Why? Our taste buds seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum SOMETIMES (a testament to how personal preferences can vary). I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, so here goes nothing.
From what I’ve heard, the man behind the wok has a bit of an attitude problem. But when we were there on a Monday morning, we didn’t encounter any such thing. He was assisted by a young lady, who I assume is his wife.
Reverie at Rendezvous Hotel Singapore is an independent restaurant and bar featuring live band performances in the evenings. When we arrived, there were congratulatory flowers placed outside. Guess what? It turned out that they were celebrating their 1st anniversary— what a coincidence!
Reverie specialises in European cuisine with intricate flavours of Cantonese cooking. I chanced upon this place from a random Facebook video that appeared on my feed. The person trying the Hokkien mee seemed to enjoy it a lot, and it certainly looked tempting.
Portion & Pricing
Xiao Di Fried Prawn Noodle only has 2 options: S$5 for small and S$6 for regular. With a visible pool of sauce underneath, the Hokkien mee served here is the wet kind, consisting of a combination of yellow mee and thick bee hoon.
Our S$6 plate arrived with 3 prawns, a handful of sotong pieces, pork belly, pork lard, egg, beansprouts, and a puddle of chilli by the side. For someone like me who has a small appetite, I’d say the portion here leans on the smaller side.
In contrast, the $32++ Reverie Hokkien Mee came with yellow noodles and thin bee hoon, 4 decent-sized tiger prawns, 2 Hokkaido scallops, squid, and other similar goodies like Xiao Di. The menu also states that the noodles are stir-fried in lobster broth — opulent, indeed!
Presentation-wise, it was nicely served in an opeh leaf with a small dish of sambal belacan by the side. In terms of portion size, it’s on par with Xiao Di’s regular.
Noodles & chilli
My personal go-to would usually be thick bee hoon rather than the thin variety, so Xiao Di Fried Prawn Noodles already had the advantage. To start off, I tried the drier portion that wasn’t submerged in the broth.
After the first mouthful, the first thought that came to my mind was, “Where’s the wok hei?”
I then dove into the wetter part towards the centre, hoping for a burst of flavour. It was tastier, but much like my last attempt, the elusive smoky flavour stayed hidden — sadly, it was a no-show.
I also felt that the noodles hadn’t sufficiently soaked up the umami richness of the seafood stock, leaving the flavour feeling a bit… well, one-dimensional.
Spritzing some calamansi and pairing it with the tangy chilli that had some kick improved the experience a little, but honestly, the noodles should stand strong on its own instead of relying on the condiments, don’t you think?
At first glance, Reverie’s noodles had a pale brownish colour that looked appetising. It was served dry with barely any gravy in sight — perhaps the thin bee hoon had something to do with it. The wok flavour didn’t hit me hard, but was distinct enough to make its presence felt.
I’m not sure if lobster broth would make much of a difference compared to a prawn one for Hokkien mee (both are crustaceans anyway), but one thing’s for sure, I could definitely taste the seafood sweetness of the stock. Adding the sambal injected a strong burst of shrimpy goodness as well.
Ingredients
Firstly, let me focus on the prawns. Xiao Di’s S$6 portion (pictured above left) had 3 small ones while Reverie had 4 larger-sized tiger prawns.
Though the latter’s menu states that it uses live prawns, the texture felt a bit tough, nowhere near the springy bite we were hoping for. On the contrary, Xiao Di’s prawns were the real MVPs — fresher and sweeter.
The squid from both places were equally impressive, both tender and cooked to perfection with none of that off-putting rubbery texture.
Now let’s talk about the mini nuggets of joy, aka pork lard. The pieces from Xiao Di were significantly larger, golden brown and delightfully crunchy. Though I didn’t mind that Reverie’s lard were tinier in size, what irked me though was its sogginess — what a pity.
For S$6, I really appreciated that the pork belly pieces from Xiao Di were substantial and delicious. Alas, the S$32++ Reverie Hokkien Mee had only about 2 to 3 thin, tiny pieces. I expected more for that price point.
The only bonus ingredient that Reverie has are the Hokkaido scallops, which were cooked decently well — no complaints!
Final thoughts
With high praises from my boss and the 5-star rating one of our writers gave back in 2019, we were expecting Xiao Di Fried Prawn Noodle to blow us away. Instead, it left us a little underwhelmed. It’s not all that bad, but there’s definitely room for improvement.
Perhaps we visited them on a bad day? But then again, it was a Monday morning, and there weren’t many customers around — food for thought, indeed.
Overall, though some ingredients of the S$32++ Reverie Hokkien Mee could use a little fine-tuning, the smoky flavour and the bold seafood essence of the noodles sealed the deal for me.
With that, Reverie triumphs in this Hokkien mee battle! I know, I know — most of you will probably say that we chose the wrong stall to challenge them. But here’s the thing… could it be possible that we visited your recommended establishment on a bad day, too?
Quan Ji Cooked Food: Wok hei-laden plates of char kway teow & Hokkien mee with crispy pork lard
