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Craving for some dry-tossed mee hoon kueh, but with seafood instead? We headed to Food Haus kopitiam at 421 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 in search of Lao Wang Ban Mian, where the stall offers seafood ban mian and mee hoon kueh options.
Hailing from the culinary hub of Ipoh, 33-year-old stall owner Alen brings over 14 years of professional chef experience in Singapore to the table. His culinary journey includes stints at various hotels, restaurants, and spots like Hangar66 Cafe at Seletar Aerospace View, where he mastered a versatile repertoire of both Asian and Western cuisine. This move into business has been a long time coming; Alen first set his sights on opening his own stall 6 years ago. This wasn’t an overnight success; Alen spent years tinkering with ingredients and trial-running recipes until the flavours were dialled in exactly to his liking.
Believe it or not, he sought a ‘shi fu‘ for guidance on making handcrafted mee hoon kueh from scratch just 1 week before opening his stall — such confidence and guts; I love it! Even now, he hasn’t stopped tinkering. Alen takes customer feedback to heart, regularly fine-tuning his dough and adjusting his cooking times to ensure every plate hits the mark.
Every day, once the lunch crowd quietens down, Alen spends time preparing and kneading the dough, allowing it to rest for at least 30 minutes.
To maintain the perfect chew, Alen rolls the dough through a pasta machine only when an order comes in, finishing the process by hand-tearing the sheets into rustic ribbons.
While he was busy prepping my order, I noticed a ‘Pay It Forward Meal‘ signage and asked him about it. Alen explained, “Before cashless payment existed, I had once forgotten to carry my wallet to pay for my food. But the stall aunty told me it was alright and asked me to pass this down to the next person in need.”
This inspired him to follow in her footsteps. He encourages anyone facing financial hardship to reach out to him without hesitation for a complimentary bowl of noodles. I sure hope no one takes advantage of his kindness.
The Classic (S$7.50) consists of a bowl of mee hoon kueh topped with minced pork, sauteed mini shrimp in chilli, and a dollop of sambal in the centre. Before you start feeling outraged at the apparent scarcity of ingredients at this price point, let me stop you — there’s more!
It also comes with a bowl of broth with a poached egg, pork slices, ikan bilis, and spinach (happy now?).
Do not be alarmed at the fiery redness of the dish, for it is fairly harmless. The dried shrimp flavour in the sambal was strong but not overpowering, lending a subtle shrimpiness to the flat sheets of mee hoon kueh, which were cooked to just the doneness I like — not too soft, not too hard. Alen mixes dark and light soya and shallot oil for an extra oomph of flavour. While the sambal is fragrant, it delivers only a whisper of heat — a potential letdown for the ‘true blue’ spice lovers who live for a tongue-numbing kick.
I really enjoyed the tiny pieces of shrimp which were lightly spiced and had a bouncy texture — a unique addition, indeed.
I enjoyed the tender pork slices and spinach, and the broth was flavourful yet light without any use of MSG. It was perhaps the first time I had finished every drop of soup — it was that easy to wolf down. I also tried unleashing the golden yolk from the runny egg, and submerged it into the broth which made it a tad richer.
The Chilli Seafood Ban Mian (S$7.50) included 3 small sea prawns, 4 white clams and a solo fishball atop a bed of thick ban mian. Like the previous dish, it’s accompanied by the same soup, minus the pork slices.
Lao Wang Ban Mian prides itself in using only wild caught sea prawns for their seafood ban mian options.
The clams were fresh without any unnecessary sandy ‘crunch’ while the sea prawns stood out — bouncy, sweet, and a cut above the usual.
If you’re a mee hoon kueh or ban mian fan, why not swing by Lao Wang Ban Mian for an unorthodox bowl? It’s just up the ‘hill’ across the road from Deyi Secondary School.
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