Malu Malu Wah Seng Bak Kut Noodle, Admiralty: Pork ribs with precision and flair

Alright, before I get into this review proper, let me first admit that I screwed up. Two weeks ago, after our monthly pitch meeting, this was supposed to be a bak kut teh noodles review, but all thanks to my pregnancy brain, this is now a bak kut noodles review. Yes, I misread the store’s name and ended up in front of Malu Malu Wah Seng Bak Kut Noodle on a Saturday morning, disappointed that there will be no teh in that bowl of noodles that I’d been anticipating all week. 

Oh well, life still goes on with every mistake, and the famished stomach still has to be fed. So, bak kut noodles it is. 

Operating out of a spacious food court within an industrial estate along Admiralty Road, Malu Malu Wah Seng Bak Kut Noodle might seem like your average hawker stall, but, in fact, carries a history that dates back to the 50s. It started as a humble roadside stall selling hand-made fishball noodles, but over time evolved into what it is today—an eatery serving up bowls of hearty, robust bak kut soup. 

What I tried

Whilst their signature fishball noodle remains a must-have on their menu, I was drawn to their bak kut noodles all thanks to the whiffs of herbaceous aroma that drifted towards as I neared the stall. “This is a good start,” I thought to myself.

Malu Malu Wah Seng Bak Kut Noodle’s Bak Kut Mee Dry (S$4.50) arrived in a set consisting of a bowl of soup and your choice of noodles. As usual, I opted for my favourite kind of yellow noodles—mee pok. 

Call me a kid, but it has been some time since I had dry mee pok coated with a mixture of sweet, tangy ketchup and savoury soy sauce, and I absolutely loved it. Every mouthful was filled with that distinct sweet-savoury flavour, reminding me of nothing else but my childhood.

My dry mee pok was made more luscious with the addition of crispy nuggets of lard and deep-fried scallions. Imagine biting into these crispy bits with every slurp of noodles. Heavenly. 

Malu Malu Wah Seng Bak Kut Noodle’s pork ribs soup is a work of art on its own. Here, the sweetness of pork bones, ginger, garlic, and peppercorns mix aromatically, resulting in a dark, intense broth. It’s brimming with herbal infusion which creates a warm and comforting dish perfect on its own. Don’t expect the same kind of peppery kick from a bowl of bak kut teh as the pork rib soup at is a notch less herbaceous.  

Bobbing in the soup were triangular pieces of tau pok, pork ribs and raw cabbage. The cartilaginous chunks of pork fell away from the soft bones with just a nudge. For your daily dose of minerals and calcium, savour the entire piece of meat together with the cartilage. Trust me, your joints will feel brand new in no time. 

The boldly intense stock of the Bak Kut Mee Soup (S$4.50) sips down the throat well with the serving of slightly soggy mee kia. Each strand of noodle remained delightfully smooth, soaking up the broth beautifully whilst still being firm to bite.

The soup and ingredients might be exactly the same in both the Bak Kut Mee Soup and the Bak Kut Mee Dry, but they felt like two very different dishes. With the current hot and humid weather, go for the dry version and keep the soupy version for rainy days when you need that extra bit of comfort and warmth. 

If an eatery is able to nail their pork ribs with such precision and flair, you can certainly trust them to serve a bowl of swoon-worthy Braised Pork Trotter (S$4.50).

At Malu Malu Wah Seng Bak Kut Noodle their pork trotters were cooked to a melting tenderness that was texturally sinful to the lips. Embracing every inch of the gelatinous trotters was a velvety soy-based gravy full of restorative hints of ginger and citrusy notes of dried Chinese tangerine peel. 

To me, this was a savoury wonderland with an unfathomable depth of flavour, a celebration of saltiness and savouriness. 

Final thoughts

I arrived at Malu Malu Wah Seng Bak Kut Noodle expecting to be blown away by intense, peppery bak kut teh noodles but was left speechless by their Bak Kut Noodles and Braised Pork Trotter. 

If you are not living in the arena, the drive might be a little of a hassle, but if you were to ask me whether I will make a trip all the way back for their Bak Kut Noodles, my answer is a definite ‘yes’. For a pork broth like this, travelling is always worth it. 

Expected Damage: S$4.50 – S$9 per pax