Early morning at Tiong Bahru Market

Tiong Bahru Market is one of my favourite wet market in Singapore. Not difficult to see why I would travel from one end of Singapore to the other to get my grocery.

The market has been at the current location since eternity. Surrounded by pre-independence public housing built by the Crown Colony government, these were art decor-esque architecture that exudes charm and sophisticated of that era.

Min Nan Pork Rib Prawn Noodles 闽南抢摊排骨虾面

You may know Min Nan Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle as one of the ailing businesses that has been revived on the Channel 8 show Buzzing Cashier. Following its TV fame, long queues routinely formed at this humble stall. The initial bravado has died down, and now its back to its humble roots. Many said the owner lost heart once again and the standard has dropped. Well, the queue was short and I decided to give it a shot. The really good chilli paste saved the day with the dry yellow noodles with fresh medium sized prawns and meat balls(???). Alas, the accompanying bowl of prawn broth was lightweight in flavour.

Min Nan Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle 閩南排骨虾面 #02-31

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee 中峇鲁卤面

I don’t know why I have such an infatuation with lor mee. I tried making it and I always order it when it is available. But this is one of the three lor mee in Singapore that I really love. Unfortunately the queue starts early, and as I get order, I am not interested to queue.

Today, there were only 8 persons before me. So I decided to go for, especially I had not have their lor mee for at least two years. I ordered three standard medium size bowls. I usually go for only pork belly, but since I have not have it for over such a long time, I wanted to see if the flavour has changed.

The standard lor mee came with a fried wanton, ngoh hiang (five spice pork roll), fish cake, braised pork belly, braised egg and (drum roll) fish. They are one of the few left in Singapore that actually put fish meat in the lor mee. Most other stores would have replaced it with fried fish nuggets. The sauce was still as good, robust with nice flavours of the lor (braise). You can always bring it up a notch with the minced garlic, parsley and black vinegar.

中峇鲁卤面 Tiong Bahru Lor Mee #02-80

Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre
31 Seng Poh Road #02-01, Singapore 168898

Date Visited : Jan 2021