- Operating Hours: 6 AM to 2 PM
- Operating Days: Wednesday to Sunday (Closed on Monday and Tuesday)
- Address: Tampines Round Market & Food Centre, 137 Tampines Street 11 #01-05, S521137
- How to get there: Tampines MRT station walk towards Tampines Street 11, walking distance est 10 mins.
- Food I had: Special Set Noodle ($5)
We decided to go for a popular pork ribs noodle located in the Tampines famous round market food centre despite not having many reviews. Just take a look at the queue! It looks like something that is worth waiting :)
While queuing, I was looking through what is available on their menu- minced pork mushroom noodle, chicken feet noodle, chicken wing noodle, dumpling noodle and pork ribs noodle. There were so many choices! Really hard to guess which are the popular ones! Therefore, for the first timer like me, there is actually an option called special set, which includes all braised item each with noodle, selling at $5. Definitely, I went for that to try out all their items.
Look at all photos of some celebrities who visited this stall.
While it was going to be my turn to order, I've noticed that the owner does smile at the customer that was ordering, a very good gesture of him appreciating those ordered from him, next was my turn to order and he did the same to me, smiling and nodding his head. I return the favor to him by smiling at him.
The noodle I wanted mee kia (麵仔) was sold out, so had the alternative, mee pok, it was so so and the chili sauce is not even spicy at all but it did bring up the flavour of the noodle, but I find it bit dry, so it's either add in the braised sauce or the soup if it's too dry for you.
This is the special set items - Chicken wing, Chicken Feet, Egg, mushroom and pork rib. All drenched in the same braised sauce. be careful not to wear light colored clothing, it may get messy!
The mushroom, an appetiser, it was very normal but it does give me an idea how is the taste of the braised sauce as its totally absorbed the sauce as I bite into the mushroom. One thing that I do not like is it's cold. It's alright, finished in a mouth, moving onto next item.
Next is chicken feet, the skin is soft but still another cold dish, which normally chicken feet should be eaten while its hot. But they did marinate this chicken feet, its much more tastier than the mushroom.
And 2 other items which is cold, is the chicken wing and the egg, they both are very normal but its cold, which I do not know if its their style all along or just today. So far not to my liking until I got to the last item...
The pork ribs, i finally knew what's the root cause why there were so many people willing to queue for it. The pork ribs were braised in rich and seasoned flavourful gravy for hours before it could achieve the ultimate tenderness and full absorption from the gravy. Many hours of cooking softened the pork ribs so that the meat practically falls off freely from the bone when trying to grab it from chopstick. The pork ribs were simply fasinating with its aromatic flavours by the braised gravy and its the only item that is hot other than the noodle.
The braising sauce is very good. It is sweet and you get a small bits of the cinnamon without it being over powering any item at all.
So if you are into pork ribs, I would highly recommend this stall, else you could get the same taste and texture in any other hawker, provided its not cold.
