Remember Swee Guan Hokkien Mee at Geylang Lorong 29 that I didn’t get to try because it wasn’t open yet when I went there the last time? Because of that we had to try the one at VivoCity’s food court instead, which was something regretful for me.
Well since I am working in Singapore now I have plenty of opportunities to make another visit, and I did that just last week. I was 100% sure it would be open at night, and I was right.
I went with my colleague, who claimed that he has never tried any Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee in Singapore before despite working here for almost 2 years. His reason was simple, it didn’t look appealing or appetizing enough to him. But still, I managed to convince him to give it a try because this is one of the food you must try in Singapore.
Although there weren’t many customers when we arrived, it still took quite some time for the Hokkien Mee to arrive. Shown here is the smallest portion available at an affordable $3 only. Two medium sized prawns, some squid and a dollop of sambal accompanied the noodle.
Taste wise, as expected it was a lot better than the one I had at VivoCity previously. It was simply much flavorful, appetizing and had more ‘wok hei’, something important in any fried rice or noodle to distinguish between the good and normal ones.
The sambal was perfectly acceptable too, as it was thick and spicy just the way I liked it to be. I am saying this because I have tasted some really weird sambal over here, sweet and diluted that tasted like satay sauce!
While Swee Guan’s Hokkien Mee itself is good, the ingredients could be improved further especially the prawns, which I feel plays an important part in this dish. Although fresh, the prawns were a bit rubbery and lacking in sweetness – clearly traits of reared freshwater prawns. If only sea caught prawns were used, the noodle would have scored higher marks for me.
Besides Hokkien Mee, we also tried the satay from Kwong Satay, a stall located just next to Swee Guan. Premium Pork Belly Satay @ $1 each is their specialty, which I only knew before we left the place, too bad.
This was actually my first time having pork satay, as it is quite rare in Malaysia for the obvious reasons. I gotta say it’s really tasty and far exceeded my expectations. I wasn’t having much hope at first because the satay I had in Lau Pa Sat a few days earlier was a disaster – the meat had no texture at all and the peanut sauce was super oily.
The primary reason I liked Kwong Satay so much is because it tasted very similar those in Malaysia. Each stick of satay is priced at $0.40 each, a slight increase from the old price of $0.35. Being affordable and delicious, it easily became one of the bests satay I have had so far.
And if you look carefully, each skewer of pork satay is actually made of 2 parts meat and 1 part fat (in the middle), nice distribution for a bite. We ordered only 10 sticks initially just for the sake of trying but ended up having another batch lol.
The chicken satay is good as well, but the flavor is just not as nice as the pork counterpart. Besides chicken and pork, mutton satay is also available but not on the day we went, bad luck I guess.
By the way it’s very easy to differentiate between chicken and pork satay. Pork satay is flat with a dark brown meat, while chicken satay is yellowish and thicker.
Both Swee Guan Hokkien Mee and Kwong Satay are located along Geylang Lorong 29 at Sing Lian Coffee Shop. Highly recommended stuff here.
Swee Guan Hokkien Mee / Kwong SataySing Lian Eating House
549 Geylang Lorong 29
Singapore
GPS Coordinates: N1 18.798 E103 52.797
Tried this stall & the vivocity one before, personally i think both quite the same but the lor 29 fairs slightly higher because of Wok Hei. :) Nice pictures!
Love your photos and am a newbie to food and photography.
What camera settings do you use for your beautiful close-ups?
Thanks..
Your blogs always makes me drool.. *slurp*
Hi foodie, I am using AV mode + external flash, and shoot in RAW for most of my shots.. thanks for the compliment
Both the mee and the satay looks really good. Never been to Geylang before. Maybe make it a point to visit it the next time I go to Singapore.
Yes, Geylang is a must visit for anyone who goes to Singapore.. some of the best and cheapest food is found here
On my next trip to SG, must have their street food instead of restaurants.
You tried restaurants the last time you went to SG?
yeah, Geylang always escaped me the times i went over down south.
probably the seemingly ‘notorious’ affiliation that goes with the place?
but the frog porridge and the pork satays will do me in. I’m half sold …… what else?
you work in Sgp now?
yeah :(
If sea prawns were used, I’m sure their price will be higher.
For me, as long as it has the taste and the “wok hei” is good enough, I’m satisfied.
$3 is cheap and it comes with 2 prawns and squids!
The Hokkien Mee looks so delicious! I love this dish. Over in the States, the Malaysian restaurants I”ve been to have not been able to create something similar. Is it a tad on the sweet side? I cannot recall. I just remember it was good.
By the way, a first time visitor. Found you from World Window.
For me Chomp Chomp at Serangoon Garden is the best place to find good and old school HKM, I personally liked Ah Hock for its aroma and taste while Che Jian has better prawns cos they use sea prawns. But Ah Hock wins out for being close to old school.
Incidentally, HKM in olden days doesn’t come with sambal chili, people eat it with chopped red chili. Nam Sing at Old Airport road still serves it this way but unfortunately its HKM is not as tasty as before. Back in the good old days, it tastes like what Ah Hock is selling now.
wah luar biasa gambarnya, tak ada duanya tuh……………………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tried tis 2 stalls b4..
both of them r show on tv.. n pretty famous here.
geylang hav lots of nice foods for u to continue explore^^
Swee Guan Hokkien Mee Is Indeed Good. Worth The Buy. But Kwong Satay Is A Great Disappointment. I Used To Patronise Them But I Stop Totally. The Reason Very Simply, Very Bad Service. When I Ask For A Slightly More Portion Of Onion & Cucmber To Go Along With Their Satay, As A Regular Customer, This Will Not Be A Problem Elsewhere. But To Them, Everytime They Just Answer “Not Enough Leow” With A Very Lousy Attitude. Remebering Once I Ordered Their Otah, I Ask For 10 Not Knowingly Only 11 Sticks Were Left On The Stove, They Packed & Wanted To Collect The Payment For 11. I Told The Lady Boss I Need Only 10, She Said “Take All La”. I Told Her Jokingly Free 1 Stick La Anyway You Are Closing Your Shop, She Immediately Unpacked & Pull Out 1. This Is How They Treat A Very Regular Customer. It’s Not The Matter Of $$ Or Greed, But Its The Matter Of Repo With Their Customers They Should Value.
I notice they do have some attitude problem but only with the old uncle.. the aunty and the young man who grills the satay seem to be nice.
Kwong satay isn’t that famous. in fact during the chinese new year period, swee guan hokkien mee was closed for about a week. kwong satay was deserted for that period of time. this shows that they do not have their own pool of customer. their business merely relied on the famous swee guan hokkien mee’s customers whom they just tact along with kwong satay & otah. now i know why….
hmm.. but I tried all the supposingly great pork satay in Singapore already.. and I still find Kwong Satay to be the nicest..
[…] around the island trying the rest. The second best’s taste doesn’t even come close to Kwong Satay to be honest. This would be my top recommendation for pork satay if you’re planning a trip to […]