Hai Kee Noodle: $3.50 old-school noodles & handmade dumplings by 3rd-gen hawker
Finding a cheap plate of anything good is becoming more of a scavenger hunt these days. So, to learn I can get a serving of wanton mee for S$3.50 was a blessing. In fact, all the items on the menu of Hai Kee Noodle cost under S$5.
You may recognise the name from our list of the best food to have at Toa Payoh Lorong 8 Market & Hawker Centre. I’m a stranger to this part of Singapore, so it was a good starting point for what to try.
It’s a 3rd generation stall, manned by a mother-and-son duo. Everything aside from the noodles is store-made and if you happen to drop by early, you may catch the mom prepping the ingredients.
Hai Kee Noodles has a selection of just 3 items on their menu. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially in a food centre. You could even say it makes their speciality obvious. Since I had two of my co-workers with me, I took it as a chance to get everything.
Just a small note, you can ask to have mee pok as your noodles instead. The choice isn’t displayed out front with the mee kia but trust me, it’ s there.
What I tried at Hai Kee Noodle
My eyes were immediately drawn to the Chicken Feet Noodles (S$5). You get two big pieces of braised chicken feet, a mushroom and a few chopped-up stalks of veggies. It also comes with a bowl of soup if you order the dry version as I did.
The noodles weren’t cooked till mushy and the three of us agreed that they were firm and gave a good bite. That said, I feel the dry noodles had too subtle a flavour, even after I mixed them with the gravy at the bottom. Of course, I do prefer my food drenched in flavour. The first bite did invoke a pang of nostalgia in me, triggering vague memories of childhood weekends at kopitiams slurping down noodles from stalls now long gone.
I will give more praise to the chicken feet. You can easily bite down right to the bone and tear away the meat and skin easily. They are bursting with flavour and you can tell the meat has been cooked a good while.
I do wish there was more than just a single braised mushroom. But the bits of pork lard swimming at the bottom of all that sauce made up for it. They were still delightfully crunchy when I found them.
Next up was the soup version of the Dumpling Noodle (S$4). Like the previous dish, it had a few pieces of vegetables, but the main star here is the dumplings. You can find bits of shrimp mixed with a minced meat filling. The small bits of seafood add a nice snap when you are chowing down.
Both the dumpling wrap and noodles had absorbed some of the soup’s flavour. Tasting both this and the dry version back to back, I’d say I prefer this one overall. The clear soup had a hint of sweetness and struck a harmonious balance as a whole.
On to the Wanton Mee (S$3.30). Getting both dry noodles and soup for that? Unheard of. I’m sure you can see that glaring serving of sambal on the side. I’m going to just confess right now I can’t handle spice very well so I only took a tiny taste.
Even from a single strand of noodles, I couldn’t tell if it or I were doing the biting. Even Aaron who had eaten this before said it was spicier. If you’re looking for a simple plate that packs a kick, I guess you found a challenger!
This plate should have pork lard pieces too, but Aaron unluckily couldn’t find any in his. Weep for him.
The char siew pieces were tender and not overly oily. Makes sense as they’re cooked in a halogen oven.
Finally, on to the titular wanton. You get 3 with your soup. I hate to say it but I prefer the dumplings. It uses the same meat fillings but there’s nothing good nor bad to highlight.
Final Thoughts
It’s comfortable. I’d be lying if I claimed all 3 dishes were knock-outs or something to die for. But with a price point that’s hard to beat, it’s difficult to complain.
If you’re not here to think too hard about what to have for lunch and you don’t want to overburden your wallet, come give Hai Kee Noodle a try.
Expected damage: S$3.50 – S$5 per pax
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