Memeba 么么巴: Do noodles cooked in foil taste better?

One fine day, I was walking around as one does around my neighbourhood, and passed by one of several kopitiams in the area. Curious to see if there was anything new, I stopped by and took a look. There was something new, in fact – a stall called Memeba 么么巴.

So… a funny story about the location of this particular stall – it was occupied by a dim sum stall waaaaaay back (which is why the listing above the signboard still says “dim sum”). It was then replaced, and that one was also replaced. This was way too many years ago for me to remember which stalls exactly, unfortunately. I think one may have been an Indian stall?

At some point, it was occupied by Wan Wan Xiang, a stall serving Chongqing-style noodles that was reviewed by a colleague. That stall also moved out, and the spot was taken over by a seafood soup and ban mian stall. 

I intended to write about that seafood soup stall, but it closed a few days after I had paid it a visit.

And at the end of all of that, we have Memeba. 

I went closer to check out Memeba’s bright orange signboard and noticed the images of the dishes looked very strange. I realised they were all AI-generated. How fun.

Memeba’s menu consists of various types of noodles with toppings, served in a tinfoil ‘pot’ with your choice of broth. You can choose either rice vermicelli or thick noodles that resemble la mian, along with 4 different soup flavours: Signature, Golden Soup, Spicy and Tomato.

There’s also Hot & Sour Bee Hoon (suan la mi fen), and interestingly, dumplings and xiao long bao. 

What I tried at Memeba

I went for the Signature Clam Vermicelli (S$5.80), and requested for Tomato soup since I didn’t feel like consigning my stomach to a fiery hell that early in the day. I also ordered 1 basket of Xiao Long Bao (S$5 for 5 pieces). I was given a buzzer, and prepared to wait for my food – the stall was a one-man show that day. 

The first time the buzzer went off and I returned to collect my food, the hawker told me that the Xiao Long Bao needed a little while more, so I took the vermicelli back to my table first. Only disposable chopsticks and spoons were provided, which was a little disappointing. 

Truth be told, I wondered to myself what the point of the foil was. Why not just serve the food directly in the bowl?  That aside, the serving looked huge. At first glance, I spotted thin slices of potato, beancurd skin strips, cucumber slices, and what looked like pieces of king oyster mushrooms.

The tomato broth was appropriately red and speckled with beads of oil. I noticed the layer of reddish oil it left on the disposable cutlery. While the tomato taste was there, it was quite sweet and incredibly oily. If the soup was far less oily, I think it would’ve been great.

The vermicelli proved to be a challenge for my (lack of) chopstick skills. It was smooth, slippery and also very chewy, and was pleasant to slurp down. As I tried to fish up enough for a mouthful, strips of the beancurd skin as well as enoki mushrooms became tangled up in the silky strands. This led to a fun textural experience with every bite.

The clams were fine – their natural briny flavour was overpowered by the tomato broth, but they were definitely fresh and not full of sand. 

Just as I was done examining the contents of my Clam Vermicelli, the buzzer went off again, signalling that the second half of my order was ready.

The Xiao Long Bao looked like, well, xiao long bao, if a little ragged at the edges with noticeable tears in the skin.

The xiao long bao had a much thicker than expected skin that tasted of nothing, which struck me as strange because usually even plain dough would taste of… something. 

The filling was average – while there was the required “soup” inside the bao, the meat had a texture that I would best describe as somewhat gummy and sticky. It didn’t have a pleasant bite to it, despite being seasoned well. Could the bao have been left frozen for too long?

Final thoughts

Based on what I had, Memeba is decent enough for the price point. You do get a pretty large serving of noodles and ingredients, and there’s a nice variety in each bowl. Even if it wasn’t exactly to my taste, it’s affordable and filling. The xiao long bao aren’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, but if I had a really bad craving, they’d do.

Expected damage: S$5.80 – S$6.80 per pax

The post Memeba 么么巴: Do noodles cooked in foil taste better? appeared first on SETHLUI.com.