New in town: Lau Mian 捞面 — XO sauce Chinese noodles with perfectly braised pork & ramen egg at $5

Holland Drive has plenty of good eats. Never mind that there are at least 3 coffeeshops and a hawker centre in the area – so many of these are stocked with good options that a stroll through the neighbourhood will leave you reeling if you’re not the least bit decisive.

It should be no surprise that Lau Mian, a new addition to Holland Drive Market & Food Centre, was quickly scoped out by the avid foodies of our Facebook communities. I’ve always appreciated how these folks keep one another consistently updated and in doing so, document our ever-changing hawker scene.

The former French fine-dining chef runs a solo act at Lau Mian, and rather impressively (and unfortunately) was sold out before the closing time of 2pm when I visited the first time.

The stall will have more menu items in time but for now, the XO Lau Mian (Dry) with  braised pork & egg (S$5) is the star of the show. Plopped in a mixture of oil and XO sauce, the you mian should be tossed along with the rest of the ingredients to spread the flavours evenly.

Each savoury helping of noodles had ample umami notes from the crunchy dried shrimp and possibly scallops. There were elusive dabs of sweetness that made the chewy noodles even more addicting and, in the moment, it really felt like no other noodles would make a better pairing.

The braised pork had a meaty tenderness with an occasional buttery fat lining that made every chew even more enjoyable. They were perhaps packed with the most flavour in the whole dish.

The ridiculously well-executed marination extends to the ajitama as well, though you get just half of one. Add another Egg (S$1.20), Braised Pork (S$1.80) or Noodles + XO Sauce (S$3) to make your meal even more filling.

Carrot and daikon soup helps dull the already blunt piquant edge of the lau mian, though its inclusion might be more for nutrition than to help with the spice.

You can find Lau Mian right beside Ru Ji Kitchen at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre. Their only other dish is XO Lau Mian (Dry) with seafood (S$6.50) — again, for now. It’s absolutely worth visiting this new stall to try the delicious lau mian.

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