Kim's Joo Chiat: XO Hokkien Mee: A Tale of Passion and Tenacity
With sumosumo, khim, Don, jems, holydrummer/bro/bunny, cactuskit.
XO Hokkien Mee $12
This is one for the oyster lovers! Imagine a plate of hokkien mee topped with a rich seafood sauce made from prawns, sotong and oysters. Ooh... it has gotta be shiok. Shiok enough to get a guy like Cactuskit to visit the place 4 times over the last three weeks. Skiok enough to get him to persuade me to eat there three times and to bend my arms to give it a higher score. Shiok enough to get him to organize a special supper so that the other kakis can savour its shiokness. Man, if a plate of hokkien mee can drive him to do all this, I wonder what he was like when he was pursuing his wife!
Now the truth of the matter is that after my first taste, I decided not to blog it since I have already blogged Kims at Joo Chiat before. But then I was told by Cactuskit that the problem is that I ate it during the afternoon and I had asked them not to add the chilli which is an integral part of the recipe. OK, so I went on another night with some other kakis and specifically asked for the evening cook to fry the Hokkien Mee for us. Verdict 4.25/5. Good enough to blog. But Cactuskit was still not satisfied and threatened to lead a coup against me unless I got some seasoned foodies to try the XO Hokkien Mee together with him. Anything less than a 4.5/5, he said, could lead to grave circumstances.
I can never say no to such passion as well as the fact that the guy is bigger sized then me and he has been quite a good moderator over at the forum. So the whole group of us found ourselves sitting in Joo Chiat last week to offer our final verdict on this XO Hokkien Mee. The XO btw stands for Xtra Oysters and not extra-ordinary or the fact that they add XO to the Hokkien Mee.
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The Verdict:
Cactuskit: 4.6/5
Holydrummer: 4.5/5
Jems: 4.25/5
Holybro: 3.75/5
Holybunny: hehehehee
Sumosumo: 3.75-4/5
Khim: 4/5
So there you have it! See, I was right to give it a 4.25/5 in the first place which reflects an average score for the kakis!
Now that you see how varied the opinion is over the XO Hokkien Mee, it behooves (thank Ps Prince for that word) every HKM lover to go and try for themselves and see if it is really that great. If you love it, you have Cactuskit to thank for his tenacity and perseverance in getting this story posted. If you feel you wasted your time, petrol and calories, you know who to look for. You can find him in the forum.
Conclusion
If you like oysters and the wet type of Hokkien Mee and always eat yours with sambal and crispy lard bits, then you will give this at least a 4 to 4.5. If not.. too bad.
Incidentally, Kim's Jr is exactly like his dad when it comes to having his picture taken. Must have gone for PR classes!
Remember to vote today! Click here
The previous post about Kim's is found here
Read about the top Hokkien Mees in Singapore by clicking here
Kim's Seafood Place
37 Joo Chiat Place
Singapore 427761
11am to 2am daily
67421119
47 comments:
Hi! I love to eat and always hope to find a good food blog. This is the best, most DELICIOUS food blog that I have ever come across!
You have my vote!!
~eunice~
TravelerFolio.com
(I'm from Photo category)
These days, I have not found any HKM that makes me want to go back for more. The closest one is probaly Gelyang Lor 29.
les.. u wnt me to get hammered by cactus issit?????? i gave it a 3.75 - 4! not a 3.5!!!
=)
tx - i totally agree with u..
I know you were just trying to be nice and sensitive to his feelings! : ) but I will change the numbers
lol. so what is holybunny's rating then?
ieat - haha.. discount it 0.25 - 0.5points hor..
when u have a 6 foot 90kg guy pushing a plate of hokkien mee in your face asking nice or not....
u better say nice.
Ok I need to try this..... :)!!!!
Yeah sumo, he's a big guy alright! I think he hasn't even read the post yet. But he's got a gentle heart like Chewbacca
Oh man! I said I've tried it 10 times in my life (since 6 months ago), not 10 times in 3 weeks lah. Better change or everyone will think I'm crazy. Ha ha!
hi there.. im a new reader.. simply addicted to all yr posts!! great job~ thumb up!!
Hi hUIRu,
That is such a nice thing to say! Thanks very much.
Do join our forum as well and get to know our band of merry makan kakis!
Chewbacca?...nah more like Worf...hehehe
Hey leslie! what do you mean by 'hehehe'? hahaha, I was puzzled when I read it!
Okay, for the record, my ratings differ from my drummer. I will give it a 3.85 & cactuskit better not arrest me. I gave it a 3.85 because its not one of the best hokkien mee I've eaten so far, plus it wasn't overwhelming enough to throw me off my feet. It was kinda wet, and the oysters weren't as tasty as the ones I've tried at swa gardens.
So there, you have my verdict. I can be quite opiniated k? And you are getting my vote too! :)
Kim's has another branch at Beach Road. I often bring my foreign friends to this stall for their seafood and HM.
Last week I brought my Indonesian visitors for their XO HM and they love it! For their 5 days stay in Singapore, they eat it 8 times! lunch and dinner. I prefer the HM at Beach Road.
The one at Eunos not fried by Boss, no good. The one in Joo Chiat, so so.
Thanks Leslie for your votes! You will get 3 votes every day from the Tan family. :)
holybunny has given the exact same rating as me! yay...!
i put in the 4 to make it sound nicer...
=))
Ah holybunny, but on that night itself you did not give a rating no? Only pulling your leg lah. You should be opinionated and get out from under the shadow of holydrummer! I mean even the name "holybunny" was coined by him. You should call yourself "HolyCOW!"
you calling bunny a cow???
Can't help it lah, it just sounded too good to let up. Anyway I like cows. Especially their shortribs
Smart, has your eyes recovered? Should we go try Kim's HKM at Beach road for lunch?
Dear Eastcoastlife, can you advise the location of Kims HKM at Beach Road? Tks
TX, Tks my left eye now almost perfect vision. Next week HKM can.
Kim's at Beach Road is located directly opposite Shaw Towers.
Standard of HKM varies too as when i was there a few evenings ago, i saw that a batch of HKM was already pre-fried and left to stand for who knows how long and they heat it up upon order.
Maybe i was there at the wrong time.
The Beach Rd branch is closed for renovations. Was around there 2 days ago. The only branch with XO HKM is the Joo Chiat Place branch. The others all dun have.
It nice to know that East Coast Life's frens enjoyed the XO HKM so much they ate it a few times during their stay. On the one hand are those that I've brought there who love the dish. On the other hand are the sumobunnies who find it so-so.
Dun trust either of us. Go try for yourselves and see if you like this special dish... ; )
Thank you for the great write-up and the interesting comments. One of my favorite Singaporean foods is Hokkien Mee, besides the ubiquitous Chicken Rice.
Oysters + Hokkien Mee = Lovely!
Think I'll go down to Joo Chiat tonight or this weekend and decide for myself. Keep on writing Dr. Tay!
If you like it please cast a vote for me at the Singapore blog awards. If you don't, Cactuskit can be found at the forum.
I'm sure he'll like it. Marks sounds like a nice and honest guy ; )
Hey..
Sorry to say that the HKM for me did not really deserve a 4.5 as it did not really give me that feeling that makes me wanna come back to taste it again, just like Leslie said.
But I would say it is better than average HKM you get in some other unknown places...
Would prefer Jln Keechot (Original Kim's hokkien mee)
what da hell is a sumobunny....????
Hmmm, I guess its a gigantic bunny with big ass, fluffy tail the size of a football and ears all tied up sumo style!
wahahahaha...
my first impression of a sumobunny is sumo sumo + holy bunny since both gave less than a 4!!! wahahahaha!!!
e way leslie described a sumobunny is hilarious!
yes holybro, same for me. i would prefer e original hkm at jln keechot too! (if compare against tis hkm!)
not tat i dun like oysters lar.. i luv oysters & i do find tis dish special, just tat probably it's really not tat fantastic for me tat night! =p
dun blast me hor, cactus! ;p
Hmmmmm..... Food blog seem interesting.
Yes, sumobunny was a reference to both who gave sub 4 scores for the wonderful dish. Looks like I jio the wrong folks to try the dish. At least we still have jems, holydrummer and ieat who gave it at least 4.25. : )
No, I think we got a good group so that our readers can get both viewpoints. If everyone said it is good and some readers go and try it and feel like sumobunny then we lose credibility.
Not being a huge HKM fan myself, I would have to say that this XO HKM did do it for me :) Loved the extra oysters and the WET consistency of the noodles. Only wished that thinner yellow noodles were used and a lil more beehoon to noodles ratio.
Not forgetting the good service of da boss and staff :) Thumbs up~
jems rulz!!!! : )
finally had the HKM today for dinner with cactuskit (his supper), gravy's thick not watery, cannot go wrong with the egg, oyster, prawn, sotong, lard combi!!! 4.5 for me....
I'm having the cravings again for the Oyster Hokkien Mee. Liverpool, Uncle Smart, VVF, Wahcow, jems, Holydrummer, Les, Mien, Ivylock, Keano, Toothfairy... and anyone else (I indicated only those who likes the dish or have not eaten it)... interested? More people eat the dish more shiok, Can chit chat too... : )
when!!! breakfast today?? :)
Ha ha ha Liverpool funny sia! Its actually easier for me since it 4-5 mins drive from my place. Sound me out with a day's notice when you can. : )
hokkien mee i have to wait a few weeks and just stood on my scale. it's telling me it's time to diet again haiz....
How about a final fling with the Oyster Hokkien Mee before diet mode? : )
Just found out that the Beach Rd branch of Kim's closed down already. In its place is another Chongqing style hotpot place, that is making that area a home for such eateries.
Its about time to go to Kim's for teh Oyster HKM. Taukwa is interested. Liverpool is always interested. Wonder if jem's dieting is over... we can organise another round there! Yummy!
I would be interested to see if the father can do a better XO then the son. His stall is over at Still Road. You want to organize supper?
Unfortunately, only the son (and his two Sarawak cooks) know how to cook that dish. His son invented it. And furthemore, only the Joo Chiat Place branch has XO (Xtra Oyster) Hokkien Mee.
Father probably doesn't know how to cook it or have oysters in his stall.
went there for dinner last night with a friend. Had the Thai Style Fried Chicken, Bean Curd with Seafood and XO HKM.
The bean curd dish is mediocre. The chicken is nice and quite crispy.
The XO HKM looked good when it came. My friend liked it and gave it a 4.5. For me, it's a 4 cos I found it not cooked long enough. I would have liked it if they had simmered it longer.
Had it for supper this evening. Still as shiopk as ever... : )
This store is 5/5 , simply great.
Unfortunately, only the son (and his two Sarawak cooks) know how to cook that dish. His son invented it. And furthemore, only the Joo Chiat Place branch has XO (Xtra Oyster) Hokkien Mee.
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