Thursday, October 9, 2008

Swee Guan Hokkien Mee: It's at Geylang Lor 29!


Xtra Large Plate Hokkien Mee $20 (for 3-4 persons)

Now if you are at Geylang Lor 29 to try the Pork Belly Satay, don't forget to order a plate of Hokkien Mee to go along with it. Hokkien Mee and Satay is my number one, all time favourite Singapore hawker combo. So it is a bonus to find two really good stalls side by side.

Now it might be a little confusing but this Hokkien Mee that is located at Geylang Lor 29 is not called "Geylang Lor 29" Hokkien Mee, but rather "Swee Guan" Hokkien Mee. The "Geylang Lor 29" Hokkien Mee is located at Telok Kurau instead. Both are using charcoal to fry the Hokkien Mee and as you might have guessed, this is another of those hawker family stories where the famous patriachal hawker had a few kids who went their own way to start new branches to carry on their father's legacy. It has happened with Beach Road Prawn Noodles, Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow, Rochor Bean Curd and many more.

As far as I know, there are three members of the same family who still use Charcoal to fry their Hokkien Mee. They all originated from the original Geylang Lor 29 stall. The other two have already been blogged viz Uncle Alex's Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee and his sister-in-law's stall, Charcoal Fried Hokkien Mee. This stall thus completes the trio of stalls that continue the Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee tradition.

The style of the Hokkien Mee is similar at all three stalls. They use thin bee hoon to fry and it tends to come out a little gooey but full flavoured. This stall though is a little cheaper, being in Geylang, and the prawns are slightly larger. Tastewise it is definitely one of the better Hokkien Mees around that will complement Pork Satay perfectly! 4.25/5

Conclusion


Satay and Hokkien Mee! Any others also like this combination? What other combination of hawker foods do you all enjoy? I know Prawn Mee and Ngoh Hiang is another favourite of many people.


Swee Guan Hokkien Mee
Geylang Lor 29 (Geylang Side)

5pm to 11pm daily






What to do next?

Try Kwong's Pork Satay next door
Check out the other stalls in Geylang
Check out the other famous Hokkien Mee Stalls

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder what kind of difference will there be between cooking using charcoal and gas. Maybe you can do a test one time? Get a seller to cook the same food over gas and charcoal separately, then blindfold 10 person and ask them to eat, see they spot the charcoal one taste nicer blindly or not.

ieat said...

Yes that would be the ultimate test but how to do it would be a logistical nightmare. It is not as if the hawker would just install a gas and a charcoal fire to do this for fun.

Young Werther said...

Why is this Hokkien Mee so light in colour and thin?

ieat said...

Oh it is not thin. It is a big plate with big prawns. This one is the special $20 portion.

Ladie said...

Hmm, Les maybe you would like to include the price too.

danny kwok said...

Satay, oyster omelette and hokkien mee combo...all time fave too!

ieat said...

Hmmm, only place I know with all three pretty good one is at Simon road which I will be blogging soon!

singaporeshortstories.blogspot.com said...

Looks nice, I will try next time I happen to pass there!

Huat said...

Actually I hate to come to this website. It make me so hungry and craving for the food and I'm in Melbourne!!! Help!!

Steelman said...

I like oyster omelette and chicken rice as a combo, washed down with a good teh tarik :)

Anonymous said...

How about see anyone want to sponsor a gas stove and some charcoal and also a chef want to sponsor his time, then we can call it the IEATEST.

khim said...

ieat, tis is e hkm we had e other day? it looks like a normal plate from tis photo here.. but gosh, when we were there, it looks like a mini mountain!! haha..

& e prawns r super huge!!

Holy Drummer said...

Just da-paoed $10 yesterday evening for dad & bro.

But the $10 portion was simply not enough to share and I ended up hopping over to Kim's @ Jalan Kechot to da-pao more. Their $6 is MORE than $10 here. .

Over time, my preferred condiment is not the sambal, but the red cut chilli and it adds a whole new dimension to HKM. Sambal simply overpowers the natural taste of the noodles and you end up eating machiam mee goreng.

susie loo said...

Leslie, why do you think it's a nightmare? You just need a stove what. Basically the wok or or any other utensils you can use the same. If the stall is operating from a coffeeshop, it would be a nightmare if they don't even have a stove somewhere!

You just need the manpower aka cook willing to spend some time for you.

liverpool1965 said...

my fav combo would be orh luak and satay or soup kambing and satay...or prata and soup kambing... :)

cactuskit said...

I enjoyed the HKM there as well. Lots of big fresh ingredients. Not cheap but definitely worth the money for the fresh seafood and well fried noodles. Somebody in Straits times should do this 2nd and 3rd generation stories such as this, and the Beach Rd prawn mee etc. It'll make a good read.

Anonymous said...

Food is simply meant fill tummy but you guys are eating for fun, omg. What's so fun about finding the best food and eat till your delight in multiple cycles? No wonder Singaporean is so fat, the whole country needs to slim down!

ieat said...

No, the point is we need to eat in moderation in order to stay healthy. So the purpose of the blog is to let everyone know where to find the best tasting food, so that rather than eating 5 lousy meals you eat make sure that you eat one really tasty meal and 4 healthy ones just to provide sustenance. That is what I mean by "Never waste your calories on Yucky Food"

Fen said...

Wow, you are really familiar with all the nice foodies in the East. I recalled asking you what are other nice food apart from the satay near the vincity.

Thank you for compiling all the local favourites under 1 entry...

Charcoal fried Hokkien Mee... Wow, I am indeed drooling...

Thank you for the recommendations...

ieat said...

Thanks very much! Good to know that people appreciate the effort. :)

Anonymous said...

Leslie, your motto of 'Never waste calories on yucky food' is nothing but a illogical equation for the simple fact that you cannot know whether a food is yucky or not until you order it, pay for it and then eat it.

No food is forever yucky for everyone or yummy to everyone. Everyone's got different threshold. How you review food? You simply blog about what you eat, quite simply by the time you found something yucky, it is already a wasted calories in your tummy. The same goes for anybody, if they find your review si bei tok kong but when order, taste like very normal, also wasted calories. So my point is your slogan is all but a myth.

The fact is most yummy food is unhealthy. If something is yucky but healthy, then i dont think you're wasting calories.

Also, the way you review, i doubt you're actually bringing the best to audience. Unless you have something like eat 10 plates from different stalls. Otherwise you're just blogging about what you hear, what you had. Nothing more than what i also hear and had, what's so special except that you put it online?

anti-troll police said...

ANON - firstly, leslie only blogs about what he likes. the things he dosen't like, he dosen't post. so behind every po0st, there are many other food which are nor worth posting.

dont u think then, that leslie is sacrificing his own health and calories for the people who read this blog, by testing out various food he hears about or hunting for new discoveries?

if not him, who? YOU?

cactuskit said...

Anon, you're trading a very fine line. I suggest you remember what happened when your posts were deleted previously. We won't hesitate to do that again to you. IP addresses can be tracked too. suggest you visit other sites if you are so against what is posted here.

And if you do reply to my post, don't even think about flaming or you're gone. Your last post is on the borderline.

Remember..."Please be responsible when commenting and keep your comments focussed on the food stall. Off topic comments and inflammatory comments will be deleted without apologies."

Samantha Lee said...

Whatever happened to the good old days where it was just all about FOOD!

psylesque said...

Leslie - as a toa payoh boy living in the UK, i've been reading your blog for a very long time now and really want to say, thanks for the great work and for making people like myself (and i'm sure i'm not alone here) feel so much closer to home...not to mention super lau-nwah!

ANON - free speech is one thing but you appear to have nothing but snidey comments and thinly veiled criticisms to offer, so either get constructive or get a life.

Anonymous said...

psylesque, that's the problem with anon..he doesn't have a life and cannot be constructive! :)

holybro said...

haha anon..

So if you're saying that Leslie is not doing the best for people eh?

Since you feel that this blog is "nothing special"...

Okay then..lead by example and go set up your own food blog...why criticise if you cannot do it better than others?

cactuskit said...

Yes, I promise you Anon that I'll write only encouraging and constructive comments in your blog. Hope you'll succeed. : )

lorraine10001 said...

I live near Geylang, and I used to eat this hokkien mee. But -- I dunno -- I discovered Alex's lor 29 Hokkien Mee some time last yr or this year -- and I think it's superior to this hokkien mee. I see from Leslie's pic that the prawns have been deshelled, last time when I was eating this geylang hokkien mee hor, the shells not taken off... v annoying to have the prawn legs mixing in your mee...

Anonymous said...

Simon Road/Upper Serangoon Rd/Tampines Rd Coffee shop.

Fried Hokkien Mee has burnt chow tah taste quite often as it is fried quite dried. So so only. It has been around for more than 20 years.

Fried Oysters Or Luak is very oily. Must tell him to use less oil. Also fried into smaller pieces for thr the fragrant. Can do lah. Better stalls elsewhere. Also around for a long time.

Satay. Very crowded during weekend. But the satay not very fragrant in terms of marination. The sauce is not flavourful. Also around for a long time.

Stop visiting them as there is no ooomp from these stalls. although I live near this place for along time.

ieat said...

Yeah, I have to agree with you on the Hokkien Mee. Haven't tried the Oyster Omelette yet. But I thought the satay was pretty ok. Heard the chicken wings were good.

The Dictator said...

No point to conduct any gas or charcoal cooked hokkien mee. i can taste the difference 100 times out of 100 times, yes, with eyes closed. I think most experienced foodie can do it too.

Btw, the hokkien mee served here is always deshelled. Unless the last time u had was a decade or longer, then i cant confirm...

Kik0 said...

I've been there twice as recommended by Makansutra. It was a pleasant surprise that you went there too (I guess good food news always travel!)

Yes, it's flavourful but I must say $6 HKM IS indeed pretty pricey. =(

Tubby said...

I first tried this stall's HKM last year, and it was one of the best HKM I've ever had. Brought my parents there to eat, and told all my friends. My aunt went to this stall early this year, and was told that they didn't have pork lard that day. She ordered a plate anyway, and came away very disappointed.

Unconvinced, I went a month ago, and ordered a couple of plates. And like my aunt, I was very disappointed. I am totally not a fan of pork lard, but I do have to admit that it is something that can add great flavour to a dish (like HKM or bak chor mee). I just don't eat the actual pieces of lard. The plates I ordered were obviously fried without it, and had a "chow da" (burnt) taste to it. The taste sensation was very very one dimensional, and any average hawker centre HKM would have beat this one. I am wondering if they have now subscribed to some Health promotion board campaign for healthy eating or whatever, and converted their cooking method or whatever. It was THAT bad.

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