TGIF brunch — wanton mee ($3)!
TGIF hawker brunch — wanton mee $3. Dry mee pok with char siew, wantons, sweet-soy chilli. Hawker pricing at its honest best.
TGIF hawker brunch — wanton mee at $3. Hawker pricing at its honest best. Most wanton mee stalls have moved their pricing up to $4-5, so finding a $3 plate is genuinely rare in late 2020.
We ordered:
- Wanton mee (dry) — $3
The mee pok noodles were the substantial component. Cooked to that proper QQ chew — slight bite, not over-soft, not chalky undercooked. Tossed in the classic sauce mix — dark sweet-soy, chilli paste, a touch of vinegar, pork lard oil for body. Each strand coated thoroughly.
Char siew slices were thinner today (you get what’s been cut from the morning batch) but still had the proper caramelised edges and the lean-fatty balance. The sweet-soy lacquered roast pork is the headline topping.
A handful of choy sum on top for green. The blanched leafy greens provide the small fresh component against the heavy sauce.
The side bowl of clear soup with three plump wantons (prawn-and-pork filling, thin skin) is the proper accompaniment. Light savoury broth with a piece of choy sum, palate-cleansing between bites of the heavy dry mee pok.
A small dish of pickled green chillies on the side for the optional sour-spicy lift.
At $3 a plate this is honest hawker pricing that’s getting rarer. The stall keeping this pricing was clearly absorbing rising costs rather than passing them on — the kind of decision that earns the loyal queue.
Friday morning hawker breakfast is one of the small phase-2 routine wins. The home weekday brunch was the steady weekday default; the hawker breakfast was the small Friday treat that broke up the routine without breaking the budget.
We sat at the food court table, ate slow. Friday morning hawker centres have a different energy from weekday mornings — quieter, less rushed, lots of retirees and office workers who’d taken a half-day.
Overall: 4.4 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Excellent $3 wanton mee — would re-order weekly.
