A taste of the Michelin-starred Bak Chor Mee

5 months ago

I've never thought of myself as someone who's going to follow the Michelin Guide and go to the restaurants that get a star. It's because I know it's going to be expensive food. Fine dining restaurants are those which receive a star from the Michelin Guide. I'm not comfortable with spending that kind of money on a meal or a dining experience. So, I was very excited when I found out about the Michelin-awarded hawker stall, and I sampled the food they were serving.

There's a hawker's stall that serves Bak Chor Mee and it was awarded with 1 Michelin star back in 2021. The name of the stall is Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle which is popular in the area of Lavender, specifically along Crawford Street. They opened two stalls in the same food court on Block 466 and both are doing very well. If you go in here at lunchtime, there's always a long line.

After that meal, I realized that the award of a Michelin star only means that the food and the service are exceptional compared to the rest of its type. To be honest, I'm not a fan of Bak Chor Mee because the ones that I had before feel like eating an instant noodle with factory-made toppings. They've all tasted artificial, so I've given up hope that something will change that. My perception of the dish was changed by this hawker, and I'm going to tell you why.

The variety of components that were assembled, and the quality of each element, are what impressed me about this dish. Everything's fresh, and the toppings were made from scratch.

The meatball is intact, it was made fresh, and it's tender compared to the factory-made ones.

The fried Sole fish has a clean dried fish flavor and taste, it wasn't salty at all.

The skin of the dumpling has a nice texture and the filling is flavorsome.

I never thought that even the liver can be cooked in such a way that it's so tender yet there's no dominant gamey taste.

The Mee Pok is also of good quality, but I prefer to have the thinner version of it.

Those are the qualities of a good Bak Chor Mee that I have never experienced with the previous meal that I had from other stalls. The Hill Street Tai Hwa hawker stall has set a high standard regarding this dish. I paid $8 for this bowl, although it's much more expensive than the rest of them, and that price is justified by its quality.

I almost forgot that as a courtesy, they'd served me the seaweed soup in this set. Normally, soup is served as a free lunch at most hawkers' stalls but the flavor and taste are not so good. This is why I am very impressed by the food vendor who offered me soup that could be a meal in itself. I'm imagining adding a noodle to the soup and it's going to turn into a small meal.