ABC Food Centre - Tiong Bahru Yi Sheng Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee

This is the one of the best Hokkien Mee I've had in Singapore, although there are other close contenders. Also, I have to make it clear that my preference for Hokkien Mee is the wet gravy style, so if you like the dry style with no grave you won't agree with me.

To eat:
Fried Hokkien Mee.

Cost:
$3-$5 (possibly up to more)

Pros:
Very well cooked, noodles done very consistently. Good, rich flavour, portion is fair for the price. I think there's a slight garlic-y flavour that not all Hokkien Mee have. It's quite wet, done with gravy, so the people who like it dry might not rate this nearly as high. I like the gravy style, and I feel that the good gravy flavour is what makes it really good.

Also, you can watch the uncle perform his art with his goggles on, it's actually quite fascinating because he wields his tools so expertly.

Cons:
Despite their advertised opening hours, they do often sell out earlier so if you go too late you might not be able to get any. It's actually happened to me a few times. I feel like this is half a good point because it means they're consistently popular. The queue during dinner hours can be quite long, but again, that's pretty normal.

If you're not a gravy person, you might not like this. The other stall at ABC Brickworks (Havelock Road Blk 50 Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee) serves the dry style and is also pretty good, both from personal experience and from hearsay.

Opening hours:
3pm - 1045pm, although they do close early if sold out, and it has happened to me enough times to warrant a mention.

Address:
ABC Brickworks Food Centre #01-13, Blk 6 Jalan Bukit Merah, Singapore 150006

Thaipan Restaurant (Tzechar)

I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I'll add more as I can get them. Although, this is undoubtedly their best dish. Butter Squid. Disclaimer: only the butter squid is fantastic. Everything else is just "good", so manage your expectations. That being said, I feel like they have cut the portion size gradually, which is a bit disappointing.

This is more a good niche value place rather than an absolute good food place, which I'll cover below.

To eat:
Butter Squid. Unless you're allergic to squid (or butter), you absolutely have to try it. Words cannot describe the absolute shiokness of sinful food with more sinful butter on it. Word of caution though, it can get gelat in large quantities (but what doesn't?) so order appropriately for your party size.

Cereal Chicken. Good amounts of cereal, and they use good parts of the chicken. Tender chicken bits, none of that stretchy, dry or stringy crap. I really like this, although people have said it's just "good".

Because I'm only supposed highlight the absolute best, I have to put a filler warning. The other dishes are not out-of-this-world.

Thaipan Jade Tofu with X. The menu recommends the crab meat (obviously), but I actually think the best value pick is Golden Mushroom. Costs less, and the tofu is the one you want, not the extra stuff on it.

Various noodles/rice dishes. Seafood/salted/olive fish fried rice all decent. I actually think the pineapple fried rice is a bit plain, but maybe that's because I don't like pineapples. The oddly positioned Hong Kong fried noodles was quite enjoyable for $4.80.

Cost:
Shared dishes can cost between $10-$30 depending on what type of meat you get, with beef/prawn being the top end. Butter squid is $10/$15/$18 for reference. I felt that $15 was okay for 3 people, but you could go with $18 and order less of other things. Staples are <$10 a person. Totally bill usually works out to ~$25 per pax.

Pros:
A couple of great dishes, a lot of good/decent ones,  nothing really bad. Pretty cheap for a "restaurant". Outdoor poolside area is great for long and chill dinners. Has free parking. It's actually part of Mandarin Garden's clubhouse, but if you tell the guardhouse "Thaipan" they'll let you in. Not too crowded usually either. They also take reservations, which is a plus for some. I just wing it and have gotten lucky.

Cons:
If you were looking for mindblowing food, this isn't the place (other than the squid). But like I said, it's a great value place. Also if you don't drive this place is probably not worth the effort to go out of the way for.

Opening hours:
1130am - 3pm
530pm - 10pm

Address:
13 Siglap Rd, Singapore 448911 (the clubhouse in the middle of the condo, tell the guardhouse "Thaipan")

River South (Hoe Nam) Prawn Noodles

My favourite prawn mee soup in Singapore. Not even really much of a contest, I think the only other one which was memorable was at Beach Road market.

To eat:
Prawn Mee soup (I recommend at least the big prawn mee, for just a little bit more u get the big juicy prawns instead of the regular small ones)

Cost:
Varies depending on the toppings you have on them, I'm quite a purist so either the regular prawn mee ($5.50) or maybe some pork ribs at most. None of the fancy abalone stuff. Not worth, and from the little feedback I got about them, I think they're canned. What do you expect for a few bucks.

Pros:
The soup is really good and tasty. You can taste the essence of the prawns boiled in them for ages. Also practically 24 hours, 6.30am-4.30am, although I've once been there around 3am and they were closing, which was unfortunate. Noodles are cooked just nice, not too hard or overdone.

Cons:
The soup can be a bit too salty for people with a lighter palate. It's definitely on the strong side, flavour-wise.

Other oddities:
The place is run by two shifts, the daytime shift and the nighttime shift, who operate out of two separate stalls in the same place. Oddly, the daytime is all women, and the night shift is all men. I found that quite weird. There is actually some variation in the taste between day and night, but it's usually just the strength of flavour of the soup. I'm fine either way, but I think the day shift is a little lighter.

Opening hours:
630am - 430am (apparently), but on non-Friday/Saturdays I think they close earlier. Also they are closed on what seems to be one or two Mondays each month, but there isn't really a science to it. Avoid Mondays if you're making a special trip to be safe.

Address:
31 Tai Thong Crescent, Singapore 347859

Tai Hwa Pork Noodle

Tai Hwa Pork Noodle

Couldn't find a picture of the soup version but I do recall it being good too.

Edit 29 July 2016: THIS PLACE HAS A MICHELIN STAR. Dammit, it means the queue is now infinite.

To eat:
Bak Chor Mee (most I know people take dry)

Cost:
I think it's gone to $6/$8/$10, making it one of the most expensive bowls of coffeeshop bak chor mee you can ever eat in Singapore.

Pros:
The serving is quite large and they do give a lot of 料, and it is very well cooked. They have survived over 60 years and moved a few times so clearly they are doing something right. In terms of quality hands down this is the BEST bak chor mee in Singapore. If you're the kind who doesn't mind waiting, this is right up your alley.

Cons:

Unfortunately the waiting time is a huge turn off. And you have to stand in to queue (hello, queue number system please). Also, the queue can be deceptively short, because a lot of people send their ka kias to dapow like 10 packets or some shit. My average waiting time during lunch hours is an hour or so. Also, the opening hours aren't as solid as Meng's.

Opening hours:
I couldn't seem to get a consensus from anywhere, but it should be ~10am - 9pm (go during the extremes at your own risk). I also hear they are closed on the 1st and 3rd Mondays on each month. Don't ask me what happens if there are 5 Mondays in that month, maybe they just rest less.

Address:
466 Crawford Lane #01-12 Tai Hwa Eating House Singapore 190466

Meng's Kitchen Bak Chor Mee

 

Dry and soup versions pictured for reference. I shamelessly stole the pictures after googling them, but since this is not for profit it should be okay?

To eat:
Bak Chor Mee (both dry and soup versions are good).

Cost:
$5 or less for a bowl.

Pros:
Almost 24 hours.
The fishcake and fried wanton are not bad too. My personal all-time favourite for bak chor mee, although I know some people who prefer Tai Hwa.

Cons:
Sometimes hard to get parking. Have to go deep into the housing estate once in awhile, which is annoying as shit. Even if you were okay with paying for parking, the closest HDB estate is quite a walk. Also, don't park along the long straight road which is single-white-lined, even in the middle of  the night pontianak will show up and slip you a good one.

Opening hours:
930am - 430am, although I usually prefer to go past midnight when the soup has gotten more gao thanks to all the pork bits cooked through it. I am also a vampire.

Address:
246B Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 574370