Try this 'Richard Low wonton mee' with sunny side up egg at nameless stall in Bukit Merah
Most of us know Richard Low as an actor and “Limpeh”, his iconic character in Jack Neo's 2002 comedy I Not Stupid. But 8days.sg thinks the 71-year-old has the chops to be a food influencer too.
His favourite pastime is checking out new makan joints and he has no qualms about queueing for food. “I would recommend places that I approve to friends and vice versa,” shares Richard on a recent episode of #JustSwipeLah.
One of the lesser-known gems that he recommends is this nameless wonton mee stall in an unassuming kopitiam in Bukit Merah. It was love at first bite for Richard when he first tried the noodles in 2018.
“I like the old-school taste. It’s reminiscent of the wonton mee I used to eat at my kampong during my childhood. The noodles are springy and wontons plump and packed with minced pork and prawn filling. This is not the best wonton mee [in Singapore], but eating it makes me nostalgic,” he gushes.
“I have brought Zhu Houren here and he likes the wonton mee too. I plan to introduce this to Noah Yap, who is a fellow wonton mee fanatic.”
The stall has a long history
The stall only offers one dish, wonton mee, priced at $4 and $5. It started out as pushcart stall Hock Lam Wanton Mee in Katong by the owner Mdm Tan’s uncle in the ’60s before moving to an East Coast Road coffee shop in the ’70s.
When Mdm Tan took over the reins in the ’90s, she set up shop at Tjao Sin Eating House at Alexandra Road. It moved to its current premises in 2009 when the kopitiam was demolished to make way for a condominium.
Richard’s special order
Richard gets his wonton mee fix around five times a month and is a familiar face at the kopitiam.
“I tell [Mdm Tan] ‘the usual’ and she will prepare my special order. But of course, special order also comes with a special price ($6.70),” Richard says with a laugh.
Dubbed “Richard Low wonton mee” or “Liu Qianyi (his Chinese name) wonton mee”, the dish consists of an upsized serving of noodles with additional char siew, vegetables, five handmade wontons, topped with a sunny side up egg drizzled with dark soy sauce — the latter an unusual addition, but it elevates the dish, says Richard.
“The sunny side up goes surprisingly well with the noodles. The yolk is served runny and when mixed with the noodles, it gives it a new depth of flavour,” he gushes.
Mdm Tan tells 8days.sg that over the years, word has spread about “Liu Qianyi wonton mee” and she would occasionally get requests for the order from other customers.
The regular $4 wonton mee (top) vs Richard’s $6.70 special order
Lest you think it was Richard’s idea to have fried egg with wonton mee, the topping, which has been available since 2015, came about by chance.
Mdm Tan’s nephew, who is vegetarian, does not eat wonton or char siew, so when he visited her stall, she would prepare a few fried eggs to pair with the noodles. When other customers saw this, they requested fried eggs (top up 70 cents) with their noodles too and the secret menu item has since become a signature at the stall.
The details
The wonton mee stall is at #01-190, 125 Bukit Merah Lane 1, S150125. Open daily 6.30am–2.30pm.
Photos: #JustSwipeLah
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