Living up to others’ expectations is tough, let alone exceeding them. Thus, when my friends told me (repeatedly and enthusiastically) to try out Soi 19 Wanton Mee (Jurong East outlet), I took their recommendations with a pinch of salt. The higher you go, the harder you fall, right?
I finally got the chance to try Soi 19 on a beautiful Saturday morning (November 26th, 2016) with my friends. When we arrived around 9.30am, we were greeted with this display:
Longer the queue, better the food?
Surprisingly, it didn’t take too long for us to reach the front of the queue and place our order. Within 15 minutes, we have sat in our table with 4 jumbo wanton noodles. Two of my friends ate right away while I and my other friend were busy taking photos.
The smell was good; really good that I had difficulties to concentrate when taking photos.
Soi 19: The moment of truth
After photo-taking session which took the same duration as the queueing, I finally said grace and started to eat. I started by eating the char siu, which was good yet unremarkable. Hmm, good thing that I didn’t set an unrealistically high expectation, I told myself.
However, when I started to eat the noodles, all the doubts and skepticisms went away. The springy egg noodles didn’t only live up to its expectations. It exceeded them.
Furthermore, Soi 19 Wanton Mee wasn’t spammed with soy sauce. Instead, it was tossed with a moderate amount of oil, just like the noodles in Indonesia that I’ve been accustomed to. The tiny fried and boiled wantons were also just nice.
Looks good. Smells good. Tastes great.
Just like how various cultures shape different societies, various cultures also shape different taste buds. So, while I strongly recommend you to try Soi 19 Wanton Mee, try it with a pinch of salt. If you prefer noodles with dark soy sauce or if you define noodles by the quality of the toppings, perhaps Soi 19 won’t be that remarkable for you. But, for me,
- It’s the best wanton mee that I’ve ever tasted,
- It has just became my favourite noodle in Singapore, and
- It’s one more reason to be #thankfulinsg.
Please share your thoughts and other places that I should try. For a map consisting of location and business hour of noodles in Singapore that I’ve reviewed, click here.