It seems the perennial popularity of Din Tai Fung-style fried rice has led to the birth of a new concept: fried instant noodles that are directly inspired by the rice dish. You can find this concept at Curly King, which currently has outlets in Boon Keng and Sengkang.
Like Din Tai Fung’s fried rice, Curly King’s noodles are stir-fried in a wok along with eggs, shrimps, and other ingredients of your choice. The most basic version of this is the Specialty Curly Mee (from $3), but we recommend trying the other flavours and pairing them with the various toppings available.
A must-try pairing is the XO Curly Mee with Pork Cutlet ($7.30). Here, the noodles are stir-fried with savoury XO sauce and topped with a sizeable pork cutlet that’s crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside.
If you’re fond of piquant flavours, opt for the Tom Yum Curly Mee with Crab Meat ($10.30). While this isn’t the most fiery noodle dish around, the light spicy kick and sweet-savoury notes of the tom yum sauce will excite you. The shreds of crab meat and tobiko in the plate add textural variety and subtle briny flavours to the dish as well.
There’s also the Mala Curly Mee with Chicken Cutlet ($7), which pairs the spicy goodness of mala-infused noodles with a juicy chicken cutlet. Those who aren’t the best with spice shouldn’t have much to worry about with this dish, as it only reaches the intensity levels of “xiao la” at best.
For an ex-Din Tai Fung chef’s hawker stall that serves pork ribs fried rice, read our Hao Lai Ke review. For a legendary 70-year-old soup kambing stall at Boon Keng, read our Haji M. Abdul Rajak review.
Address: 1 Upper Boon Keng Road, Singapore 380011
Opening hours: Daily 11am to 9pm
Website
Curly King is not a halal-certified eatery.
Photos taken by Paula Formantes.
This was a media tasting at Curly King.
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