Laifaba Review: Is This Famous Wonton Mee With Wood-Fired Char Siew Worth The Hype?

Laifaba has woodfire-roasted wonton mee in Bukit Batok

Widely claimed to serve one of the best wonton mee in Singapore, Laifaba Wanton Noodles & Roasted Meats is a restaurant hidden within a Bukit Batok industrial estate. My colleague raves about them, and travels almost an hour to satisfy her cravings; another rated them 10/10 after making an even longer journey and trying the wonton mee here. That’s not all the praise Laifaba has received—we‘ve seen IG-famous foodies rave about them too, so we decided that it was high time for a visit.

Food at Laifaba

There are two signature options at Laifaba that you can go for: Signature Rice and Signature Noodles. Both are priced at $12.80++ a portion and come with the same toppings of bu jian tian char siew, poached wonton, crispy fried wonton strips, fresh Hong Kong kai lan, and a bowl of pork bone and scallop broth.

While the noodle option has half an Ajitama egg with an oozy molten yolk, you get a sunny-side-up with the rice dish. Instead of regular jasmine rice, their Signature Rice uses Japanese rice!

You get to choose your cut of bu jian tian char siew, whichever option you go for. There are Lean and Fatty cuts, as well as a Mixed cut that gets you the best of both. If you want more of this, the Wood-fired BJT Char Siew goes for $18++ a small plate, good for two to share. If you aren’t familiar with the term, 不见天  (bù jiàn tiān) is the underarm, or armpit of the pig, with the Chinese words literally meaning “never seeing the sky”. This extra premium cut is only available in small quantities, and is prized for its perfect ratio of lean and fat meat.

We went for the mixed cut on our visit. Each slice was juicy, unctuous, and melt-in-your-mouth tender, with a lightly crisp, bittersweet caramelised crust on the outside. A good deal of work goes into cooking this, with a three-part process of braising, drying, and roasting over wood fire each morning before Laifaba opens for the day.

The noodles impressed us too—delightfully springy, and served in a hearty portion. There’s also the moreish sauce it’s tossed in, laced with chunks of crispy fried pork lard. Despite taking our time with the meal, the noodles retained their QQ texture till the last bite.

 

Enjoy the noodles as is, or add in the pickled green chillies and punchy chilli mix that you’ll get on the side. If you take a closer look, you’ll find there are three concentric circles on the plate, which, when mixed, form a lightly vinegary concoction.

While the noodles on their own don’t quite require embellishment, adding the chilli lends an extra dimension of flavour. I’d initially not wanted to do so, since the chilli was a touch sour, but this was balanced out by the noodle sauce mix.

Accompanying each order of rice or noodles is a small bowl of a house-made soup, boiled for 12 hours with pork bones and scallops, with no additives. We recommended that you have some of this before you start on the noodles, which allows you to appreciate the clean, sweet flavour of this warm, comforting broth. FYI, you can ask for refills at no additional cost!

Each bowl comes with two boiled wonton. The dumplings are of a nice size and are filled with a generous amount of meat.

The clean-tasting soup was also a good foil for the more savoury dumpling, whose filling is accented with ti poh, or dried sole fish, which lends it that characteristic punchy flavour. If you prefer dumplings with prawns, go for their Shrimp Dumpling Soup ($12++), or the similarly priced Spicy Shrimp Dumpling.

Since Laifaba specialises in wood–fired roast meats, we decided to give their other offerings a try, starting with the Combination Platter, priced at $18++ for a Small portion, $36++ for a Medium portion, and $54++ for a Large portion. You don’t get to choose how fatty the meats on this are; there’s a mix of lean to fatty char siew.

We first picked a lean slice and thought it was slightly on the drier side, though the flavour and char definitely came through. We also appreciated the pieces of lychee that were served atop the char siew, elevating each bite with a unique, floral-like sweetness.

The Wood-fired Crispy Roasted Pork, which you can order a la carte at $18++, had a thin, and true-to-its-name crisp layer that we loved. It didn’t have a porky taste, unlike some other sio bak that we‘ve had elsewhere. When eaten on its own, it was quite salty, but tasted great with the provided chilli dip, which had enough body, spice, and tartness to pair with the rich, savoury meat. We imagine it would go brilliantly with rice. A punchy and tangy Chinese mustard is also served, for those who enjoy their roast pork with this.

Moving on, we also ordered their Wood-fired Roasted London Duck, available in Upper Rack ($21.80++) and Lower Rack ($25.80++) portions. We went with the latter, for the more premium and fatty cut. The dish also comes served with a small saucer of warm gravy—this was a win in our books.

Pour it over the duck, or leave it on the side and drench a bowl of rice in it; it’s your choice, but the gravy was one we‘d love to come back for more of. It doesn’t steal the thunder from the roast duck, and isn’t so light or herbal in flavour that it might put some off.

It’s not one of their bestselling items, but the duck leg that we had on our order was succulent and tender, with the meat falling off easily. The lightly crisp layer of skin didn’t come with too much fat beneath either, which made eating this quite pleasant. Pro tip: after dipping the meat in the moreish gravy, add in a dollop of the accompanying sweet, viscous sauce to balance out the richness of the dish.

Ambience at Laifaba

The nearest station to Laifaba is Bukit Batok MRT Station, which is still close to half an hour away, including a fair deal of walking, depending on which bus you take. I live nine minutes away by car, but it takes me almost 50 minutes to get here by bus after you’ve factored in a good 18-minute walk. Blame it on their being located in a building that’s a fair distance from the main road, but getting here is a real trek. When you do get to the restaurant, however, you’ll find that you can dine in air-conditioned comfort, with the space done up with old-school decor. The space is big enough to accommodate around 60 diners at a time, in tables of two to five. That said, they’re known to get quite busy during peak periods, so we recommend heading down early!

Laifaba – Eatbook review

All things considered, Laifaba does serve a pretty good bowl of wonton mee: we are fans of their roast meats, noodles, as well as the sauce and chilli mix. That said, it’s not a spot we’d visit too often, especially due to its ulu location and higher–than–average prices.

For more wonton noodle options, check out Legend Wanton Mee, helmed by ex-MasterChef Singapore finalist Aaron Wong. Otherwise, check out Tampoi Ah B Wanton Noodles for JB-famous wonton mee in Kallang!

Address: 71 Bukit Batok Crescent, #02-02, Prestige Centre, Singapore 658071
Opening hours: Tue-Fri 11:30am to 2:30pm, 6pm to 9pm, Sat-Sun 11:30am to 3pm, 5:30pm to 9pm
Tel: 9181 6383
Website
Laifaba is not a halal-certified eatery.

Photos taken by Nivian Chiang and Michelle P.
This was an independent review by Eatbook.sg.
This article was originally written by Michelle P on 31 January 2024.