Yam Mee Fishball Mee Has Been Around Since The 70s, But Are They Any Good?

Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee is a popular stall in Kovan and Bedok 

Fishball mee is one of the good ol’ local dishes you can find in almost every hawker centre. Take Kovan Market & Food Centre, for instance. There are at least three stalls selling minced meat noodles here, but Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee is arguably the most popular.

The third-generation hawker stall, which has been around since the 1970s, has drawn consistent long queues every single day. Customers wait for up to 30 minutes to get their bowl of noodles here, so as we stood in line, our expectations grew. Let’s see if the food lives up to them. 

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Food at Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee

The first dish we had was the Fishball Noodle Dry ($5), which consisted of mee pok noodles, chunks of minced pork, fishcake slices, fishballs, mushrooms, spring onions, and pork lard. These were sitting in a mixture of fragrant shallot oil, spicy chilli oil, and punchy black vinegar. 

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Noodles are arguably the most important aspect of fishball mee, and thankfully, the ones here were just as perfectly springy as they are chewy. I would have preferred these noodles to be softer, but many will definitely appreciate the ‘bite’ it has. 

After giving the noodles a good mix to coat each strand with the combination of oils, I went in for another mouthful. It was definitely on the spicier side, with significant pieces of diced chilli mixed into the oil, but the heat elevated the overall flavours in the bowl. 

FYI, Yam Mee makes their fishballs from scratch in-house. This explains their taut, firm texture and sweeter taste. 

The shiitake mushrooms also had a great QQ feel to them, and they were also super generous with the amount of minced pork, making for a hearty bowl. 

The pillowy pieces of deep-fried pork lard sealed the deal, offering a good crunch that complemented the noodles. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with this bowl of fishball mee!

We paired this with the Fishball Soup ($5), which came with a mix of regular fishballs and vegetable fishballs, tau geh, spring onions, and pork lard. It was clean-tasting and light, providing a much-needed break from all the grease in the meal.

The star of the show was the house-made fishballs, which were the same ones used in the fishball mee. I was especially drawn to the vegetable fishball, which saw the unique addition of peppers.

Lastly, we had the Laksa ($5). This is not to be confused with their cult-favourite Curry Mee ($5)—I was looking forward to getting it, but it wasn’t available on the day. The bowl was chock full with yellow noodles, bean sprouts, tau pok, fish cake slices, and cockles. 

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The thick rice noodles they used were cooked perfectly, boasting a slight chewy texture and a neutral flavour that allowed the savoury broth to shine. The sambal on the side contained a lethal amount of spice, so I recommend mixing it into your noodles liberally.  

Onto the broth. It was wonderfully rich, and got soaked up perfectly by the spongey tau pok and noodles. They also seemed to have perfected the ratio of coconut milk to the sambal belacan and other aromatics, as the soup was neither too greasy nor was it too fragrant.

Though the broth was savoury and flavourful, it did lean a little salty. At least it did not carry that sandiness or grittiness that certain laksa broths had from the overuse of shrimp paste. 

I’m glad I didn’t hold off on the cockles like I usually did, as the ones in this laksa seemed to have been cleaned really well. They weren’t overly fishy and carried a pleasant seafood flavour that accentuated the dish. 

Ambience at Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee

Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee is located in the spacious Kovan Market & Food Centre, which has enough seats to go around. The hawker centre is clean and well-ventilated, but it can get a little hot since there aren’t many fans around. It is an 11-minute walk away from Kovan MRT Station. 

Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee – Eatbook review

Though Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee serves up a pretty darn good bowl of fishball mee, it doesn’t particularly stand out. That said, if you live in the Kovan or Bedok vicinity, I still recommend this place for a solid bowl of laksa or mee pok with generous ingredients and house-made fishballs! 

For more long-standing hawker stalls that serve up delicious local food, check out our Original Alhambra Satay feature to get to know the story behind the legendary satay stall. Else, check out our Kovan food guide for more good eats in the area, including mala pork scrambled egg rice and more!

Kovan outlet
Address: 209 Hougang Street 21, #01-35, Kovan Market & Food Centre, Singapore 530209
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 7am to 9pm

Bedok outlet
Address: 511 Bedok North Street 3, Singapore 460511
Opening hours: Tue-Fri 9am to 9pm, Fri-Sat 8:30am to 9pm
Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee is not a halal-certified eatery.

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Photos taken by Nabila Malek.
This was an independent visit by Eatbook.sg.