As an East-side dweller, the Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre isn’t somewhere I would normally go to eat. But I was on the hunt for something not commonly featured on the average hawker’s menu: shark meat. I was in luck as the well-known Lor Mee 178 offers shark nuggets.
Specifically, the stall only has one dish – lor mee. Despite offering just their signature, they’re popular enough to have moderately long queues daily. If you’re caught at the back of one, be prepared to wait at least 15-20 minutes. They also often sell out before their 1.45pm closing time.
Lor Mee 178 has even been listed in Singapore’s Michelin Guide with a “Michelin Plate” and has been spotlighted in several local TV programmes. Their stall is decked out with clippings and pictures proudly declaring that fact to their customers.
Knowing all this, I was kind of hyped to dig in just to see what all the fuss was about.
What I tried at Lor Mee 178 (卤面178)
I decided to upgrade from their regular bowl of Lor Mee (S$4.50) to Add Deep Fried Shark Nuggets (S$5.50) alongside adding an Egg ( S$0.80).
I was surprised by the consistency of the gravy, realising that it was not as thick as other lor mee places I had eaten at. Because it wasn’t as starchy, I didn’t feel too jelak even when I had licked my bowl clean. As you have the option of adding condiments like minced garlic, chilli and vinegar, the gravy is robust, savoury and sweet. You can also taste some subtle herbal notes.
The gravy was also thick enough to constantly cling to the thick flat yellow noodles, which had a nice chew to them. When eaten with the crunchy bean sprouts, there is an added layer of texture between them from the thin slices of fishcakes and supple noodles.
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I do, however, have issues with the amount of noodles in the bowl. For S$5.50, I felt that the portion needed to be bigger.
The braised egg was okay. However, I felt like it should have had a kick to it, like a more prominent braising gravy taste. Considering that even adding it requires an additional top-up, I would have liked an extra kick to it.
Another ingredient I felt they were a bit stingy with was their small bits of sliced pork belly. I initially didn’t even notice them, thinking they were just some thin fishcake slices, but it was pork. Even though it was sliced so thinly, I could still make out the richness of the fat and the tenderness of the meat. I simply wish they weren’t so few and far between.
What truly made this bowl more unique than its lor mee peers, though, were the 4 nuggets of fried shark meat. I felt calling them nuggets is quite a disservice. They reminded me of fried fish in a plate of fish and chips, just cut into small portions.
The batter was freshly fried and had a nice crisp on the outside, with not a single piece burnt. They were still quite crispy after I had left them to soak in the gravy.
A nice surprise was realising the batter was not overly thick, as I thought they must have coated the meat thoroughly to make the nuggets look so chunky. The meat itself was tender despite how much denser it felt than regular fish meat.
I do recommend letting the nugget pieces soak up the sauce or eating it with a spoonful of noodles as by itself, it’s simply more like a crispy piece of fish.
I got a bit of a surprise when I realised that Lor Mee 178 also throws in bits of batter as an extra ingredient. The pieces added a slight, subtle hint of sweetness to the bowl.
Final Thoughts
While I enjoyed the bowl of lor mee, I felt they were kind of stingy with their ingredients. They even need you to top up for an egg, something which is given by default elsewhere.
I concede that the gravy and the novelty of using shark meat make Lor Mee 178 stand out. Considering their hours and how light a bowl feels, it looks to be an ideal breakfast option. It just didn’t seem very filling for me. Right after I finished my bowl, I went to another store to get pau.
Expected damage: S$4.50 – S$6.30 per pax
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