Mingfa x Taste of the Bay has squid ink bak chor mee
If you’ve been following Taste of the Bay on social media, you’d know the viral fishmonger has been making waves online for his authentic, educational videos. Donovan Lee, also known as Don, has recently teamed up with Teochew heritage brand Mingfa Fishball Noodles to create something unique: a limited-edition squid ink bak chor mee.
My colleagues know I’m not the biggest fan of bak chor mee, but the moment I saw “squid ink,” I immediately thought of squid ink pasta, which I love. We headed down to Mingfa’s Upper Thomson outlet to find out if this unique bak chor mee is fab or fad.
The Seafood Trio Squid Ink Noodles ($15.80) is tossed in an umami squid ink sauce, finished with tobiko, and topped with an onsen egg. There’s a good range of noodle options to choose from, such as yellow noodles, bee hoon, mee tai mak and more. We went with mee pok and mee kia.
The mee pok tasted just like how I remember Mingfa noodles to be: springy and well-seasoned, but now with a fragrant, tingly kick from the mildly spicy squid ink sauce. The heat built up pleasantly with each bite, while the thick, slightly grainy sauce clung well to the noodles—and my mouth. It also picked up bits of tobiko, adding a subtle pop of texture and flavour.
If you really want to taste the squid ink sauce in every strand, the mee kia would be the better call. Being thinner, the egg noodles soaked up the sauce more thoroughly, giving you a pronounced seafood flavour with each bite.
Our only gripe was that we wished the onsen egg were a touch runnier, as it would have added an extra layer of creaminess when mixed with the noodles.
The set came with a bowl of clear seafood soup on the side, featuring a generous serving of clams, crayfish, fresh prawns, lettuce, pork liver, sliced meat, and lala. Unlike the usual bak chor mee soup, which tends to be a light, savoury pork-based broth, this one had the natural sweetness of seafood coming through in every sip.
There were plenty of ingredients to dig through, but the crayfish in particular was a highlight. The meat was sweet and firm, and pulled away from the shell easily.
Also available as part of the collaboration is the Fresh Fried Sotong ($6.80)—you can choose between spicy or non-spicy. My colleague, who loves spicy food, insisted on the latter. The heat was mild and built up gradually, nicely balanced by the mayo lemon dip on the side. And if it gets too spicy, you can always add on a Barley drink or Lime Juice for just $1 to cool things down.
The sotong itself was lightly battered, crisp on the outside and tender inside without that rubbery, chewy texture you sometimes get from calamari. I found this to be a solid snack to share while waiting for your main.
This collaboration is available for a limited time only, so if you’re a fan of either brand—or just a sucker for a good bowl of bak chor mee with a twist—it’s worth making the trip down before it’s gone!
For more good food in the area, read our Sin Ming Roti Prata review—the famous supper spot is just a few doors down from Mingfa and has delicious Indian-Muslim fare. Otherwise, cross the road and head to Thomson Plaza for loaded chirashi don, cheap hotpot and more.
Address: 246B Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 574370
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours
Tel: 6455 4890
Website
Mingfa Fishball Noodle is not halal-certified.
15 Thomson Plaza Food Places For Loaded Chirashi Don And Cheap Hotpot
Photos taken by Heather Ng.
This was a media tasting at Mingfa Fishball Noodles.
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