denise tan blogs

Ok, so it’s no secret how much I LOVE tah meepok (extra vinegar and chilli, please!), served up plain and simple with a bowl of steamy, fishy (fish cakes, fish dumplings AND fishballs) goodness. I call it the less fussy version of bak chor mee. But it’s hard to find a good fishball these days, one that passes both the bounce and bite test. That’s why I keep going back to this stall at Newton Hawker Centre (touristy reputation be damned!). They’ve been around for more than 40 years, first operating out of a little push cart at the old Orchard Road car park (remember?), then moving to Newton, which itself has seen a few facelifts.

I’ve been going there since I was a little girl and trust me, their fishballs are the best! Big, bouncy and firm to the bite, with a good fishy flavour and texture. Most importantly, NOT factory-made!



I was there recently and one big bowl of balls wasn’t enough. I followed it up with another huge bowl, discovering to my delight, they had thrown in some pork balls and delicious fish dumplings (hee keow) too. Oh, the Hee keow! Chewy, gooey goodness, bursting with the fish-pork mixture – wonderful! Apparently, these are also hand-made, using deep-fried sole fish that’s been pounded to a powder.

The soup and ingredients go really well with the sharp, vinegary tang of the dry noodles (confirmed al dente – woot!), coated in a slick mixture of spicy chilli sauce (also home-made!), chives, fried shallots and lard. Yums!

Please go try:
Soon Wah Fishball Kway Teow Mee
Stall 69 Newton Food Centre
Open: Mon, Tue, Thur to Sun: 5.30pm to 1am
Closed: Sun and Wed

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