31 October 2014
Kin Kin Chilli Pan Mee opened to great fanfare in Singapore around 7 months ago; many customers actually waited for 2 – 3 hours just to have this famous noodle that originated from Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. I have never tasted the one in KL, but my sister mentioned that it is her mandatory food stop whenever she is in the city.
This noodle stall has been on my “To Visit” list since it opened in Singapore, and finally I had the chance to try it when my sister asked me out for a dinner there. I was expecting a very crowded restaurant especially because it was dinner time, but at any point in time while we were there, there were only around 10 occupied tables, though I have to add that there was a steady stream of customers. But this definitely was very different from the photos I saw when they first opened.
We ordered a bowl of the Signature Dry Chilli Pan Mee (S$5) for each of us, and shared a Fishball & Bean Sheet with Meatball Soup (S$4). By the way, Kin Kin also offers the Pan Mee with Sea Asparagus (S$8) and Clam (S$8).
The Signature Dry Chilli Pan Mee came with minced meat, meatballs, crispy ikan bilis, fried shallots and a half-boiled egg. E said that I should add the chilli flakes to the noodles and mix all the ingredients together. The chilli flakes looked very “potent” so I started with a small spoonful of it. When I realised that it was harmless, I added more, a whole lot more. And it was not even spicy; there was that hint of heat and that’s it. I was honestly quite disappointed by the level of heat that the special chilli flakes rendered. And I realised that the chilli flakes were quite salty as well so you couldn’t add too much.
To be frank with you, there was nothing special about this bowl of noodle. The QQ noodle was probably the best part; there was a nice bite to the noodle. The other ingredients were quite a let-down: the fried ikan bilis was a little too salty; minced meat was passable; meatballs were like those you find in typical minced meat noodle. I like fried shallots so nothing bad about it. The soup that came with the noodle was forgettable too, though there were some vegetables to make this bowl of noodle healthier. If I had to queue 2 – 3 hours for this, I probably would be very upset.
The homemade fishballs, though, were quite tasty. It was bigger than the regular fishballs, and it had that bounce that I enjoyed very much. The bean sheet and meatballs were very ordinary; they tasted and looked like from the regular Yong Tau Foo stalls. I do have to commend that the soup was very value-for-money. For S$4, you get 3 fishballs, 3 bean sheets and 2 meatballs, and a few strands of vegetables.
If Kin Kin offers the homemade fishballs in their Signature Dry Chilli Pan Mee, instead of the meatballs, I might return to try it. Otherwise, the next time I am there, I will just order the Homemade Fishball Soup (S$4). Or probably I should just head north to KL and try the real deal, which is much better in E’s opinion.
Kin Kin Chilli Pan Mee
534 Macpherson Road
Singapore 368220
Daily 11am – 8pm (Last order: 7.45pm)
https://www.facebook.com/kinkinchillipanmee
Diary of a Glutton 