The Dead Cockroach: Tom's City Zoom Mee Pok Tar @ Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre

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Based on the choice of font used on the signboard, it is quite apparent that this "Tom" behind Tom's City Zoom Mee Pok Tar at Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre is relatively young.

Indeed, when I was queuing for my bowl of noodle, I was served by a lad seemingly in his twenties with a woman whom I assumed to be his mother.

Tom have a pleasant deposition with a great smile and he looks younger than he actually is. He is the one building rapport with customers while assisted by his Mum, working silently by the side.

When the OL (office lady) in front of me walked off with a bowl of mee tai mak in her hands, it reminded me that I have not had one for a long time and I wanted one too. However, I guess Tom misheard me over all that noise at the food centre and gave me mee pok instead.

My bowl of mee pok ($3.50) comes with two fried dumplings, some chunks of fish cake, two fish balls in the bowl of soup and some crunchy lettuce leaves.

There is something about these fish cake that I cannot quite point a finger to. They seemed so familiar but I cannot remember where I have eaten them before. Then, I realized they are not just any ordinary fish cake but fish cake containing leek which are the very same type found at Prawn Village - another stall at the other end of the same food centre!

Apparently, Tom and Anson from Prawn Village are siblings and the leek fish cake which they used in their respective stalls came from the same source. That explains everything.

While the fish balls appear to be hand made, I wish its flavors could come in stronger. I do enjoy the soft and bouncy texture though.

I am quite surprised to see goji berries which had imparted some of its subtle sweetness to the soup. I had wanted to add spring onions to my soup but the container have been taken away to be replenished and did not come back in time for me.

I like the two pieces of crispy fried dumplings that are filled with fish paste. I could be wrong though because the lighting is quite dim where I was seated so I could not see the filling clearly. There is this saltiness from the dumpling skin which makes it very addictive.

There is just enough seasoning sauce to give every strand of mee pok a slick coat of oil without being grossly oily. Do ask for the piquant chili sauce to add dimensions to the already flavorful bowl. I could do with a bit more black vinegar though as the sourness have barely reached my threshold yet.

The portion of the mee pok is actually too much for me to finish. No wonder there is an option for lesser noodle at $3.20 which is 30¢ cheaper than the regular portion.

This is certainly more than a decent bowl of mee pok. My only discontentment is the lack of crispy pork lard which would undoubtedly earn Tom's mee pok tar more brownie points.

What I find puzzling is the Chinese name on the signboard that says 鱼脞面 which literally means fish chor mee. Does Tom actually serve the fish version of bak chor mee?

Now, that would be interesting.