The Dead Cockroach: Ng Kee Teochew Fish Ball Kuay Teow Mee @ Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre

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Located on the second floor of Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre is Ng Kee Teochew Fish Ball Kuay Teow Mee, a popular fish ball noodle stall run by three brothers.

The stall is so popular, I am unable to get myself a bowl during my first three visits to the food centre.

The scenario was the same for all three visits: I did not see any queue from afar so I happily skipped towards the stall only to be told of the 40 - 50 minutes long waiting time. I did not want to wait that long so I did not order.

However, if you do not mind the wait, the brother taking orders will give you the heads-up of the waiting time before asking you to take a seat after you have placed your order therefore, do not be misled by the seemingly lack of a physical queue that there is no queue at all.

I only managed to lay my hands on a bowl after my fourth visit when I visited the food centre real early at 8am (the previous visits were at about 10am). I was thrilled when he told me the current waiting time is five minutes (although in reality, it took fifteen minutes instead).

While waiting for my order, I noticed that he deliver the orders to those sitting in front of the stall. Those who were a little further away, like I do, will have to collect on their own. While serving a customer near me, he came over to tell me that my order is next. Barely a few moments later, he beckoned to me that my order is ready for collection.

I ordered a bowl of fish ball mee pok dry.

I had the largest bowl ($3/$4/$5) which came with four fish balls, a few slices of lean pork, pig's liver, halved prawns and several fish dumplings.

Unfortunately, they got my order wrong. I ordered mee pok but they gave me mee kia instead. Well, not a big deal actually but problem is, the overcooked noodles were one big soggy mess that is difficult to separate and toss. Even after adding a few tablespoons of soup to loosen the strands of noodle, it simply became soggier.

For such a popular stall, I do not see how they could allow this to happen. In all honesty, apart from the disappointing noodle, the rest were actually okay.

The chili sauce is quite good - rather umami, I would say. Just a pity that all the soup I poured in diluted the flavors of the tossing sauce.

The fish balls had better texture and taste than those from Leng Huat while the freshness of the halved prawns and lean pork were nothing to complain about. Although the pig's liver is no longer pink, the texture is still tender. As for the fish dumplings, they were not slimy like some places do so it is all good.

I am quite excited to spot dong cai (preserved Tianjin cabbage) in the soup because I could not remember when was the last time I see any noodle stall using it. The soup is nice to drink and not too heavy on msg or salt.

Ng Kee has quite the potential to be one of the best fish ball noodle if not for the unfortunate soggy noodle incident. However, I believe it is just a one off mishap judging by the long invisible queue it commands. So many people can't be wrong?

* I realized my camera was out of juice so I took the photos with my iPhone instead. I actually returned another day hoping to order another bowl to retake the photos but the waiting time for that day was 60 minutes! I decided to use back the photos from the iPhone instead...