I’ve never met a bowl of fishball and minced meat noodles that I disliked. The Singapore staple combines the virtues of a bolognese (the ‘ragu’; those satiny noodles as wide as tagliatelle; the umami-ish ketchup that hits back palette), tonkotsu ramen (the lard-slicked, meaty undertones) and wonton noodles (the vinegar that cuts through the richness). For $5.

There’s far more to it, though, and the city’s vaunted spots reveal that superlatives may apply. The one at Ah Hua deserves your attention: the noodles have softened to a texture past al dente, without losing its spring; the heady-enough sauce is a controlled cobble of sweet, sour, fatty, and heat; and those fishballs — fresh threadfin, hand-ground every morning, I’m told — prove that made-from-scratch is still a virtue.

It’s emblematic of the craft that Ah Hua embraces, the kind that few follow. Consider No. 25 Minced Meat Noodle. The concoction is a more head-spinning meld, yielding a darker, richer sauce, while the noodles have a firmer bite. Like the one at Ah Hua, it delivers the kind of elemental pleasure that immediately warrants a reorder. I ordered ‘mee pok’ often as a child, and this morning’s twofer of a breakfast (happily) hits hard. 🙏 Sze-Liang for the tour, sermon, and excuse to be a fellow glutton. Less