Mei Ling Market & Food Centre Singapore

I visit this hawker center quite often in the morning for breakfast—love its dried prawn noodles, fried Hokkien mee, and lor mee.

This time around I found myself in the neighbourhood in the evening and decided to drop in, hoping for a quick dinner. Turned out the place was dead that time of day, with barely a stall open.

A lone cze char stall, however, caught my eye. I had a good feeling about it and ordered 3 dishes to test my hunch.

But before the dishes arrived, I was given a small plate of braised pork belly to “sample”. It was a Ratatouille moment! That thing tasted exactly like how my Majie (now-extinct Shunde domestic helper) cooked it when I was a child. I almost cried with the second mouthful.

Now excited and looking forward to the rest—the crispy pomfret in tomato sauce, fried kangkong in spicy sauce, and claypot beef didn’t disappoint. Great hearty comfort food. Another complimentary dish arrived—crispy chicken in salted egg sauce. Yumz!

Had a quick chat with the cook—a slight, elderly lady. Turned out we worked for the same organisation 38 years ago—small world. Anyway this is now my newest go-to. Talk about serendipity! Less