Chef Goo – Seafood-Centric Hokkien Mee, Pao Fan & Fried Rice in Alexandra Village Food Centre

There’s more to the neighbourhood of Alexandra than Queensway Shopping Centre and IKEA. Bustling with all sorts of good food, Alexandra Village Food Centre is one of the most frequented hawker centres in Bukit Merah (and for good reason!) Among the stalls selling mouth-watering seafood dishes, newcomer Chef Goo has joined their ranks with a wide array of dishes to choose from. 

Like many who made the switch to pursue new careers in the hawker industry because of the  pandemic, former limousine taxi driver Johnson Goo joined the Hawkers’ Development Programme late last year. After months of training, Chef Goo opened for business three months ago and is the solo chef behind the woks. His wife works alongside him, assisting with ingredient preparations and manning the front-of-house. 

When asked why he chose Hokkien Mee as his signature dish, the jovial chef responded that he’s always loved it since his boyhood. “The only way to improve is to know the dish well.” And what better way to master a dish besides having eaten different variations of it for many years? The broth he uses for the noodles is made from a combination of prawn-heads and clams that have been simmered for about two hours. 

Boasting quite a sizeable portion for the smallest size, the Red Sea Prawns Fried Hokkien Mee ($5/6/8) featured a hearty mix of yellow noodles and beehoon topped with two large prawns, sotong, thin pork belly slices, lard and a dollop of house-made sambal belachan. 

The alkaline taste from the yellow noodles was sadly a little too strong for my liking but mixing it up with chilli along with a squeeze of lime helped in mellowing it out. In fact, I felt that the belachan itself almost stole the show with its vibrant spicy-sour tang. There was also a lack of wok hei, which is a shame as it could have elevated the flavour of the noodles so that it becomes so much more addictive. 

While a tad overcooked, the prawns were sweet and plump. The heads were already removed and were probably used for the soup stock for the noodles. A bit of a pity, both visually and flavour-wise. 

The Crab Meat Fried Rice ($8/10/12) painted an appetising picture with a liberal sprinkling of crab meat chunks over the rice. The carbs themselves were on the dry side and lacking wok hei, but it was made better once it was mixed with the same delicious chilli and the fragrant crab meat. 

Although the dishes I had didn’t quite hit the mark, Chef Goo is always constantly looking to further improve the taste of his dishes. I’ve also heard good reviews of his Seafood Poached Rice ($5/6/8) and Braised Pork Leg Bee Hoon ($12) so that gives me a reason to come back for another taste-test!

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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