Old Airport Road Zheng Zong Lor Mee – Savoury Bowls of Braised Goodness at Tampines!

Of all hawker food, lor mee will always be one of my top five dishes in terms of taste and looks. My virgin experience with this dish was at Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee Zheng Zong Lor Mee in Old Airport Road Food Centre and it was love at first slurp. So when I heard that there is a stall at Tampines as well, I immediately jumped at the chance to satisfy my cravings and headed East. 

I was half-anticipating and half-dreading a crazy queue while on the way here. But my first thought when I arrived was “thank god there isn’t a long queue!” at the 6-month-old stall. There were a few regulars patiently waiting by the side to place their orders as four women bustled around to assist them while preparing heaping bowls of braised goodness in the kitchen. I was surprised to see that besides lor mee, there was also prawn noodles on the menu. 

So you might be wondering what the connection is between this stall and the one at Old Airport Road. This one is run by sisters Karen and Li Lian, with the former’s two daughters helping out whenever they can. Karen shared that after helping out at her brother’s stall for some time at Old Airport Road, she decided to start out on her own. 

Lor mee has been in Karen’s “blood” for the longest time. She helped out at her parents’ stall when she was young. The recipe that was handed down to her for this deliciously thick and viscous gravy follows the traditional Fujian-style lor mee. The preparation process is not easy, with the sisters having to begin work at about 1.30am before proceeding to open their stall at 5.30am. 

The Lor Mee ($4/5/6) comes in three different sizes, so I thought I might as well go big or go home and went for large. It came loaded with a generous amount of shredded fish, braised pork, braised egg, beansprouts, parsley and a spoonful of homemade chilli. The lor had a good balance of vinegar and garlic but I wish the flavours were stronger, so I added a tad more vinegar (if only there was garlic too). It was still a very satisfying bowl. 

What sets them apart from your average lor mee stall is definitely the inclusion of shredded batang fish. The fresh meat was a beautiful match with the savoury sauce. And with the chilli? That’s a chef’s kiss moment for me right there. 

While I would come for the lor mee, the Prawn Mee ($4/5/6) was also not too bad. I got the dry version and was served a bowl of yellow noodles topped with prawns, fishcake, pork slices, beansprouts and fried shallots. I gave the noodles a thorough toss so that they were all well coated in the chilli sauce. It had a good spicy kick, though it would have been better if there was beehoon to balance out the alkaline taste of the yellow noodles. 

The prawns, though small in size, were firm and tasted fresh. I also liked how the pork slices were thin enough so that they weren’t overly chewy. 

I can’t say I’m much of a fan of the soup that came with it. It was too sweet for my taste, but some might like it because it complements the spiciness of the noods. 

If you like good lor mee but are not a fan of insanely long queues, Old Airport Road Zheng Zong Lor Mee is where you should head to. But just because they don’t have a snaking line that winds all the way to the wet market doesn’t mean that these piping hot bowls aren’t in demand. Even though they close at about 12.30pm, there are days when they’re sold out at 10am so you better visit early!

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

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to Old Airport Road Zhen Zong Lor Mee. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!