Zai Lai Minced Pork Noodles (Woodlands)

Who says one can't find good food in coffeeshops?

I hate living in Woodlands because it is so far from everywhere but luckily, there are some form of compensation (or comfort they called it) when it comes to food.

Zai Lai (再来) Minced Pork Noodles can be found in S11 Coffeeshop situated at Blk 304 Woodlands Ave 1. It is one of the few stalls around Woodlands that dishes out minced pork noodles 24hrs a day. It has provided me an extra option apart from the prata 5mins away from me. It is also not hard to see why shift workers from Senoko, Marsiling and Kranji industrial estate often flock to this stall for their supper.

(Let's just call minced pork noodles as bah chor mee - BCM)

Their noodles have evolved over the years. Nowadays, the BCM are darker than what I used to get. The reason for this is due to more dark sauce being used instead of the normal soya sauce. It is also a little soupy than it used to be, but not to the extend like the mutant you find at Bedok 85. (I hate that soupy BCM to the core.) Much to the delight of a meat lover like me, they give alot more minced pork too!

One reason why I absolutely love their BCM, they cook their pork only upon ordering. I have tried BCM, and I realised quite a handful of stalls pre-cooked their pork. The problem is, pre-cooked pork tend to harden up and that doesn't taste good. This is something I don't get here, where the pork are nicely soaked in the boiling water. Tender... and fresh. Why fresh? They only take out a small bowl of minced pork every now and then to prevent over-exposure of the raw meat, I was told by the auntie.

There are other noodles too, for example their Teochew Dumplings Noodles, which is a little different from the usual Wanton Noodles you eat.

Is this the best BCM we can find around, let me be honest and say - NO! This is definitely not the best stall. Afterall, they have a morning cook and a night cook, sometimes their standards differ. I still prefer the good old traditional BCM which is dry. I find it a little soggy currently and next time I might ask for a little lesser sauce in my noodles.

My verdict? It's a tough call between Good and Average. Sorta dangling in between both.

No doubt it's not the best BCM around, I must admit that it is one of the better quick fix when one goes hungry in the wee hours. If you happen to go hungry around Woodlands, you know where to go and what to eat. This stall is definitely better than the other located at the infamous Woodlands 888. Zai Lai has a branch in Ang Mo Kio too, but I ain't sure where exactly.

Hint: I just took a 10mins walk at 3.30am to get myself BCM, and I have no qualms about it. It's worth the walk. I'm enjoying it while I post up this review. Yummylicious~