Jin De Lai Zhong Hua La Mian, Boat Quay

This was a bit of a random find, not only in the sense that I was just walking down the footpath when I unexpectedly came across it, but also in that it was a bit oddly placed to find a Sichuan restaurant placed here (56 Boat Quay, 6536-8283) next to all the curry and local seafood tourist traps.

It wasn't very encouraging at first, as the dan dan mian arrived in a lousy concoction of seasonings. But there was one aspect of it that we liked: the fact that the noodles themselves were nice and springy. And fortunately, that pulled through to the so-called Xian noodles (whatever that is). These knife-cut noodles were likewise great in texture, but more importantly, they finally got the right seasonings in there with piping hot yet crispy bean sprouts, a good dose of salt, and some dried chili peppers. That went down very well.

We also got some string beans, which paled in comparison to Hometown's, but still did much better than that first bowl that we got, and were fortunately also piping hot and crispy (just not enough fatty meat for extra flavor, that's all). While I might not necessarily come back here right away, it's good to know that there is a shop with decent noodles in these parts. Just be sure to pick a bowl where they get the seasonings right (read: not the dan dan mian).