Xing Hua Lou – Putian Noodles in Sim Lim Square

兴化楼 Xing Hua Lou is a new stall in the Broadway Food Court @ Sim Lim Square Basement. It serves cheap and good Henghwa dishes including the famous Henghwa fried bee hoo and Putian lor mee.

Mention Putian in Singapore many will assume you are referring to the Michelin starred Putien Restaurant. 莆田 Putian (Putian google map) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province of China and its people are known as Henghwa or Hinghwa or Xinghua. Classic Henghwa dishes include white lor mee, fried beehoon, razor clams and braised tofu.

兴化楼 Xing Hua Lou is a casual dining Chinese restaurant in Heartland Mall, Hougang, offering Henghwa cuisine. It recently opened a hawker stall in the basement food court of Sim Lim Square.

The stall in Sim Lim Square offers the classic Henghwa noodles and a few side dishes. Below is a picture of the menu of Xing Hua Lou at Sim Lim.

We tried their Ma Zu Mee Sua and Putian Lor Mee ($5.90 each). The food was cooked to order by the efficient chefs. The noodles were served piping hot.

The braised Ma Zu Mee Sua had a delightful broth and generous amount of ingredients. The soft mee sua absorbed the flavours of the stock well. Besides prawns and clams, the other ingredients included eggs, mushrooms and crunchy greens. The fried peanuts added a nice contrasting texture. It was delicious restaurant quality food and good value for money. I would happily eat the Ma Zu Mee Sua at Xing Hua Lou again.

Putian Lor Mee looked nothing like the local version of black lor mee. The Henghwa white lor mee used a thick creamy seafood gravy, which was not too starchy nor too sticky. The large bowl of noodles was full of ingredients such as clams, prawns, beancurd, mushrooms and vegetables. The noodles were soft and chewy. We thought the mee sua was the better dish but the lor mee was still definitely tasty and worth a try.

Broadway Food Court @ Sim Lim Square Basement is not a spiffy trendy food court. Functional would be a good way to describe it. It has an air-conditioned section and an outdoor area.

Typically, we would not be eating at Sim Lim Square unless we are there shopping for IT accessories. Now that we have discovered 兴化楼 Xing Hua Lou, we might head to Sim Lim whenever we like to have cheap and good Henghwa noodles.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: NA
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 2
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs  

兴化楼 Xing Hua Lou
1 Rochor Canal Road
Sim Lim Square
Singapore 188504

Nearby MRT Stations: Rochor, Bugis

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog