Hokkien mee is a dish that’s meant to be eaten on the spot. Plate comes off the wok, you sit down, you eat. Everyone knows this. So naturally I dabao-ed it. (lol)
Shiok Hokkien Mee had just opened a new outlet at Kovan, and I was already doing a dinner run for fishball noodles, soya bean milk, satay and BBQ chicken wings to eat at home. Which brings me to the question for this Shiok Hokkien Mee review: can a wet-style Hokkien mee survive the trip home and still be worth the queue?
This is The Dabao Edition. Everything here was eaten at home or somewhere else, within an hour after it left the wok. Some things (the pork lard, mainly) don’t travel well, so I’m judging it as takeaway, not as a fresh-off-the-wok plate.
If you haven’t come across them, Shiok Hokkien Mee is run by a group of young hawkers. They started out at Golden Mile Food Centre and have since spread to multiple outlets around Singapore. I’m honestly not sure whether the newer ones are branches or franchises, but the orange signboard and the “Sibei Shiok” staff t-shirts are the same everywhere. Their style leans wet and saucy rather than dry, which matters a lot when you’re about to seal it in a box for close to an hour.
Where It Is
Shiok Hokkien Mee is at #01-55, Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre, Blk 209 Hougang Street 21, a short walk from Kovan MRT (NE Line). It’s on the ground floor. Look for the big orange signboard with the LED strip around it, right next to a sliced fish soup stall.
Kovan 209 already has its fair share of Hokkien mee, so opening here is a bold move. I like it.
Opening hours are 10.30am to 3.30pm and 4.30pm to 8.30pm, daily. Note the one-hour break in the afternoon.
Parking and Queue
I put my order in at 7.49pm. It was ready at 8.01pm, so about 12 minutes from order to collection, and closer to 15 if you count the short queue before that.
Here’s the thing: in those 12 minutes, I managed to order and collect fishball noodles, soya bean milk, satay and BBQ chicken wings from other stalls. After all that, I was still standing there waiting for my Hokkien mee. I came for one dish and ended up with five bags of food.
Pro tip: Order your Hokkien mee first, then go and buy everything else. Fried-to-order Hokkien mee is almost always the slowest stall in your round, so start that clock early and you won’t waste time standing around.
What I Ordered
The menu is short: one dish in four sizes.
- Small: S$6
- Medium: S$8
- Large: S$10
- Kosong (noodles only): S$3.50
Add-ons are extra noodles (S$1), an egg (S$0.80) or all the ingredients (S$2). Takeaway costs S$0.30 more, and pork lard is upon request, so ask if you want it.
I went for the Large at S$10, no add-ons. With the takeaway charge, it came to S$10.30.
Why Dabao Hokkien Mee at All?
Eating it at the stall is the purist’s choice. The noodles are at their springiest, the pork lard is still crunchy, and the wok hei hasn’t had time to fade.
Dabao is a trade-off. The noodles keep drinking up the stock on the way home, the lard goes soft, and you lose some of that smoky aroma. What you gain is eating at home, and in my case, a satay-and-Hokkien-mee dinner without fighting for a table.
Points for the packaging. It’s a sturdy branded paper bowl with a proper lid, not a styrofoam box with rubber bands. The “Warning: Sibei Addictive!” on the side made me laugh.
Shiok Hokkien Mee Review: First Impressions
I got home at 8.55pm and opened the lid to a mountain of noodles. The Large is generous. Pork lard on top, chilli in the corner, and hiding underneath, six reasonably sized prawns.
My first worry was the look of it. Because it had been sitting in its own stock, the noodles looked soaked and a bit bloated. I was bracing for mush.
The Noodles
The first mouthful was a pleasant surprise. Not nearly as soggy as I expected, and the noodles still had a nicely defined bite.
The best way I can describe it: imagine a dry-style Hokkien mee that’s been left to soak in the stock. Every strand of yellow noodle and bee hoon has absorbed the broth, so you get the flavour of a wet plate with some of the texture of a dry one. Best of both worlds? Mostly.
The stock tastes of prawn with some pork in the background. Every bite is a mix of noodle, bee hoon, egg, prawn and pork, and depending on where your chopsticks land, you’ll pick up pork belly strips and cubes, sotong or bits of lard.
The Wok Hei
After almost an hour in a box, I half expected the wok hei to be gone. It wasn’t. It’s there, but it’s not in your face at first. Same with the flavour: present, not overpowering.
Then something interesting happened. About 20 minutes into the meal, both the wok hei and the flavour seemed to grow on me. The later mouthfuls tasted noticeably stronger than the first few. I’m not sure if that’s the noodles continuing to absorb the stock or my tongue catching up, but the bowl got better as I ate.
The Prawns and Ingredients
Six prawns in the Large, all decently sized and properly cooked. Not the most generous I’ve seen, but fair for a hawker plate in 2026. Add the pork belly and sotong and it’s a good spread for the price.
As for the pork lard, it had already gone soft by the time I opened the box. That’s the dabao, not the stall, so I’m not holding it against them.
The Chilli
Savoury with a good kick, and it pairs well with their style of Hokkien mee. It’s not the best chilli I’ve had, but it’s a cut above most stalls. Don’t skip it.
Overall: 中规中矩
If I had to sum this bowl up in one phrase, it’d be 中规中矩 (zhōng guī zhōng jǔ). It does everything right and everything well, but nothing really stands out. It’s a solid, dependable plate, not a life-changing one.
Service
Nothing to report, and that’s fine. You order at the counter, pay, wait, and collect. I don’t go to a Hokkien mee stall for the service, and I didn’t expect any more than that.
Shiok vs Fung Yi vs Ah Bee
Since I reviewed Fung Yi Hokkien Mee at 844 Tampines last month, here’s how they stack up:
- Flavour: Shiok is slightly behind both Fung Yi and Ah Bee (85 Bedok). Those two have a deeper, more concentrated stock.
- Wok hei: Shiok comes out ahead of both. This is where it earns its keep.
So if you’re a wok hei fan, Shiok feels like a good balance between the two: decent flavour plus smokiness that the other two don’t quite deliver.
Can You Expect Every Plate to Taste the Same?
Pro tip 2: Shiok Hokkien Mee has a lot of outlets now. Because a human is frying every plate, you can’t expect every plate at every outlet to taste identical. That kind of consistency needs very, very strict SOPs, the Din Tai Fung level of strict.
That said, this is exactly why I keep going back to Shiok. I know every plate will be at least decent, if not better. It’s the safe bet when you’re not in the mood for a gamble.
The Verdict: Is Shiok Hokkien Mee Worth It?
Yes. Even dabao-ed, this was a solid bowl of Hokkien mee with enough wok hei to survive the trip home, a generous Large portion and a chilli that’s better than most. It’s not the most flavourful plate in Singapore, but it’s dependable, and the wait is reasonable.
My Rating
| Criteria | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Flavour | 3.5/5 | Stock soaks into every strand and grows as you eat, but slightly behind Fung Yi and Ah Bee |
| Wok hei | 4/5 | Survived the trip home. Subtle at first, stronger 20 minutes in. Better than Fung Yi and Ah Bee |
| Ingredients | 4/5 | Six decent prawns, pork belly and sotong for S$10. Noodles held their bite, lard went soft |
| Chilli | 3.5/5 | Savoury and spicy, above average, pairs well with the noodles |
| Wait time | 4/5 | About 12 minutes from order to collection at 7.49pm. Order it first |
| Overall | 3.8/5 |
My recommendation:
- If you’re a wok hei fan: go. It has more smokiness than Fung Yi or Ah Bee, even after a trip home.
- If you’re doing a multi-stall hawker run: order your Hokkien mee first, then shop around.
- If deep, concentrated flavour matters most: try Fung Yi or Ah Bee instead.
- If you’re taking it away: don’t count on crunchy lard. Everything else travels surprisingly well.
Would I come back? Definitely. Next time I’m eating at the stall to see how much better it is fresh off the wok. Consider this The Dabao Edition; the dine-in rematch is coming.
A quick disclaimer: taste is subjective and very personal. Something may or may not suit my palate, but I can’t say it’ll be the same for you. The best way to use my reviews is to read through a few of them, try some of the places yourself, and see how similar or different our palates are. That way, you’ll have a better sense of whether my recommendations make sense for you.
Shiok Hokkien Mee (Kovan) Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre, #01-55, Blk 209 Hougang Street 21, Singapore 530209
Opening hours:
- 10.30am to 3.30pm
- 4.30pm to 8.30pm
- Open daily
Google rating: 4.6/5 (39 reviews, as of 8 Nov 2026)
