Sheng Ji Fishball Noodle Bukit Merah

Today, lets take a dine-in at Sheng Ji Fishball Noodle at Bukit Merah view. They serve hearty traditional fish ball noodles and laska in southern Singapore. Let’s see how this eatery came to be, their origins, how the name came about, and their history. We will also check out their menu selections and what are the best food to go for.

Menu selections are simple with a selection of fish ball, minced meat noodles and laska on the menu. They are pretty much a run of the mill noodle shop with a history to boot. This humble stall has been serving up Teochew-style bak chor mee (minced pork noodles) and laksa (spicy coconut milk noodles) for over 37 years, using a family recipe that dating back to almost 90 years ago.

Traditional Fishball fanfare

Speaking of history, Sheng Ji (昇记) Fishball Noodle recipe is based off a recipe originating snice 1935. Also, the store is run by a husband-and-wife team, Mr Goh and Mdm Keo, as well as their daughter. Mr Goh inherited the recipe from his father, who used to sell bak chor mee near the Singapore River for about 50 years. He spent a lot of time perfecting his Teochew-style noodles. He retired and passed on his recipe to his children, who continued the legacy with his wife. They named the stall Sheng Ji, which means “rising” or “prosperous” in Chinese, to reflect their hope for the business and their customers.

Furthermore, their present stall is located in a Kim San Leng coffee shop at 116 Bukit Merah View. It it is easily recognizable by the long queue of customers that forms every morning. At its core is a breakfast and lunch establishment, opened from early 6am to just past lunchtime at 4pm, and closed on Fridays. The stall is not open during dinner time.

So what’s on the menu? The menu at Sheng Ji Fishball Noodle is very simple and straightforward. You can choose from four items: Fishball Noodle (dry or soup), Fishball Soup and Laksa. Their noodles are simple with reasonable and affordable prices. Also, you can also choose the type of noodles you want, such as mee pok (flat noodles), mee kia (thin noodles), kway teow (rice noodles) or thick bee hoon. Also, you can also add hum (cockles) to your laksa for an extra kick of flavour.

Well priced for offerings

The food is well priced too with the Fishball noodles and Laska starts at $4 per basic bowl, which is all what you need. It is really hard to find noodles at this $4 per bowl price point today. Also, I found the noodle well cooked al-dente without being too soft. Moreover, the most popular item at the stall is the Fishball Noodle (dry), which comes with minced pork, fishballs, pork slices, fish cake slices, crispy lard, and topped with chopped spring onions.

Additionally, the noodles are very springy and absorb the broth well, and the tau pok and fish cake add some texture and bite. Also, on my several visits, the noodles are consistently cooked with a balanced texture which is neither too hard nor soft. A recommended noodle option be dry with kuay teow mee, (I recommend kuay teow flat noodles with yellow noodles). They are served with a side of lard and oil for flavour that gives them a fragrant and smoky taste.

Moreover, a great pairing of your dry variant of the fishball noodles is the chilli. The chilli sauce is also homemade and spicy, adding a nice kick to the noodles. The fishballs are firm and fresh, and the pork slices are thinly sliced and rather tender. Also, the soup on the side is also tad on the light side and flavourful without being overly salty. You can drink it on its own or douse your noodles in it if the chilli is bit too overwhelming. Lastly, you can also Fishball Noodle have your noodles in the soup variant.

Mince meat noodle Yellow Noodles

Minced meat noodle

Kuay Teow soup

Wrapping up

Lastly, another item that I recommend trying is their Laksa. It is a spicy coconut milk noodle soup with tau pok (tofu puffs), fish cake slices, and sambal chilli. On my dine in, I found the laksa broth is tad rich and creamy, with a complex blend of spices and hae bee hiam (dried shrimp sambal).

All in all, that wraps up our dine-in at Sheng Ji Fishball Noodle stall in Bukit Merah View. It is a Fishball Noodle store with tad 50 years of culinary history in Teochew-style bak chor mee. If you are looking for a place to enjoy a satisfying and affordable traditional bowl of noodles, Sheng Ji Fishball Noodles is one to give try in Southern Singapore.

This review is not sponsored by the establishment nor did they provide any editorial input or reimbursements into the content and outcome of this review. All meals were paid for in full out of my own pocket as a regular and anonymous patron.