Lao Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow

When someone mentioned to me about having a meal at Old Airport Food Centre, this stall comes into my mind! I have always been a fan of this and often queue up very long just to enjoy the Char Kway Teow (Black or White) — Stir Fried Rice Noodles.
So this time, I went there on a weekday and to our surprise, no queue at all. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Less than 5 minutes, I had my food on the table and seconds later, my digestive system was at work! However, my tongue bud wasn’t impressed with the ‘stuff’ going into my stomach as I was wondering, what happened? Is the quality of the food the reason why the lack of queue? All these instantly came into my mind.
The more I chew on the food. The less impressed I was. The quality of it has certainly dropped! It wasn’t what I expect but it’s still decent enough to come and enjoy it. I have certainly tasted better ones elsewhere. Perhaps I should return another day to try it again to confirm whether the standard has indeed dropped or this meal I had was just an one-​off.

The old airport road food centre has a lot of popular stalls selling hawker fare. One of these is Lao Fu Zhi Char Kway Teow (stir fried rice noodles).
There is always a long queue but orders are taken very efficiently & served up fairly quickly by the aunty & uncle respectively. This dish is cooked using rice noodles, stir fried with bean sprouts, cockles, dark/​sweet soy sauce & pork lard, imparting a slightly sweet savoury taste.
Definitely a must try for first timers to this food centre.

Probably one of the most famous stalls in Old Airport Road, the queue grows quickly but the uncle also cooks quickly. The stall can be recognized by the music playing out of the boombox, and the auntie who takes orders very quickly. You can be the 10^th person down the line and she’s asking for your order! The kway teow was very wet and wasn’t too oily, the flavour was there and I didn’t eat chunks of lard but I could definitely taste the use of lard.

I cannot say it’s no good because it was tasty but neither can I say that it was out-​of-​this-​world kind of awesome too!
Let’s just say that I would order it if there is no queue but I wouldn’t queue for it.

I went to the branch at Singapore Expo. Noodle texture was good. Lots of gravy, too sweet. Way too sweet. Cockles were over cooked, I’m okay with that.
Must find a better store as this is way too sweet.

Fried kway teow is basically the Singaporean version of the more popular (within the US) Cantonese dish of chow fun, but honestly it’s much better because of the amount of other stuff you’ll get in it like prawns, fishcake, cockles, egg, and Chinese sausage all served steaming hot on a banana leaf.
A long queue at this particular stand; one of the longer ones along with Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee. This line moves much quicker however. The fried kway teow made here was easily the best I had while I was in Singapore.

It is amazing how many people queue for fried kway teow at this store, leaving almost no business for other similar stalls at Old Airport Road Food Centre.
I was actually hoping for white leaf plates but in any case the dish was served on a disposable plate with pandan leaves. My colleagues thought it was too spicy for them but I thought it was alright. The variety here is drier but the flavours are well-​balanced. Pretty generous amount of cockles mixed into it too. I thought it was lacking in the wok hei flavour I will like at a hawker centre but it is a pretty decent plate to have.
Apparently, you can request to have your fried kway teow done with lard. I’ve heard amazing things about what lard can do to food from my mum. This makes it pretty enticing to try. I mean, if you want to indulge, might as well go all the way.

One of the trickiest things to assess is how good a dish is after a very long queue. It could very well be that the enjoyment of eating it was in large part due to the hunger accumulated through the wait, but I’d like to ultimately think that it’s all about the food.
I’ve had some pretty good char kway teows in my time and this is definitely up there. If you can get past the fact that you might expect to wait for a good half an hour, it is everything you’d expect it to be. There is that sense that they have done this so often, and so well, that they almost can’t do this in any other, nor could they ever do a bad plate. The man at the frying pan is all well kit up, complete with special glasses to prevent oil from splashing at him etc so you know he means business. My favourite parts of their char kway teow are the very distinct bits of egg you’ll find unevenly lacing each bit spoonful of it.
One confusing thing about this stall is their difference in pricing — they sell plates going at $¾/​5/​8/​10, and I haven’t tried a wide enough range to know the difference. The plate I got today was for $ 5 and I have a inkling that the $ 5÷8÷10 versions come with prawns, which I werent a fan of because they weren’t very well cooked, it’s always a hassle peeling them and they don’t contribute to the taste of the char kway teow at all.
I also noticed that when you order more than one plates, while waiting to serve the next plate the lady serving you would cover your first plate with another plate, so the heat is kept in, a sight that while understated, tells me how meticulous they are in providing good service and good food, and that they care about how it tastes to us, even after the money has been passed.