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| Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodle 海南星洲牛肉粉 | 22 Lor 7 Toa Payoh, stall #01-06 Kim Keat Palm Market & Food Centre, Singapore 310022 🚅 10 minute walk from Toa Payoh station ⏰ 7am - 3pm (Mon off) |
Another of my favourite beef noodle stalls is at Hai Nan Xing Zhou in Kim Keat Palm Hawker Centre (in Toa Payoh).
Doesn't have the crazy queue of Hwa Heng at Bendemeer Hawker Centre, even though Hai Nan Xing Zhou actually snagged a spot in the 2024 Singapore Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand list.
The Lee 李 family running Hai Nan Xing Zhou is very friendly and appreciative of their customers 🙏 Led by second generation 李振福, Xing Zhou is transiting to the third generation now. 李振福 said they still use the same recipe passed down from his father who founded the stall when he arrived in Singapore from Hainan. Today, all hands put their heart and soul into continuing the heirloom family business.
The simple menu. I asked for the S$7 serving sans beef balls (they were generic factory made). Boss 李振福 obliged cheerfully.
I opted for dry which came with a small bowl of soup.
I always have problems deciding between soup or dry version of noodles 🤭
Checked out the soup first. It was piping hot. Full, slightly viscous body, cloudly and actually dense with savoury sweet beefy herby flavours that combined in a delightful way but hard to describe exactly. I feel it is the most complex and sophisticated of any Hainanese beef noodle soup in Singapore, Malaysia, or Hainan that I have tried so far.
I opted for the thick round rice noodles because that's the OG noodle for the Hainanese beef noodle dish.
The generic noodles were well blanched and coated with a starchy savoury sweet herby beefy brown sauce. I love it as while it wasn't punchy robust, it was stacked with subtle layers of flavours (there's soy sauce, beef stock, sesame oil, oyster sauce, etc., in it). Talk while you eat, and you will miss most of the flavour nuances 😂
(That's one reason why I like to go good food hunting alone. Food search is not really a social event for me, as I like to focus and chew the details out of the food I am trying 😬 )
The fresh beef slices, tripe, and tendons were all nicely blanched. Soft tender, sweet, subtly beefy.
The beef parts were all carefully prepared at the stall by the Lee family. Xing Zhou neither marinate nor tenderise their beef, so we get all natural flavours and textures. (Hence, some might consider it "bland".)
I am not a sauce person as I like to taste the ingredients' original natural flavours as much as possible.
But, Hai Nan Xing Zhou's chili sauce must not go unmentioned.
It's transformational.
The soft tender sweet beefy beef turns from demure shy Jane into Lady Gaga when dipped into that sharp spicy hot, umami savoury, sour sauce.
Once touched by the sauce, no piece of beef goes into my mouth without passing the chili sauce first 🤭
Kim Keat Palm Hawker Centre is a special place for me. When I was a child, on special days, dad or mum would task me to walk from our rental apartment at Blk 65 (now demolished) to here to tabao (takeaway) our family's second favourite fried kway teow.
(Our GOAT favourite was the pushcart, park and run fried kway teow stall outside Lor 5 Hawker Centre.)
Kim Keat Palm Hawker Centre is upgraded regularly and still one of the prettiest, hyperlocal food centres today, in my opinion.
It still sparks joy with food stalls like Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodle 🙏
Stall name: Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodle 海南星洲牛肉粉
Address: 22 Lor 7 Toa Payoh, stall #01-06 Kim Keat Palm Market & Food Centre, Singapore 310022
Nearest MRT: 10 minute walk from Toa Payoh station
Hours: 7am - 3pm (Mon off)
Written by Tony Boey on 20 Jun 2025
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Always have their soup , best
ReplyDeleteThe magic is in the soup
ReplyDeleteThis not nice at all
ReplyDelete