Since we featured the

The Mee Goreng stall in the Bangkok Lane has been there for ages. The hokkien speaking Indian guys there are very engaging and entertaining at times, as they whack the heck out of that wok while spinning it round and round.

The food used to be exceptional there but on a recent visit, the mee goreng was quite mushy and far from what it used to be. Perhaps there was a change of chef or maybe it was just a bad day but it was shocking (see the photo).

Some have said that this Indian mee stall gained fame and was featured in Lonely Planet, Discover Channel or some other big name travel media a few years back, which is the root of the problem. On a less speculative and more practical front, if you watch them in action, it seems that they are mass-frying the noodles in huge batches where it’s like an automated operation with one guy stirring the mee and another one lobbing in all the ingredients.

Good Mee Goreng and CKT is normally fried individually or in very small batches so that it can maintain the goreng (fried) element. That’s why you have to wait for some time to savour them (ie. the Lorong Selamat CKT).

The Indian Mee stall in Bangkok Lane used to take a long time (to serve), as the take-awayers caused a traffic jam in the small lane waiting for it. Now, they’re much faster but the quality has suffered greatly. It’s such a pity.