What makes the hor fun in Ipoh—a Malaysian city north of Kuala Lumpur—so special is its unique texture. It’s said that the high alkaline content of the river water in Ipoh makes their rice noodle unusually smooth and thin.
Although we might not be able to get the real deal in Singapore, there are still a number of dedicated vendors whose mission is to replicate the best Ipoh-style hor fun for our eating pleasure. Who are they? Read on to find out!
Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Hor Fun EDITOR’S PICK!
531A Upper Cross Street, #02-40 Hong Lim Food Centre
Opening hours: Mon-Sat: 11am-3pm
Price: Chicken & prawn ($4.00), crayfish & prawn ($6.00)
Rating: 4.5/5
Hearty and delicious, it’s little wonder that Tuck Kee sells out their hor fun in less than four hours every day!
Their bestselling item is crayfish hor fun. The cooking time for this crustacean is notoriously tricky to master. But at Tuck Kee, they consistently manage to get it right. Our crayfish had the perfect doneness, and the flesh was fresh, sweet and succulent.
The chicken and prawn versions are just as satisfying. They use larger-sized banana prawn, which is meatier, sweeter and more delicate. The tender chicken comes in rustic, thick chunks.
Although the hor fun isn’t as thin or melt-in-the-mouth as Lee Tong Kee’s, the noodles are pleasantly silky with a slight bounciness. Full of depth and seafood sweetness, the robust gravy feels rather starchy at first, but thins out nicely later.
With outstanding food at generous portions, Tuck Kee’s Ipoh hor fun is our top pick for both taste and value!
Lee Tong Kee BEST NOODLES
278 South Bridge Road
Opening hours: 10am-9pm, closed on Tue
Price: KL-style hor fun ($5.20), Tanjong Pagar-style hor fun ($7.00)
Rating: 4.5/5
Lee Tong Kee is one of the earliest pioneers of Ipoh hor fun in Singapore. Over the years, they have successfully maintained a high and consistent quality for their elegant-style hor fun.
What stands out most is their one-of-a-kind rice noodle. Paper-thin with a translucent quality, the hor fun has this ethereal melt-in-the-mouth sensation. It’s so smooth and soft you can swallow it without chewing!
The two house signatures—KL-style hor fun and Tanjong Pagar-style hor fun—are must-tries. For KL-style hor fun, the oyster sauce-based gravy has a lovely complexity and sweet-savoury balance. Beansprouts add a refreshing crunch, while fragrant shallot oil perfumes the entire dish.
The sauce for Tanjong Pagar-style hor fun is relatively more salty, but Chinese chives add sweetness to the dish. The chicken is beautifully smooth and tender, while the stewed mushrooms are thick, juicy and have good bite.
One thing to note: Portions here are really tiny. We don’t mind paying more for good food at restaurant-like setting, but the prices don’t justify the painfully meager portions.
Shi Hui Yuan Hor Fun Specialty
159 Mei Chin Road, #02-33 Mei Ling Food Centre
Opening hours: Thu-Sun: 8am-2pm
Price: from $3.00
Rating: 4/5
Although not strictly Ipoh-style, Shi Hui Yuan’s hor fun is full of character and impossible to resist!
A great hor fun dish begins with great rice noodles and gravy. Here, the hor fun is delightfully slippery, and the gravy intensely rich and hearty. There’s a dominant presence of five-spice powder in the braising gravy. Some of us felt the five-spice powder was a tad excessive. But we still couldn’t resist cleaning our plates out.
There are plenty of toppings to choose from. Popular choices include stewed chicken feet, braised pork rib, and soy sauce chicken with mushroom. Meaty and tender, they are robust and well-balanced in flavour.
32 Maxwell Road, #01-07 Maxwell Chambers
Opening hours: Daily: 11am-9.30pm, closed on public holidays
Price: Signature chicken & prawn ($6.20)
Rating: 3.5/5
Instead of a thick gravy, Funan Weng uses a thin sauce that coats each strand of rice noodle evenly. It has a mild herbal presence, which gives this dark, savoury sauce a distinct quality.
Thin, silky, and slightly translucent, the hor fun here is excellent. The prawn and chicken toppings are respectably fresh and adequately portioned.
The overall dish feels light but sufficiently flavourful without that thirsty MSG after-effect.
6 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #02-21 Tanjong Pagar Food Centre
Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 7.30am-3pm, closed on public holidays
Price: from $2.50
Rating: 3/5
If “home-style” is your preferred mode, then Dao Ji’s version is the one for you.
What gives this version its homely feel is the mild gravy and well-stewed mushrooms. The gravy is very light, nearly to the point of being bland. But mix in some of their killer homemade chilli, and the dish instantly brightens up with flavour. The sweetish, juicy mushrooms are rather comforting.
The only downer is the chicken shavings. The meat is sliced as thin as the rice noodles, which doesn’t add much texture or satisfaction at all. However, they make up for it with a bowl of soup with two decently sweet and crunchy shrimp wantons.
inSing.com made anonymous visits and paid for its own meals at the stalls featured here.
