2024 Yearly Wrap-Up: The Best Noodles I Have This Year

Since the inception of For The Love Of Noodles and my related accounts in August this year, it has been a challenging but exciting journey tasting noodle dishes all across Singapore and beyond as I document every noodle dish I tried at various platforms. From the day I launched For The Love Of Noodles, it has been my personal mission taking the extra effort and time to go out of the way trying noodle dishes I never thought possible.

Before 2024 comes to a close, let’s walk down noodle memory lane at the list of dishes I find the most enjoyable this year, alongside some honorable mentions. Some were easy to decide, and others took some time to assess.

Top 3 Fishball Noodles

Hock Seng Choon Kway Teow Fish Ball Noodles: A classic in Bedok South with their imperfect but bouncy handmade fish balls and delicious ketchup sauce with a balanced portion of vinegar and ketchup that doesn’t taste overtly saccharine. Try both the dry and soup version, you won’t regret it.
Malaysian Hup Kee Fishball Noodles: Best fishball noodles taking its own spin on a conventional dish. Most of the ingredients (fishballs, fishcakes) are handmade, with delicious noodles coupled with savory sauce that makes everything perfect. The generous portion of fried lard’s the icing on the cake, enhancing the noodles from great to excellent.
Tiong Bahru Fishball Noodle: This has got to be my biggest surprise this year with a promising rendition of Halal fishball noodles, setting the standards high for others to follow. Huge portions at $5.80, not skimping on quality on all areas.

Top 3 Bak Chor Mee (Soup)

Famous Eunos Bak Chor Mee: Love the slightly wavy noodles that’s al dente and firm to the bite. After trying both the OG and the Hawkers’ Street (located at ION) stalls, I would have preferred the Hawkers’ Street version of the dish where the dumplings are well-cooked, and the extra pork balls provided were at a reasonable price.

For what they’re worth, the soup’s not overly salty like how some BCM soup stalls can be, and I finished the entire bowl without having to reach out for a glass of water once.
Seng Hiang BCM: A classic alongside their neighbour at Xing Ji Rou BCM with their BCM soup. Their signature floaty, soft minced meat is peak perfection, the noodles are neither too soft nor firm that makes it super smooth to slurp, the pork balls are cooked just nice, and the soup’s simply addictive. If Goldilocks ever tries BCM soup, she’ll definitely love Seng Hiang BCM.
Tai Wah Pork Noodles: Well-balanced soup, meat and noodles ratio. Out of the variations, I vastly prefer the pork dumpling noodles where they’re cooked well and the soup providing a tinge of natural sweetness to differentiate it from other BCM I’ve tried so far.

Top 3 Ramen/Mazesoba/Tsukemen

Mensho Tokyo SYD/SIN’s Classic Toripaitan (Like them both, so I included both into the list):
As I mentioned before previously, nothing comes close to Mensho Tokyo’s ramen. Price of Mensho’s items would be the biggest deterrence to anyone with tight wallets, so if you still want a taste of toripaitan, try Kageyama Ramen (provide link) or Marutama for your fix.
Sanpoutei’s Torii Mazesoba: I’ve always ordered the Niigata Shoyu Ramen on almost every visit to Sanpoutei. Hence, I didn’t know what to expect when I ordered the mazesoba just to try something different for a change. The long waiting time gave a sloppy first impression, but it was swiftly washed away the moment I took my first bite into the mazesoba. Sauce was slightly spicy, but not too spicy that even the most intolerant of spicy sauce can’t take it. The chicken oil in the sauce provided a very rich profile and coat the noodles perfectly. The diced chashu made the most sense here compared to their tsukemen.
Ramen-Ya’s Shio Ramen (Both Regular Ramen & Chashu Ramen): I first heard of this store from Alderic’s Best Ramen series, and after that, I set aside whatever free time I have to try their ramen. Fortunately, I found some time this year to try their shoyu and shio ramen, and ended up clearing both bowls to the last drop. Also tried their tonkotsu ramen; while it was well made, I’m no fan of Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen noodles. That said, I’ll always return for their shoyu and shio ramen, and their melt-in-the-mouth chashu slices are an absolute killer. A must-try for any ramen lover.

Top 3 Handmade Noodles

456 Mian Fen Guo (Youmian Soup): My comfort food when I’m around the Upper Changi area. The braised shiitake mushrooms adds another layer of umami into the dish, and I appreciate the fried garlic and fried shallots that gives out a pleasant aroma and intense centre to the noodles. Minced meat is super tasty, and the soup made by simmering corn and ikan bilis for hours gives it a cohesive profile.
Ba Wang Pan Mee (Classic Handmade Noodle Soup): Interesting bowl of pan mee and because of them have appreciated Hakka noodle dishes a lot more. Have to applaud the complex tasting soup that keeps you wanting more.
Jiak Song Mee Hoon Kway (Signature Mee Hoon Kway With Minced Pork, Pork Slices, Pork Ball and Shrimp Ball): Smoky and charred soup just blows me away every time. Noodles were slightly soft but they were always tasty, shrimp ball add an extra crunch (alongside the ikan bilis) to this savory bowl of noodles. Liked the use of veggies in this bowl, soft and leafy that doesn’t obstruct or interrupt the flow of the rest of the dish.

Top 3 Noodle Dishes (Miscellaneous Category)

Guang Liang Cooked Food (Kway Chap Set For One): So far, this is the best kway chap I’ve ever tasted in Bedok, probably one of the best in Singapore also. I plan to try more kway chap dishes in the near future, so keep an eye out for it in my 2025 reviews.
Sungei Road Laksa: A crowd and critics favourite, Sungei Road Laksa has perfected laksa with its authentic preparation methods and never compromising on quality. Will recommend anyone to get two bowls, even for solo diners.
Pang’s Hakka Yong Tau Foo (Traditional Hakka YTF Noodle, Dry):
The reason why I didn’t list it under the ‘Handmade Noodles’ section was because Yong Tau Foo makes up its main identity. I tempted at one point, but ultimately it fits much better here.
The soup’s lighter than most entries here to balance the heavier noodles mixed with chicken oil, pork lard and plenty of minced meat.

Honorable Mentions (Will do a full review of them in 2025)

Ah Yan Fish Ball Noodles & Wanton Noodle (Pork Rib Noodles):
This is probably my biggest darkhorse of 2024 where I happened to find this place by pure coincidence. I was surprised with how enjoyable it was with their herbal and earthy soup and springy noodles at such an affordable price. Pork ribs were the main stars of the show, tender yet a well-balanced profile between sweet and savory.
Thai Baan Noodles (Dry Pork Noodles):
One of the biggest regrets I have about Thai Baan Noodles was not creating a proper review for it. It was featured on my IG account during its early days, though. Of all the Thai noodle dishes I’ve had in Singapore, Thai Baan Noodles has got to be one of the best and most authentic Thai noodles I have come across in Singapore, and probably the most affordable as well.

The Thai condiment caddy (Khreuang Puang) placed on their tables make you feel like you’re at an eatery in Bangkok instead of a small store at a corner in International Plaza. I’ve also tried their Chicken Noodles and Tom Yam Noodles too, but I kept returning for the Dry Pork Noodles which I’ll happily recommend to beginners to Thai cuisine, or anyone who craves Thai food or noodles in need of a recommendation.
Chicco Pasta Bar: Rigatoni Carbonara
A simple but a tried-and-true dish that adheres to tradition and spreading the chef’s love for Italian cuisine to both locals and tourists alike at a cozy place situated in Telok Ayer. No cream used here (and forbidden in true Italian method), with bits and pieces of cured guanciale blended with rigatoni pasta, alongside a blend of egg yolk and pecorino romano cheese to create traditional carbonara.

Lessons Learnt in 2024

I admit; there’s a lot of room for improvement in the way I write my reviews over the last five months, and here are some lessons I’ve learnt after considerable rumination:

Make careful choices: Looking back, perhaps some of my assessment in the reviews were somewhat skewered, maybe a little one-sided either because I chose the wrong dish to review, or my research (of a particular stall or dish) wasn’t extensive enough.
Plan ahead: Plan accordingly and don’t tire myself out. This is a tough lesson learnt, and that’s something I have to keep in mind every time I view my calendar.
Pace yourself and keep going: Like the weather, there are good days and bad days, and even when the bad days are discouraging and feels like all hope is lost, just keep going.

My plans for 2025

My intention when I launched this site back in August was doing it as a hobby and an outlet to cope with my noodle obsession, first and foremost. There’s so many places I’ve been to, both old and new, and this site is a place for me to keep track of the places I’ve visited and dishes I’ve tried.

But as I said earlier, I’m doing this as a hobby, and with me trying to balance this with my day job and other commitments, I’d need to decrease the frequency of posting from twice to once a week until further notice. After all, quality over quantity, and that’s something I came to a tough realization while maintaining a regular schedule of posting twice a week (and more on some weeks) over the last five months.

That being said, it goes without saying that I’ll continue to try more noodle dishes into the new year. I’ll do my best to diversify; I know there’s a huge focus on fishball noodles since that was the dish that ignited my noodle obsession. Looking back, I realized that a lot of my earlier reviews are mostly visiting places in the east (and central to a lesser extent), so I try to spread out to other areas in 2025.

Feel free to recommend anything good:

Kway Chap
Wanton Noodles
Handmade Noodles
Pasta
Japanese Ramen
Korean Ramyeon
Laksa
Yong Tau Foo
Others (Thai noodles etc.)

Besides my Instagram, I’ll try to update more on my other channels on Ko-fi and Substack:

Ko-fi: Will update more often there, and it’s basically a condensed version of the reviews on this site. Feel free to leave a donation if you like what I’m doing, which can help cover some of my expenses.
Substack: Monthly updates with a summary of my reviews for the month, some behind-the-scenes stuff and more.

Final Thoughts

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank my followers and visitors of this site and my other related accounts on IG, Ko-fi and Substack. For The Love Of Noodles wouldn’t be the way it is without your kind and continuous support. This is only the beginning, and there’s tons more in store in 2025.

See you in 2025! For now, I’ll be take a short break in January as I make some tweaks to the site’s direction for the new year. Not sure when I’ll return exactly, but I assure that there will be plenty of surprises ahead! Enjoy the new year!