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Hwa Heng Beef Noodles


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I remember the old Odeon Cinema. Where they showed the Star Wars movie for the first time in the late 70s...

opposite the Odeon was this coffeeshop with a beef noodle stall called Hwa Heng. Hainanese, the chief cook was a stocky burly early middle age guy. Assisted by his three sisters/relatives and other helpers, the noodle stall was the pride and joy of the coffee shop. You can find a seat in there, you will still have to wait up to an hour for your beef noodles to arrive... and when they do, it's the best you ever tasted...

me being me... always felt waiting one hour for one bowl of beef noodle is too 'rugi' 'seet poon'... so I always orderd 3 bowls - one bowl noodle dry, one bowl just meat, and one bowl meat/mix spare parts soup... heh heh heh...

And then they joined the Franchise craze... I'm sure they made a lot of money. and standards were good at the food courts, and they moved to Beach Road at a quiet spot B1 (i remember singarms was upstairs from them then) recognised the 3 sisters who serve the noodles, and the chief cook of course... and after a while, the sisters moved to Tampines Mall Food court... and i followed them there for my beloved beef noodles... still very good... and then Tampines mall food court went tru renovation... and they disappeared...

Hwa Heng is now all over in the food courts, but I could not spot the sisters nor the chief cook's presence anymore. Last i saw the chief cook, he was just running around supervising delivery of his beef sauce.

That was years ago already....

Today, at Bugis Junction 3 floor food court, I chanced to see the beef noodle shop, with a small Hwa Heng on the bottom of the big BEEF NOODLE signage... eagerly want to try... ordered the noodles dry, and a meat/stomach soup...

I was disappointed.

The soup no longer has the oomph and depth and breath of the one I so fondly remember. for the first time ever, i did not finish the soup. it was a waste of space to even drink it.

Does anyone know where the key people of Hwa Heng operate now? or are they happily retired and sold off the name to some shmuck who bastardised the ingredients to the soup and sauce?

Luckily, I know of a few other beef noodle soups that are still very good...

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My choice of beef noodle (actually kueh teow - flat noodle) soup would be Taksin's with extra "spare parts"....

Aiyo... where is Taksin? in Thailand???

I also love the Vietnamese Beef Ball and Tang Hoon/Bee hoon Soup which is served with a huge bushel of fragrant vegetables raw... if you ever ate it in Australia...

Not sure if Singapore has such Beef Ball/Beef tang hoon/beehoon soup or not....

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  • 3 weeks later...
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  • 1 year later...

so does anyone know what happen to the original hwa heng sisters/brother? are they still selling beef noodles somewhere or just sitting and counting the money from the franchise?

which hwa heng franchise has the highest 'power' and nearest to the original?

anyone know??

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone can tell me where the beef noodle at HDB Hub food court still in business? After the renovation, they did not come back. :( It was sold by a group of Hainanese speaking elders. I was told that that was the Odean Original. Please help. Thanks,

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Helen Brown

I remember the old Odeon Cinema. Where they showed the Star Wars movie for the first time in the late 70s...

opposite the Odeon was this coffeeshop with a beef noodle stall called Hwa Heng. Hainanese, the chief cook was a stocky burly early middle age guy. Assisted by his three sisters/relatives and other helpers, the noodle stall was the pride and joy of the coffee shop. You can find a seat in there, you will still have to wait up to an hour for your beef noodles to arrive... and when they do, it's the best you ever tasted...

me being me... always felt waiting one hour for one bowl of beef noodle is too 'rugi' 'seet poon'... so I always orderd 3 bowls - one bowl noodle dry, one bowl just meat, and one bowl meat/mix spare parts soup... heh heh heh...

And then they joined the Franchise craze... I'm sure they made a lot of money. and standards were good at the food courts, and they moved to Beach Road at a quiet spot B1 (i remember singarms was upstairs from them then) recognised the 3 sisters who serve the noodles, and the chief cook of course... and after a while, the sisters moved to Tampines Mall Food court... and i followed them there for my beloved beef noodles... still very good... and then Tampines mall food court went tru renovation... and they disappeared...

Hwa Heng is now all over in the food courts, but I could not spot the sisters nor the chief cook's presence anymore. Last i saw the chief cook, he was just running around supervising delivery of his beef sauce.

That was years ago already....

Today, at Bugis Junction 3 floor food court, I chanced to see the beef noodle shop, with a small Hwa Heng on the bottom of the big BEEF NOODLE signage... eagerly want to try... ordered the noodles dry, and a meat/stomach soup...

I was disappointed.

The soup no longer has the oomph and depth and breath of the one I so fondly remember. for the first time ever, i did not finish the soup. it was a waste of space to even drink it.

Does anyone know where the key people of Hwa Heng operate now? or are they happily retired and sold off the name to some shmuck who bastardised the ingredients to the soup and sauce?

Luckily, I know of a few other beef noodle soups that are still very good...

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