Hidden gem in Orchard with cheap hand-torn mee hoon kueh & even a mala version

Far East Plaza has cemented itself as the place to go when you’re on the hunt for some cheap and good food. If you’re down for a good bowl of mee hoon kueh, and an affordable one at that, Greenview Cafe ought to be your new favourite haunt.

Past the nail parlours and hair salons, you’ll find the no-frills eatery tucked away in a corner on Level 4. Greenview Cafe has been around for the better part of 30 years and is best known for serving up bowls of delicious hand-torn mee hoon kueh. 

They also offer a range of appetisers, soups, fried rice and noodles, as inscribed on the huge menu plastered over their walls. The huge upside – they’re all priced at under S$10. You see, good food in town isn’t always expensive!

I was spoilt for choice, marvelling at the menu boasting a whopping 10 variations of mee hoon kueh. After much deliberation, I settled on a few and placed my order. 

What I tried at Greenview Cafe

The space at Greenview Cafe was pretty cramped, with tables packed close to one another. Thankfully, I didn’t have to move around much as a staff member soon delivered the food to my table.

I started with the best-selling item on their menu, the Dry Minced Pork Mee Hoon Kueh (S$6). Do note that you’ll have to pay a small top-up fee of S$1 to add an Egg to your noodles. To be honest, I was pretty dismayed that this came in sunny-side form rather than the usual jammy half-boiled egg.

I immediately noticed that each piece of mee hoon kueh was unique and irregularly-shaped – the hallmark of genuine hand-torn mee hoon kueh. On the list of things I love, hand-torn mee hoon kueh undoubtedly holds one of the top spots. I beamed.

Chewing on the noodles, I was instantly reminded of my first bowl of mee hoon kueh lovingly prepared by my mom, the first time I fell in love with the dish. Pure, homely magic.

Texturally, Greenview Cafe’s mee hoon kueh hit all the right spots. On the other hand, I felt that the sauce was rather lacklustre. Despite having requested for my noodles to be spicy, I found the dish to have next to no spice. Lost in the sauce, perhaps. 

The sauce mixture was unfortunately one-dimensional, with a strong dark soy taste that veered towards the sweet side. It wasn’t all that bad, though, balanced out by the savoury minced pork, earthy shiitake mushrooms, mildly bitter mani cai and salty ikan bilis that brought a pleasant crunch to each mouthful.

For good measure, I also got Minced Pork Mee Hoon Kueh with Soup (S$6), an unadulterated classic perfect for the chilly morning. 

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With a silkier quality, the mee hoon kueh pieces were easier on the throat. The soup was light and clear with a base of chicken broth. It also had a subtle natural sweetness akin to spinach soup.

To my surprise, the mani cai in this did not have that characteristic mild bitterness that was more profound in the dry version. Soft and leafy, it tasted deceivingly like spinach. Perfect for children and picky eaters!

The Mala Mee Hoon Kueh (S$9.90) piqued my interest. It’s certainly not a dish you’d typically see at a mee hoon kueh stall. Of course, I had to get it. 

At first glance, I thought that the presentation of this bowl was delightful. It looked like a miniature bowl of mala xiang guo, topped off with peanuts and coriander leaves. I couldn’t wait to dig in.

I appreciated that the bowl was filled with quintessential mala xiang guo ingredients, including luncheon meat, napa cabbage and sliced purple onions, all of which are ingredients I’d typically grab at a mala xiang guo counter.

I decided that the Mala Mee Hoon Kueh was my indisputable favourite of the lot the moment I took my first bite. This can be owed firstly to its stellar sauce mix, with a full-bodied mala flavour that made up for the underwhelming sauce of the Dry Minced Pork Mee Hoon Kueh. 

The sauce mixture paired extremely well with the hand-torn noodles, which also ticked off all the right boxes with the same perfect textural imperfections.

The lean pork slices were a surprising stand-out. I could tell that they were lightly fried beforehand, enhancing the tasty sauce with some smoky wok-hei.  

While it’s on the pricier end, I felt that Mala Mee Hoon Kueh was worth every cent and you best believe I ate the bowl in its entirety.

Finally, I got a Fried Sticky Cake (S$2.30) from Greenview’s range of appetisers to round off the meal. Ironic, I know. 

The Fried Sticky Cake consists of a nian gao sandwiched between orange sweet potato and a sliver of yam, lightly battered and then deep-fried. It had an enjoyable crisp and wasn’t too greasy, making for a nice sweet treat.

Final Thoughts

It’s a pity that I don’t have a bottomless stomach as there’s so much of the menu I haven’t tried. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Greenview Cafe, to say the least. While the highly-raved Dry Minced Pork Mee Hoon Kueh was a let-down, the Mala Mee Hoon Kueh and the hand-torn noodles alone top my personal charts for the best things I’ve eaten.

While I usually shy away from the dingy Far East Plaza when I’m in town, I foresee myself returning to Greenview Cafe time and again from here on out.

Expected Damage: S$6 – S$9.90 per pax

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