After a mid-morning stroll through east coast park, I arrived at lagoon hawker centre at midday, on a weekday I must add. The options are severely limited. Not even 10% of the stalls seem to be open. Mind you there is no crowd either, so you can’t blame them. Chicken and egg scenario.

I had to take money out of the ATM machine, which was only dispersing $50 notes. Great – nothing a hawker likes more than first thing in the day giving up all their small change for one dish. The quicker e-payments are universally accepted the better for the customer.

I noticed a slew delivery drivers collecting from this Indian muslim stall, A.L. Mursa and so I had to try. In amongst all the closed satay stalls, it really was a different atmosphere. The first dish that jumped out to me was the mee goreng merah. I have always been a sucker for fried egg noodles, ever since I was a teenager roaming Adelaide’s chinatown.

Straight away he was annoyed I only had $50. What to do. I had to order a soursop juice from the drinks stall next door to get some small change. The mee goreng merah looked the part, topped off with an egg fried in a ring, the yolk wobbling as I carried it back to my table.

The noodles had a great wok hei with nicely charred strands here and there, interspersed with small pieces of mutton and onion chunks. There was good spice in the noodles too, I was glad to have the soursop to cool the mouth down. The noodles were chopped up for easy eating, minimising the chances of spillage down the shirt, but I would prefer the noodles longer. The worst part is having to eat with cheap plastic cutlery off a polystyrene plate. I really should byo my own cutlery, plate, and straw to help reduce waste and increase my eating enjoyment.

This is one damn good mee goreng.

Price: $5.00

Hawker centre: East coast lagoon food village
Address: #01-59, 1220 East Coast Park Service Road, 468960
Hours: 12pm - 11pm (closed thursday)