Copycat Lor Mee

As I was googling the website for Tiong Bahru Lor Mee, I realised that quite a number of people are actually clueless that NONE of the existing Tiong Bahru Lor Mee stalls within the new market were from the original market.

And they were making comparisons about which is better stall so on and so forth.

I’ve tried all these copycat Lor Mee not just once but many times.

My verdict, they are still the copycats....nothing like the real stuff.

Before the old Tiong Bahru market moved to the new premise, there were only two Lor Mee Stalls.

One with a very long queue and the other without having to wait.

This is the one with the long queue.
The gentleman is now operating a very succussful stall at Bukit Purmei

This is the one with no queue, She has since retired

When they relocated to the temporary market at Kim Pong Road, the one with the long queue still has the long queue even though the stallholders looked different.

The way the meal was presented was still the same but the taste differs greatly.

So why is it that a queue still exists?

Perhaps it was out of habit that people were accustomed to and the yellow bowls was something familiar and they associate it with the original Lor Mee stall.

Moreover, there were no other stall that screams TIONG BAHRU LOR MEE and since this one does it and it has the signature yellow bowls, this must be the one!

Hence the queue exists.

I have tried it a few times and have since gave up trying! Since the Ben Tin Lo Mee was the other original Lor Mee Stall from the old market, I decided to try it one day.

The taste was very familiar.

It was not that great as the ORIGNAL yellow bowl ones but it was good enough for me.

Though the noodles were great, this stall owner lacks marketing skills and she was eventually out-sold by the copycat clans.

The latest Lor Mee newbie was the Sharkies and that hurts her bottom line even more.

Within a few months at the new market, that Ben Tin Lo Mee auntie retired.

If only she had hung up a sign that says...THE ORIGNAL TIONG MARKET LOR MEE. She has the rights to that title as she was really an original.

I miss her Lor Mee very much.

Though I am residing in Tiong Bahru, I’ve never tried the copycat Lor Mee nowadays and I find it rather amusing that people actually drive all the way here to join the queue to eat some copycat Lor Mee.

While the herd drives to Tiong Bahru, I drive to Bukit Purmei to savour the authentic Tiong Bahru Lor Mee.

The queue there is long too but it is worth queuing up for and I willingly submit to the wait.

This authentic Tiong Bahru Lor Mee stall is operating out of Block 109 Bukit Purmei Ave.

This was the same guy in the 1st picture above.

More background story from Makansutra : Good Lor!