nooodon

There has been a little bit of a change in with tenants operating within The Venue Shoppes near Potong Pasir MRT Station of the late; for those whom are not in the know of the location, this would be the mixed-use development that is located around Tai Thong Crescent that houses several dining establishments such as that of the outlet of Springleaf Prata Place, Fuel X, and 88 Chicken 팔팔치킨 at the ground floor of the development — just to name a few. It seems that 51 Noodle House has gone through a little bit of a revamp recently and has moved out of their former premises within the development, only to move to a larger space just a few doors away where The Beef Station 牛肉站 was previously located. Now known as Nooodon, the shop unit which Nooodon occupies is around twice the size of their previous unit. With the change in branding, it does seem that the folks of Nooodon has also gone with a more vibrant look for their store, adopting a theme colour of orange that is used in its facade and the furniture and fittings here. There is a slight hint of industrial flavour within the decor with a bit of a retro flavour, but the space can still be described as one that is kept minimalist with a slightly more functional approach; one can still find a bit of playfulness within such as the use of plastic chairs that forms the waiting area for takeaway orders near the counters. Two counters take up the space close to the entrance of the shop; one for patrons to make orders that also comes with the beverage bar, while the other is linked to the kitchen and is pretty much the order collection-cum-tray return counter. Tables at Nooodon are configured to fit patrons visiting in different group sizes from two (2) pax all the way to eight (8) pax; the larger tables doubling up as communal seating as well. With the revamp of its branding from 51 Noodle House to Nooodon, it does seem that these folks are finally able to reposition themselves to serve up a larger variety of menu items that comprises of sides, soup, noodles and don. Beverages available at Nooodon will include Nanyang-style Kopi & Teh, as well as other Concoctions which includes several types of tea, sodas and other beverages like Iced Lemonade, Honey Lemon and Bandung — just to name a few.

One of the items which had caught our attention very early on whilst skimming through the menu would be the Curry & Nan Ru Ji Pai from the Don section of the menu. The menu at Nooodon describes the Curry & Nan Ru Ji Pai to come with elements such as fermented beancurd fried chicken, Nanyang curry, potatoes, achar pickles, fried egg. Collecting the dish from the counter the moment that it was ready for collection, we were already surprised by how generous the portion of this dish was; the plate coming with the fermented beancurd fried chicken, fried egg, achar pickles and rice came filled up substantially with the rice being pretty much covered by all of the elements that came along on the same plate. The Nanyang curry and potatoes came in a separate bowl on the side — a thoughtful touch so as to not allow the other elements to turn soggy after soaking up the Nanyang curry if it were to be served in the same plate. Digging into the items on the plate first, we really liked how they had really placed a lot of attention to detail — even in the presentation of the portion of rice here which seems to be reminiscent to the shape which typically reminds us of how Omurice is served at more pricier establishments. Coming with short-grain rice, the rice grains were suitably sticky; goes well with the very thick and rich Nanyang curry that came on the side. The Nanyang curry does come savoury — we do think that it may get a little salty for some however, though it also does come with potatoes that have been stewed to a soft, melt-in-the-mouth consistency where one doesn’t need to chew in order to break it down. Meanwhile, the fermented beancurd fried chicken didn’t feel particularly greasy; the meat being tender and sufficiently moist, whilst coming with a crisp batter that hints softly of the fermented beancurd that has been introduced during the preparation for a umami note. The sunny side-up comes with a flowy egg yolk and soft whites; the sunny side-up also void of any undesirable stench of overused oil as well. The achar pickles come with a refreshing tang and crunch; cuts through all of the heavier elements that includes the Nanyang curry, the rice and the fermented beancurd fried chicken to cleanse the tastebuds — all that whilst also coming with the nutty notes from the crushed peanuts.

Another item that we had went for during our visit to Nooodon would be the Tom Kha Gai which is listed in the Noodles category of the menu under the “Soup” sub-section. Nooodon describes the Tom Kha Gai to come with elements such as boneless chicken, straw mushroom, tofu, coconut milk, tomato, thai chilli paste and herbs. We were also asked on the choice of noodles that we would like to have our Tom Kha Gai to come in; with choices such as Mee Pok, Mee Kia, Kway Tiao and Udon (additional top-up of $1) to choose from, we were recommended by the staff at the counter to go for Kway Tiao. It is noted that the Tom Kha Gai at Nooodon does come a little different from the Tom Kha Gai that we are more familiar with from Thai dining establishments — whilst Tom Kha Gai usually bears an appearance that is heavier on coconut milk, the Ton Kha Gai at Nooodon appears more like Red Tom Yum soup with a reddish hue; possible from the addition of thai chili paste. One would probably notice how the broth here is a little more nuanced as compared to the usual Tom Yum when one first have a sip of the broth — there is that usual sourish note that one expects out of a Tom Yum, but it isn’t overwhelmingly so nor does the emphasis on the coconut milk turned out to be overly jelak. What seems to be more of the focus here would be the various aromatics such as that of the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and the galangal that perfumes lightly on the tastebuds for a well-rounded zing with other elements such as the soft tomatoes, crunchy onions and tender chicken chunks. The recommendation of Kway Tiao was a good call; the noodles being all slurpy without adding an extra note of flavours that would have otherwise clashed with the elements featured in the Tom Kha Gai.

During the same visit, we had decided to also share the XL Mentaiko Tofu that was listed on the Sides section of the menu. Nooodon describes the XL Mentaiko Tofu on the menu to feature elements such as fried pressed tofu, Mentaiko, Tobiko and Nori. One thing to note is how the fried press tofu does come with quite a bit of liquid locked-in which keeps the tofu silken and soft; the XL Mentaiko Tofu does come with Mentaiko sauce that has been drizzled atop the fried press tofu and flame-torched — much like how one would expect for the Mentaiko Tamago that some Japanese dining establishments also serves up. The Mentaiko drizzle does add that slightly briny and umami flavour with a slightly smokiness from the blowtorching process to the neutral flavours of the tofu in general. Meanwhile, we also went with the Kopi (Hot); we liked how Nooodon serves up their Kopi with the frothy aesthetic like how one would expect it to be at Nanyang Kopitiam-themed establishments. The Kopi here does come with a strong kick of caffeine whilst well-balanced in terms of sweetness – quite a good one in our opinion. The revamp of 51 Noodle House into Nooodon is something that isn’t quite unexpected; it does seem that the folks at 51 Noodle House had been wanting to pivot themselves away from their focus from the Japanese-inspired version of a fusion Bak Chor Mee offering that they have been pretty much all about since their inception. Their Signature BCM is still being listed as an offering on the Noodles section on the menu; still catering to those whom have a liking for the dish since their 51 Noodle House days; that being said, being Nooodon also allows them to expand much further and offering patrons with a wider variety of items to better suit the varying preferences. It does seem that the flavours of the dishes are more towards the heavier side of things at Nooodon, with portion size of each dish being described as rather generous — some like the Curry & Nan Ru Ji Pai Don even being good to share. Prices of the items listed on the Don and Noodles section of the menu at Nooodon ranges from $4 to $15; the lowest-priced dish being the Braised Pork Rice, while the priciest would be the Sambal Unagi Don. Nooodon is pretty much what 51 Noodle House was about and more — a spot that does locally-inspired comfort food with a little bit of a fusion element from different parts of Asia that is worth checking out to see what they are all about!