I have this thing for dried noodles and am always chasing a great plate, and Old Town Malaysian Cafe is my go-to for dry wantan noodles.
Even though I live on the North Shore, the 25km drive all the way to New Lynn to satisfy my craving when the yearning arises is still worth it .
Essentially, this dish is made up of springy egg noodles tossed in a dark “secret” sauce, topped with char siu pork, and garnished with vegetables. It’s served with a side bowl of wantan dumplings in a bowl of soup.
Moon Chan and her husband Hon Ming Cheow, owners of Old Town, took over another Malaysian restaurant called the Noodle House in 2021, which incidentally was also known for their dry wantan noodles.
The couple moved from Ipoh, Malaysia, in 2012 and had worked at other Malaysian restaurants before deciding to start their own business.
Over the last four years, Old Town has garnered quite a few loyal followers - many come also because this eatery doesn’t serve the “standard” Malaysian fare that you find at most other Malaysian restaurants in the city.
Specialty dishes here include fried carrot cake, a popular street food dish consisting of stir-fried cubes of radish cake seasoned with garlic, eggs and preserved radish, and also pan mee and yong tau foo.
But let’s talk about the main dish that this story is about - the wantan mee.
Even on a Wednesday morning, every other table at the eatery had an order of wantan mee, and listening to patrons’ conversations with Chan, it is pretty obvious many were regulars.
One customer requested for the wantan mee to be served with a side of the Hainanese chicken that’s used in the Hainanese chicken rice dish inside of char siu pork, and Chan obliges.
I still prefer the classic choice of char siu wantan mee which comes with noodles cooked to the perfect springy texture, bathed in savoury black sauce and a side of vegetables, and topped with a generous amount of succulent char siu.
Old Town makes its own char siu pork, which is on the lean side with very little fat. I know that traditionally, char siu should have a certain amount of fat, but this is how I like it.
The char siu has a good balance of savoury and sweet flavours with a subtle smokey undertone, and I also like the noodles because of its nice and springy, firm texture.
The wantan noodles at Old Town are accompanied by a bowl of soup containing three pieces of really tasty wantan.
One thing diners at this eatery will notice is that besides the wantan noodles, almost every next order is the wat tan hor - another one of my favourite dishes there.
I’d often go for the “ying yong”, which has a mix of crispy rice vermicelli and broad kway teow rice noodles, which are seasoned and fried with various seafood and ingredients and served topped with thickened gravy.
Plenty of smokey wok hei to mingle with the savoury noodles, Old Town does is where you get one of the best wat tan hor - although there have been comments made on the Chow Luck Club Facebook group that they could be a little more generous with the noodle quantity.
Another big plus for me as a chilli lover is Old Town’s chilli station, where you can help yourself to as much as you want of the sauces from sambal, garlic chilli, red cut chilli, to green pickled chilli to go with your noodles.
Old Town is small and minimalistic, with very basic and simple decor, but that’s how Chan says her customers like it.
“We like Old Town to be like our kopi tiam (traditional coffee shops) back in Malaysia, where people feel comfortable to just come in for affordable drinks and a place to hang out,” Chan said.
Old Town Malaysian Cafe 旧街场美食坊 3110 Great North Road, New Lynn.
Ph 09 8261102. Business Hours: 10.30am - 3pm, 5 - 9pm Wed to Mon (closed Tuesday)
