Da Jie 大姐 Famous Wanton Mee - The Unbearable Goodness of Chicken Feet

Let's get this out of the way first. I am not a chicken feet person. I am always the first to politely refuse a helping of chicken feet at dim sum places.

Maybe it's psychological, but I know it's an acquired taste time for many. For those who acquired it, it is an absolute delicacy.

But faced with no option one day at Jalan Besar, I had to overcome my trepidation and just went for it.

Ok, ok. So, I am not a total convert. But, at least, I have gotten to like it better this time. And perhaps, in the longer run, I will grow to adore it. Very much like people, actually.

Chicken Feet Noodles

Visually, it was quite stunning, even for a non chicken feet patron like myself. The glistening sauce coating the enormous looking chicken feet was a sight to behold. Accompanied by equally large chinese mushrooms that looked like they popped out of Alice's Wonderland world.

While the noodles looked standard, and worrying that it was left standing for too long due to the constant taking of photographs by my lunch mates, it actually held up very well. It was a good 15 minutes before I dug into the noodles, and hey, it was still springy and still had a decent bite. Impressive, but alas, it could not hold up to the hand made noodles from JB which I just raved about.

The sauce was appropriately thick and luscious, and well seasoned. Not overbearing, just savory enough and infused with the chicken and mushroom flavors to bind everything together.

Wanton Mee

The wanton noodles was quite a standout as well. The same springy noodles retaining the same bite, a generous portion of ingredients was more than I asked for. The caveat is that they do use some deep fried wantons, which were good, but the connoisseur in me always prefer just the regular wantons.

As for the soup based wantons which accompanied the plate, they were alright. Could have done with a bit more fat and seasoning, but really, the stars here were the noodles and the chicken feet and sauces.

The lunch crowd was very healthy as well, and the stall owners were a very friendly bunch. The daughters helping out after school was also a pleasant family sight to see.

As for my chicken feet phobia, it was somewhat conquered that day. Sometimes, you just don't fear. Try, and who knows, just like my initial qualms about chicken feet, you might just discover something new that you will enjoy.

What was potentially unbearable, had turned into something good.

Da Jie Famous Wanton Mee
209 Jalan Besar Road
Along Sam Leong Road