The Place Located in the Ann Siang Hill enclave within The Scarlet Singapore, it is interesting that Laifabar serves traditional old school wanton noodles and other Singaporean delights. The Chef Owner’s grandmother used to have a pushcart at Kranji selling her Wanton Noodles, Fritters & Taupok puffs, where the old recipe was passed down to the current chef. The Wanton Noodles concept of Laifabar is merely a few weeks old, and the name is inspired from the Chinese characters 来发, which literally means ‘come to prosper’.

*Update as of Jan 2021: Laifabar has since relocated to Basement 1 of Lucky Food Centre.

The space of Laifabar is nothing like what I imagined it to be, as there is little sign of wanton noodles concept expect for the images pasted on the wall. Otherwise, it is a fairly conducive yet dated looking air-conditioned restaurant to enjoy some local dishes as opposed to the nearby Maxwell Food Centre.

The Food For the location, the price of the dishes are generally very affordable. Dishes are made from scratch here, and I started with some traditional snacks. I had a mix of the Prawn Fritters (S$2.50), Egg Slice (S$7), Taupok (S$8) and Fried Dumpling (S$8).

I really enjoyed all these side dishes, especially the Taupok, which is stuffed with minced meat and fish paste fillings. The prawn fritters is delicious too, and goes very well with the sweet chilli sauce.

Of course, you really can’t go very wrong with these egg slices as well.

For noodles, I had the Dry Wanton Noodle (S$5.50), served with slices of char siew and dumplings. The noodles is thin and tossed with a secret sauce poured over it.

Add some chilli for that extra kick and the flavour is even better. I wasn’t expecting much of the char siew initially, but boy was I impressed.

I also tried the Crispy Pork Noodle (S$6.50), where the crispy pork has a nice crispy skin with the right balance of tender meat. This is a must try dish.

The char siew is surprisingly good here, so there is no harm going for a plate of the Honey Glazed Barbeque Pork (S$10). Prepared every morning, the char siew is braised with a sweet malt sugar marinate, blow-dried and then cooked in their homemade sauce. It is tender and the meat has that slight burnt edges which I like.

Overall, it was a lovely mix of dishes and I enjoyed every single dish here.

Rants The decor is really out of sync with the food served at Laifabar. Well, at least there is air-conditioning.

Will I Return Again? I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of food at Laifabar, from the side dishes to the noodles. Given the price, this is definitely one ideal place to head for your weekday team lunch, or drop by with your family on weekends.

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 3/5
Ambience: 2/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Laifabar
33 Erskine Road
The Scarlet Hotel
Singapore 069333
Tel: +65 8439 2104

Opening Hours
Monday to Sunday: 11:30am to 8:30pm

Ranted by The Ranter