Exploring Singapore Noodle options (Feb 25)

So I started my more formal assessment of my favourite oriental dish whilst in Gosford last week to do some more gaming. Wednesday night is games night at the Central Coast Leagues Club and I had plenty of time to kill before going there. So I ventured to the food court in the Imperial Shopping Centre to the one place on the Central Coast where I have been eating (regularly) longer than anywhere else.

Yi Yi Asian Cuisine pretty much looks like many other food court outlets. On 28 October 1999 I was wandering through the shopping centre on my way through to the train station, roughly a month after having moved to the Woy Woy peninsula, fully intending to go straight home after attending an appointment in town. As I headed for the Mann Street entrance/exit I passed a group of people in front of a games store with some very familiar gaming boards set up. A quick enquiry revealed that there was a Blood Bowl league playing there every Thursday night. So I made a quick trip back to my home in Umina Beach to fetch my miniatures, with enough money left for the return trip and something to eat. The rest is history.
The menu for the takeaway has improved in quality over the years, with set menu options added to what was available on display in the bain-marie. I can still recall derogatory remarks about what was on on offer by my new gaming companions when I first bought food from there. There was one thing though that I had found quite different from other places I dined at – the fried rice, the current manager once assured me, was steamed rather than fried. In recent years I was appreciating that more and more and had ordered it so often that when she sees me coming she only has to point and I only have to nod. It's generally white and fluffy, with little chunks of ham, peas and scrambled egg.
However, last Wednesday, I decided to do something different, keeping her on her toes as it were, ordering the Singapore Fried Noodle from the set menu and choosing to dine in for a change. If you add a drink to the cost it's little more than $20. I had enough time to go get one from the nearby Reject Shop, returning in time to see them bring the meal to the counter.

One of the things I appreciate in this noodle dish is the colour. There is a lot of it and the added ingredients are rather appreciative bite-sized pieces. It's a mild dish, hardly any curry powder in this offering and I took my time in devouring it, leaving nothing but some grease on the plate and a used wooden fork. For a proper meal, one can combine this with either the cheaper rice option or splurge and get the special fried rice. Either will set you back around $30 but it's two good meals there. I should also add, they have moved with the times after Covid and you'll find that they have food delivery options through the popular purveyors.
It's still pretty good after all these years which is one thing I really appreciate about the place – it is consistently good. Well worth paying a few dollars more. Like my preference for a good chicken schnitty, this is the place that I'll compare all Singapore noodle dishes to. It is the benchmark for my examination of other takeaways.
I practically lived in Gosford from the 20th to the 28th. Feb 20 to 22 I went to four football matches at the stadium, with two NRL trial games on the 21st and a Mariners matches either side of it. On the 24th was our pub trivia night at Hotel Gosford, which we didn't do so well at but had a good time anyway, then there was the games night at the club and finally one more Mariners' match on the 28th. It was yet another instalment of the F3 Derby and a rather tense and hard fought fixture. To come over the next two weeks, Asian Women's AFC Cup matches in Sydney.

P.S: Due to my particular eating disorder I actually find this meal quite palatable, using a little psychology on myself to get some vegetables and other meat into the system. I surprised my father once when we were dining out in Bathurst, before he passed away in 2004. The waitress asked for our order and I quite happily responded 'Singapore Noodle please!' The look on his face was priceless.  

Pictures taken by Geoff G Turner (c) 2026.

Links correct at time of posting.