Here’s some good news just in time for Phase 2 — popular eatery Song Kee Fishball Noodle opened a second outlet at a Jalan Besar kopitiam yesterday (June 22). Just last month, its original shop shifted from Joo Chiat to 100 Yio Chu Kang Road, where it attracted a two hour-long queue on its first day of operation. The eatery is famous particularly for its handmade unctuous herh keows.

“Can you not write about our second outlet? Every time you write about us, we get so many people at our shop, it’s very scary leh!” cackles Song Kee’s owner and herh keow maker, Chua Poh Seng (he runs the biz with his wife Candy and his two brothers). But he relents and tells us that the more centrally-located Jalan Besar branch is a “direct outlet” run by his friend and regular customer. “He owns the kopitiam at Jalan Besar where the [new] outlet is,” says Poh Seng.

The new stall is located near the Jalan Besar Swimming Complex, within a charming circular Art Deco building. But don’t confuse it with other similarly-named stalls branded as ‘Finest Songkee’s Fishball Noodles’ that you may have spotted around the island. The Chua family only has the Yio Chu Kang eatery and now, the Jalan Besar branch. Finest Songkee’s Fishball Noodles, meanwhile, is owned by a cousin and is completely unaffiliated to the original business.

Now, about the newly-opened outlet: although the family is still involved and supplies their ingredients like fishballs, noodles and tau pok to the shop, there will be no herh keow for now. Yes, Song Kee Fishball Noodle’s most well-loved offering is temporarily not on the Jalan Besar menu, as Poh Seng cannot make enough herh keows for both stores by himself. “I’m still trying to figure out how to produce more herh keows,” he says.

Meanwhile, you can still get Fishball Noodle ($5/$7/$9) and Fishball Soup ($6/$9). A hired cook handles the cooking at Jalan Besar, while the family does all the cooking at their OG Yio Chu Kang branch. Poh Seng shares, “We’re also in talks with some parties to open more outlets, but nothing has been confirmed.” Ooh.

Song Kee Fishball Noodle’s new outlet is at 290 Jalan Besar, S208953. Open daily 11am-11pm. www.facebook.com/songkee.eatinghouse.