Wanton noodles gets a serious hipster upgrade with this new collaboration between hawker stall Seng’s and F&B group The Establishment
Revamping a well-loved local dish is a tricky business (why change a good thing that’s also rich in heritage?), but it appears that Wanton Noodle Bar, a collaborative venture between F&B group The Establishment and the famed Seng’s Wanton Mee, has succeeded in their efforts to reinvigorate the humble, decades-old Singaporean meal. Who are The Establishment and Seng’s? The former is behind some of the city’s dining and drinking hotspots including Gem Bar, Manor Zui Hong Lou, and :pluck; while the latter, currently helmed by chef Benson Ng, is a hawker stall-chain that first opened at Dunman Food Centre in 1968.
The dark, minimalist noodle shop sits 28 comfortably at the open bar, and serves Seng’s traditional wanton mee (from $5.50) at lunchtime. A bowl consists of handmade egg noodles, leafy greens, char siew, and meat dumplings. From 5pm, a deconstructed dinner menu surfaces: You get to your build your own noodles with sides like braised pork belly, seasonal fresh greens, local-inspired scotch eggs, shrimp dumplings, and of course, char siew. And as with most cool “hipster-type” places in the city, they also serve cocktails (their signature is the Ju Hua, or chrysanthemum, cocktail) and craft beers.
On a recent visit to this hip spot, we had a bite of almost everything on the tightly curated menu. Noodles are just like how they serve it at Seng’s hawker stall – springy and well-seasoned. The shrimp dumplings were peppery than most, but terrific in our books. We reckon that the Batalong Egg, a local derivative of the Scotch Egg (hard boiled egg wrapped in char siew, dipped in Spicy Mayo), as well as the solid slow braised trotters are likely to become some the restaurant’s best-selling dishes. There are heaps on pork to be had, so do order the Japanese cucumber with Amoy dressing and dou miao to clean the palette. And we totally dig the fact that you can help yourself to as much crispy pork lard and hearty broth as you like!
Wanton Noodle Bar, 52 Amoy Street, Singapore 069878, p. 6221 1336. Open Mon-Thu 11am-11pm; Fri 11am-1am; Sat 5pm-1am.