Nam Seng Wanton Noodles Reopens In Toa Payoh After A Two-Year Hiatus
April 04, 2022
I am sure many of us had fond memories of Nam Seng Wanton Noodles. It has reopened today (4 April 2022) at Che Kitchen, a coffeeshop in Toa Payoh North.
92-year-old Grandma Leong was serving her famous wanton men at Far East Square in the CBD for over 20 years after operating from their original location near the National Library along Stamford Road. Sadly, she closed it for good two years ago as she struggled with leasing problems and fewer patrons.
Finally, Nam Seng Wanton Noodle reopens today. A franchise though. Grandma Leong won’t be doing the cooking, but you might see her time to time at the stall.
I would never forget the taste of Grandma Leong’s wanton noodle. I worked in a local bank in CBD for a while before joining the media industry, so Nam Seng’s wanton noodle was one of our go-to places for lunch. It is a traditional plate of wanton mee with thick and springy egg noodles and lean char siew slices. My favourite, in fact, was her Venison Hor Fun.
Anyway, I visited Che Kitchen today to have a taste of Nam Seng Wanton Noodle. It was a little messy at the cashier, the staff was not sure what was available, ordered us to sit at a particular table number (you have to go around looking at the number), and kept keying in the wrong orders. Then she complaining to us she has been washing 60 plates of wanton mee since morning. Wow.
It was a decent plate of wanton mee but sadly, it was nowhere similar to Nam Seng’s wanton mee. Here, they used better quality char siew with HK style thin noodles instead of the egg noodles. The noodles is very dry, I believe they needed more oil.
Unlike the original version, no chilli sauce is added to the noodles. We asked for chilli and the staff pointed us to take the salty chilli bean paste to pair with it. Nope nope, that’s not what I would use to toss my wanton mee. It was so different. But I must say I quite like their char siew, the thick pieces were moist and full of bite, with a good layer of char.
The price of the wanton noodles remains at S$5.
No hor fun today, but they have beef brisket noodles.
Happy to see Grandma Leong in the premise though I was a little disappointed that it’s nothing like the original. I look forward to coming back to try the wanton mee again after they have resolve their kitchen and operation issues.
Nam Seng Wanton Noodles
Address: 1008A Toa Payoh North, Singapore 318998
Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday 8am to 6pm
