One Bowl Man – One ‘Atas’ Bowl of XO Truffle Wanton Mee!

It seems that Truffle Wanton Mee is all the rage nowadays. I’m sure that we’ve all heard the saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. However, many eateries have been breaking the mould by coming up with their own elevated versions of traditional Wanton Mee. This begs the question — is the ‘atas’ Truffle Wanton Mee tastier than a good old authentic one? I decided to visit One Bowl Man in Downtown to find out!

I arrived at Downtown MRT early one morning and was greeted with the hustle and bustle of overly-stressed office workers. One Bowl Man definitely caters to an upscale clientele. It sits smack in the middle of the Marina Bay Financial Centre! The eatery prominently displays its signature dish at its storefront — the Truffle Wanton Mee with XO Sauce ($9.80). It’s definitely interesting to note that they have a BYO (bring your own) drinks policy. You can bring your favourite morning coffee or tea with you! I proceeded to fill out the order chit before heading to the cashier to make payment.

Unlike other truffle oil-flavoured Wanton Mees out there, One Bowl Man’s version uses actual pieces of truffle in their fried wantons. The use of XO sauce is also one of their unique selling points. The sauce contains a variety of ingredients, including dried shrimps, dried scallops, jin hua ham and chilli peppers. Given its price, I was slightly disappointed that they used disposable bowls and utensils. However, this small gripe of mine was quickly forgotten as my empty stomach was calling out for breakfast. I hungrily and hurriedly mixed the XO sauce with the noodles and took my first bite.

The XO sauce was sweet and had a strong taste and aroma of dried shrimps. However, I felt that it didn’t quite have enough ‘oomph’ to carry the flavour of the noodles which were decent, but not quite as springy as I would have liked. The XO sauce was on the drier side, so it couldn’t quite coat the noodles completely. Their char siew was also quite different from what you typically get in Wanton Mee. I liked that they were cut into thicker fatty chunks but they lacked a sweet roasted finish.

The other main draw of their Wanton Mee is definitely their Truffle Wantons. These were a completely different story, as they were absolutely scrumptious! These deep-fried delights are handmade by the chefs at One Bowl Man. They are filled with a mixture of actual truffle, truffle oil, mushrooms and minced pork. My mouth began to water as I gaped at the beautiful golden-brown wantons.

The skins of these intricately made wantons were rolled to just the right thickness. This meant that they had a tantalising and addictive crunch that had me reaching for more. The filling contains a subtle hint of truffle oil, without being too in-your-face. It also did not overpower the flavour of the mushrooms and minced meat. Soon, my bowl ran out of wantons and I knew that I had to order more.

For a rather hefty price tag of $10, I got another 10 of these delectable parcels (that’s $1 per wanton). The image on the menu showed that the wantons are sprinkled with slices of black truffle but this wasn’t the case(I know the pictures are for illustration but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed). However, I must say that the use of real truffles, which are expensive, in the wantons is commendable. 

The XO Truffle Wanton Mee can definitely use a little work. Other popular options include Dang Gui Braised Beef Mee ($8.50) and Fishball Mee with XO Sauce ($5.80). I can foresee myself returning just for the Truffle Wantons!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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For more food videos, check out our official YouTube channel! You may also want to check out our articles on Ang Mo Kio 453 Wanton Noodle which sells affordable Wanton Mee or Hao Kee Seafood Deluxe located at Toa Payoh North!