Yummy Wanton Mee at Tampines Round Market

Considering that ieat of ieatishootipost is a doctor, then I must be the evil witch. I am seriously beginning to sound like some sort of myth buster, going around counter-checking all the food, reevaluating them, and often killing the queue with a razor sharp exam-style checklist as some may call it. Well not yet, probably never will. The more someone tells you no, the more you're going to try. Human nature, hence the saying, curiosity kills the cat.

The saying is pretty true, as I have often taken up the role of the cat, and then ended up being killed by my curiosity. Especially when reviews are mixed, be it beauty wise or food wise. And then you just get so frustrated at all the raves that you set up a blog. Hahahaha.

Okay, enough story for this post. Basically, I had a craving for Wanton Mee for the last one week, so I couldn't help it and went to Tampines Round Market in an attempt to settle my craving. And to my horror, I found out that Singapore style Sarawak Kolo Mee is nothing like my idea of kolo mee. Different nevermind, not nice to eat is what matters. =( So here's why:

Yummy Wanton Mee - Mushroom Char Siew Dumpling Noodles + Egg

Available: Blk 137 Tampines Round Market & Food Center #01-45

Opening time:  5am - 3pm daily

Star properties: Rows and rows of awards.

I ordered Set A, Mushroom Char Siew Dumpling Noodles, and added egg, because this seemed like the one with the most number of ingredients, a bit of everything, so that I can write my review.

Personally, I also like mushrooms and char siew, so it was killing two birds with one stone. =))

Mushroom
Not well cooked, as it has that bitter taste. Softness wise, I would say it's okay. Can bite, of course can bite. But it can be a lot softer and better.

Sauce, which is actually the star, not the mushroom, is not nice at all. Just some sort of anyhow mixture of dark sauce, oil, and seasoning. Nothing special.

Rating: 3/5
Which again, means okay only.

Dumpling
The taste is good! Towards the salty side, but not over. Enough crunchiness and prawn taste, and the dumpling is quite big and well-filled by today's standards.

Only gripe is that the skin is still slightly cold and plastic from the freeze. Yes, they use frozen dumplings that I saw taken out from the refrigerator. Don't think it's handmade.


Rating: 4.25/5

Vegetables
Bitter and miserably few. Nothing much to say.

Rating: 3/5
Really just normal. I don't expect much from coffeeshops as well. Most coffeeshop food would fall under the "okay" label, meaning, can eat, cheap, to just fill your stomach.


Char Siew
This is good! The meat is well cooked such that it's not too hard or too soft. Serving amount is little, but expected, and with quite a lot of fats.

But the sweetness is just right.


Rating: 4.25/5

Egg
Horrible. The skin is rubberized, so it forms a layer that almost cannot be eaten, or rather that I really don't want to eat. According to what I am studying, this sort of feeling essentially means that there have been molecular chemical changes, in which the proteins somehow re-bonds in another pattern, or disintegrate into another structure etc, so much such that you detect a macromolecular change in visible properties. Very bad. Don't know what I am eating.

In any case, even discounting the chemical changes, the flavour isn't good! That egg yolk is so hard and dry I really couldn't bring myself to finish it. =( Don't know how to swallow.

The auntie did dip the egg into that mushroom black sauce before serving. But I can honestly tell you, it made no difference because the sauce is not nice, and did not add any taste to enhance.


Rating: 0/5
No point adding $0.50 for the egg.


Noodles
Now, about the main thing, noodles. I really don't know... I don't even think my noodles look the same as those posted in ieatishootipost. =( Much less smelling fragrant like ieat describes. To fill your tummy, it's okay. But seriously, if you were me, looking for a nice bowl of wanton mee to satisfy the week long craving, it's not okay. It's so not okay.

The noodles were overcooked, soggy, no fragrance, no looks, nothing. I really could have got that at the nearest Kopitiam.

And I think one of the greatest secrets to Wanton Mee is the sauce. I don't really care what sauce they put, because I know of a bowl that uses ketchup and chili which is really nice! So all they have to do is get the combination right. And this stall certainly couldn't. Trust me, there is NO secret in their recipe. With your eyes blind folded, take the soy sauce bottle, salt, sugar, pepper, oil, throw a pinch here and there, you'd probably get something like this.

I do not even think they bother to try their sauce or use a constant ratio. You know what hawkers always say, "agar agar". It's this "agar agar" and this "agar agar" attitude that makes the difference between the stalls with queues and those without.

The sauce here is pretty much tasteless even though it looks really dark, and thick enough, and nice. I'd suggest a bit more sweetness, and slightly less oil.


Rating: 3/5

Hawker Attitude
For some reason, the auntie is telling the cook (maybe husband) how to do what! Amazing for a stall that has been around for some time and won so many awards. I got the idea that the cook doesn't knows how to cook. Maybe that explains the mediocre food.

Overall rating: 5.8/10
Not worth coming specially at all. Not even worth even though this time I only traveled 5 busstops. Seriously. Can I remove all that awards? =((((( I wish the food award administrator would periodically go back to check. Things like Ch U and Ch 8 are getting way out of hand.

Even my brother who is not a foodie can tell me the logic. Here's what a non-21 said, "you know right, if the program has to go around saying something is nice (for viewership to hold) once a week, that means that over time, every stall in Singapore will have an award what!".

Yup, so don't believe so quickly when you see Kym Ng's face or Quan Yifeng etc pasted on signboards. And from my experiences, don't believe extremely old newspaper cuttings as well. They are really too outdated, and food standards DO drop because most hawkers just cannot be bothered. They are just there to sell as many bowls as possible in a day and rake in the $$$.

Walking Directions
At the round market, from the Hakka Yong Tau Foo stall (which is right opposite a small goldsmith shop outside the hawker center), Yummy Wanton Mee is right behind Yong Tau Foo.

As for Tampines Round Market, I got there by taking bus 28 from Tampines Interchange, past a church, Holy Trinity, and Shell Station, drop one busstop after Shell station. If you overshot, get down at Safra Tampines before it goes too far. It's a slightly longer walk backwards.

PS: As ieat suggests, the dumpling is worth buying a bowl to add ingredients if you are having porridge or mixed rice etc.

P/S/S: If you are looking for nice tasting wanton mee, and kolo mee at the same time, try the one at Toa Payoh Central a.k.a HDB Hub. Look for gaps in between the shops like SK Jewelery, Hock Hua Chinese Tonic, Hang Ten etc. Go into the back alley, Kolo Mee is at the end of the row from the obvious roast pork rice stall.


I do not have stock pictures to post right now. But that one is the delicious one with secret in the transparent sauce they coat every bowl of noodles in. I may just go there to get my wanton mee craving fixed.


I have eaten there for a whole year when I did part-time, and the quality is extremely consistent. Read more "Yummy Wanton Mee at Tampines Round Market..."

Tampopo Part II - The Side Dishes

I am slightly more satisfied with the side dishes in general, although there are some I really would not order again.

Light Cheese Chiffon Cake

This is an easy one to review. It is just as its name suggest. Light, a bit of cheese on top, no cheese taste in the cake, ultra holey and spongy = chiffon, and in the shape of a cake.

The crust was not crispy, and it didn't have resistance. I am not sure if chiffon cakes should have resistance, but the pandan cake that I can get from no name shops at the neighbourhood market has resistance, so I don't see why others shouldn't. What I mean is you bite the cake all the way down to something like 0.5cm, and feel a sort of stop because all that sponge packs up to a point, like when you squeeze a dish sponge, you can't squeeze it all down till 0.00001 mm right. Then you give a final bite, and it breaks.

Rating: 0/5
Have no idea what this is supposed to be. A creation to waste your money. I ordered because I saw that this only left one in the display refrigerator, while the others had more left. I know Hokkaido steam cakes are a delicacy, but light chiffon cake??? More like a modern creation.

Red Bean Green Tea Ice Cream

Ah, yes, this is good. I quite like to see the red bean in whole (even though I like prefer red bean to be slightly mashed because the best red bean desserts around all have slightly mashed beans, such as Toa Payoh ice kachang).

I like the way the red bean doesn't taste like sugar soaked, because it is unhealthy and also void of any bean taste. Well, if you had the misfortune of venturing so far as to eat the red bean glutinous rice ball green tea ice cream at Ramen Play, a spin-off of BreadTalk, you'd get what I mean by sugar soaked. If you haven't tried that, then thank your lucky stars, because it's not nice.

The green tea ice cream is very strong with green tea taste! I always say bringing out the matcha green tea taste is another culinary art. Green tea taste in green tea is already not easy to bring out, and lots of times, you will find that tea bag green teas are bland. Trying to make that taste into the main character and bloom is a challenge especially when Singaporeans are lovers of strong tastes, because it means you get your money worth and the ingredient is what we call 真才实料, real and truthful, not just out to make $$$.

The consistency of this ice cream is more Westernized, and closer to cream than ice. Japanese ice cream is actually more towards ice than cream. In fact, you'd find that most Japanese ice creams are close to 100% ice, like Azabu Sabo's. So this really depends on whether you're a purist or just want to eat ice cream.

I like both, and I think if want to make an ice cream, either you make it ice, or cream. If the quality is somewhere in between, then the review marks given will also only be somewhere in between. Yup, this is nice. I really don't mind going in to Tampopo and sit down with some friends for chit chat, just eating this. =)


Rating: 4.5/5
I think Haagen Dazs is still the best for cream green tea ice cream, so no full marks.

Pan-fried Gyoza

I ordered pan-fried because the waitress said it's better, even though they have deep fried, which is the latest.

I think this is okay. It passes, but okay. The juice doesn't squirts out, and it's kind of really, really tiny. The taste is quite nice.

Rating: 3/5
Eat if you die-die must have gyoza that day. But not a must-try. And it's tiny, so not worth it. You can get better ones at the same price nearby.

Salmon Sashimi Sushi

This looks very appealing. I think I can announce that gone are the days when you get tiny pieces of ingredients, especially salmon, like those at Sakae. I have been seeing more and more and more of sushi with size of ingredients like this and little rice (preferably in the range of 250 - 300 grains).

However, the salmon wasn't quite as fresh as I'd like it. I think Watami has the freshest seafood so far, and Itacho is above average too.

Also, the rice wasn't really vinergarized. And even if it was, it is not the sweet that should be. Try Itacho for this feeling.


Rating: 3/5
Okay. Again, no need to order unless you are craving for salmon sashimi.

Will I go back?

Maybe, merely for trying the rice dishes. However, there are too many Japanese restaurants in the Clarke Quay area that it is highly unlikely.

Will I recommend this place to people?

No. Despite the commendable service, and big space, I find it hard to give a reason to people to come here. It's like Yoshinoya. I tell my friends, go there during peak hour when you can't find seats no matter how, because it's always empty.

Overall Restaurant Rating: 5.5/10 Read more "Tampopo Part II - The Side Dishes..."