Sen Gen Wanton Mee: Serving KL-style wanton mee for close to a decade in Tai Seng
Wanton mee has been a classic dish for Singaporeans to enjoy. Despite being said to be a Cantonese dish, I think it is rather interesting that there are different variations out there, such as Sen Gen Wanton Mee at Tai Seng‘s KL-style wanton mee.
Is there a difference? Surprisingly, yes. KL wanton mee has a generous helping of dark soy sauce while the usual ones we’re used to are without, opting for a clear oil-based gravy instead. The real question is— would it taste better? I headed down with full intention to find out.
The location surprised me, as I had not expected Sen Gen Wanton Mee to be in such an obscure place. It’s located inside Rinting Berjaya Eating House, which is along Upper Paya Lebar Road. I had passed it a couple times before connecting the dots that this was the place I was searching for. The lunch crowd shows up around 11.30am and you can expect the whole coffeeshop to be full.
With Lady Luck on my side, I happened to occupy a seat before the lunch crowd arrived. Somehow, the rowdy atmosphere of loud chatter made for a comforting dining experience. Since the fans were only pointing towards certain spots, be sure to make a smart seating choice before it is too late!
Sen Gen Wanton Mee had a neat storefront, which gave plus points to the tidiness of the place. Since the stall specialises in wanton mee, I was not all too surprised at the small selection of menu items, and with the selection consisting of a total of 8 items, I made my very obvious selection.
What I tried at Sen Gen Wanton Mee
I had originally wanted to order the Wanton Noodle (S$3) with the Fried Wanton (S$3.50) to try out both the main and side dishes, but to my pleasant surprise, I spotted the Fried Wanton Noodle (S$4.50) on the menu and proceeded to order that instead. Talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone!
My first impressions weren’t great. Admittedly, I had expected a bigger portion for its S$4.50 price tag, but at the same time, I appreciated that they didn’t skimp on the ingredients, as I spotted quite a number of char siew and fried wantons.
To my relief, the fried wanton had more meat than fried ends, which is often not the case. Unfortunately, the meat inside did lack a little flavour, not being as satisfying as I had hoped. Dipping it into the soy sauce did the trick, making for a brief salty save.
Despite the dark hue of the dark soy sauce, the coated noodles tasted shockingly bland — I could not taste much of anything, be it salt or sweet. The only saving grace of the entire dish was the noodles, which had a nice QQ and springy texture, which would make for a rather good noodle soup. In all honesty, I do like my food rather salty so it could perhaps just be my acquired taste buds.
With the char siew being the main protein, I was quite happy with its quantity. Being on the flakier and smaller side, it made for easy heartening bites. For those who adore chewable and non-fatty char siew, this would no doubt fit your bill.
With my love for vegetables with a good bite, these classic vegetables were rather appealing to munch on, especially since it was soaked in the dark soy sauce. This dish would suit folks who just want simple comfort food, with no out-of-the-ordinary BS. I, being the simple ol’ me, enjoyed the simplicity of this classic dish.
Unexpectedly, the soup was not the usual soup packed with MSG. Rather, it tasted warm and comforting, similar to a classic fish ball soup.
According to another food review, the soup had originally come with dumplings and scallions, which seemed to have been taken out in the current menu. A shame really, as the soup would have been more appreciated if it came with such.
Final thoughts
In my opinion, the food here wasn’t too bad. However, for those expecting amazing things and live far away, this may fall short of expectations. Perhaps, if I had a craving for wanton mee and was nearby, I would come to eat here again.
Expected damage: S$3 – S$8 per pax
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