Bei-Ing Wanton Noodles (美樱云吞面): 35-Year-Old Wonton Noodles With Modern Fusion Twist In Katong

Nothing hits the spot like a piping-hot plate of wonton mee on a cold, rainy day.

Lucky for me, I heard of a place in Katong which was serving up super aesthetic plates of wonton noodles. My foodie senses were tingling, signalling me to head down and check it out.

Located within Roxy Square, Bei-Ing Wanton Noodles (美樱云吞面) shares the same coffeeshop space as The Original Katong Laksa.

Despite its rather hipster signage, the stall has been around for a long time.

I was surprised to learn that they’ve actually been in business for more than 30 years, since 1984!

Currently, the original owner still runs the stall, but he no longer cooks. His children do the cooking now, and Ray and his siblings have been helping out for about two years.

Nonetheless, it was obvious to us that the owner is still as passionate about his food as he ever was. The way he shouts out the table numbers with affection across the coffeeshop made us feel very much at home.

We’ve heard plenty of good things about their Wanton Noodle 云吞面 (S$4/S$5/S$6), so we had to give it a try.

Just the plating of the dish impressed us immensely. The stroke of black sauce at the edge of the plate made it looked very atas.

If you didn’t tell me this came from a hawker stall, I’d have thought it was from a restaurant!

Aesthetics aside, we also noticed that this was a Malaysia-style wonton mee. They mix the egg noodles with a black sauce, giving it a rich umami flavour.

For one, I very much prefer the Malaysian version to our local ones, which typically comes with a tomato base. As such, just the sauce itself was already a win for me. It had a perfect balance of saltiness and spiciness.

Furthermore, the noodles were perfectly springy, breaking apart easily with every bite. Despite their thickness, they were still able to soak up the sweet and savoury black sauce and its flavours.

Bei-Ing Wanton Noodles serves up two types of wontons (steamed and fried) for every plate of noodles too.

The fried one had a remarkably crackly and perfectly thin skin. It had a distinct subtle bitterness which strangely reminded us of papadums!

The fried wonton skin went very well with the tiny ball of minced pork inside. Together, they made for an addictive snack.

On the other hand, the steamed wonton had a much thicker skin and, as a result, tasted much starchier.

That said, however, we appreciated that the minced pork filling was incredibly juicy and flavourful.

Although the wontons are just as important as the noodles, Bei-Ing Wanton Noodles didn’t shortchange their char siew.

The slices of barbecued pork on our plate were delightfully thick and glistened under the light. They also had a distinct char on them, which was a promising sight.

True enough, the char siew impressed us with its incredibly smoky flavour. The fact that it was tender and oozing with juice made it all the more irresistible.

This dish definitely tasted as good as it looked, I’ll tell you that!

If those wontons weren’t enough, don’t worry. Bei-Ing Wanton Noodles serves up a Fried Dumpling 炸云吞 (S$4/S$5/S$6) dish too.

However, what caught our attention also was the nest of deep-fried noodles beneath the wontons.

They had a distinct salty flavour which actually reminded us of our favourite childhood snack, Mamee.

We also gave the highly-popular Chicken Katsu Noodle 炸鸡扒面 (S$6) a try too.

They use the same egg noodles for this dish, and they impressed us with its plating once again.

Nevertheless, the star of the dish was undeniably the humongous plate of fried chicken.

With bonito flakes scattered all over it, we could tell that the dish had some Japanese influence.

Not only that, but they also coated the chicken with panko before deep-frying it.

This gave every piece a bright golden hue, as well as a delightful crunch.

They seasoned the batter very well, and its salty flavour complemented the umami flavour of the chicken excellently.

To boost the flavour profile of the dish even further, they’ve included a special mayonnaise sauce.

We picked up a distinct taste of truffle oil in it, which added some fragrant earthy notes.

As someone who loves Szechuan-style dumplings in chilli oil, I was looking forward to trying the Streamed Dumpling With Sauce 水饺 (S$4/S$5/S$6).

Relative to the wontons, the dumplings were notably larger in size.

It turns out that they wrapped shrimp as well as pork in it, giving the dumpling substantial weight.

The dumpling skin also had the perfect thickness, allowing it to absorb up the umami and spicy sauce.

If you’re here, don’t forget to try Bei-Ing Wanton Noodles’s Katong Original Banana Leaf Otah 加東特製蕉葉鸟窝噠 (S$1.20) too!

Even though they bought it from a supplier, the otah had a striking taste of nostalgia.

Perfectly soft and moist, its refreshing spicy flavour reminded us very much of our childhood.

For the affordable prices and totally Insta-worthy dishes, I can definitely see myself returning to Bei-Ing Wanton Noodles.

Furthermore, I’d also want to show my support for this long-established stall which has taken a leap of faith to modernise. Who knew that a simple hawker fare like wonton noodles could be elevated with such finesse?

Expected Damage: S$1.20 – S$6 per pax