Tian Wai Tian 天外天 - Fish Head Steamboat + Zi Char

Operating Days: Daily

Operating Time: 5 PM to 11 PM

Address: 1383 Serangoon Road, S 328254

Tian Wai Tian has been around for decades and most Singaporeans will not find this name unfamiliar. Famous for Fishhead Steamboat, this place is constantly filled up by patrons during their operation hours despite its ulu location.

Situated at the corner beside rows of shop houses, you will definitely not miss this place as it is one of the very few eateries along that stretch.

No other stalls are open during dinner time, and all customers you see sitting down are solely the patrons of Tian Wai Tan.

Rows of tables were spreaded out along the five-foot way to cater to the number of patrons during dinner time.  Most of the tables were still occupied when we left the place.

We ordered a large pomfret steamboat ($45) and it was served to us 20 Minutes after. The large pot served was filled with Chinese cabbage, Chinese Spinach, and fried yam. The portion of the fish slices given was appropriate as well.

There were abundant of great taste from all the ingredients in this big pot! This teochew style fish head steamboat served in each pot was cooked and kept warm using the traditional charcoal method. The cloudy soup will definitely make you want more each time you taste it. 

We ordered a medium Furong Egg ($10) as well. It was crispy at the side and this egg dish is of course something that can’t go wrong. 

Next dish came was the Tofu Prawn. A highly raved “must try” dish, this dish is as unique as it sounds (in a good way). We never thought chili crab sauce could go so well with egg tofu and prawn!  The chili crab sauce goes very well with white rice as well.

The garlic Kai Lan here was really good! Every strend of Kai Lan on this plate were filled with garlic taste, and not forgetting the “wok hei” taste! If you are a fan of garlic, you will definitely like this.

Hei Zhor (Prawn Roll) is another dish you commonly see on almost every table at Tian Wai Tian. The skin was crispy with generous amount of ingredients wrapped inside. Many have also raved about the generous amount of chestnut bits in each piece of prawn roll, however, we have eaten better prawn roll at other places. It was pretty normal to us.

This is the medium size Hae Chor, with about 16 pieces, just enough for the 8 of us.

Tian Wai Tian offers one of the better teochew style fish head steamboat in Singapore. They have also several outlets around the island, which makes it easier for people to visit. For the Serangoon outlet, you may not receive too much attention from the waiter as it is pretty much a self service eating house. Soup here is refillable, but you will need to go to their kitchen to get it yourself. Ready for order? You have to queue up at the cashier area to order and the only payment they accept here is cash.

It is pretty much a decent and a no frill place suitable for small group dining. If you want to dine in with a big group (more than 4), we would suggest you go there earlier as the number of big tables they provide are limited.

Wen Dou Sek (126) - Solve your Dim Sum supper craving anytime!

• Operating Hours: Daily (5 PM to 2 AM)
• Address: 1086 Serangoon Road S328187 another branch at 126 Sims Ave S387449
• How to get there: Boon Keng MRT station walk towards Kallang River direction, walking distance est 5 to 10 mins.
• Food I had: Waterchestnut Drink, Har Gao (虾饺), Siew Mai (烧卖), Fried Shrimp Dumpling (明虾角), Fried Carrot Cake (炸萝卜糕).
• Total Cost: $18.90SGD

Many Singaporeans are spoilt for supper choices when we are feeling hungry in the middle of the night. Or even sometimes, you just feel like eating something small and satisfying, and the best scenario is to not queue up for too long before you get a seat. At 126 温到食, you can easily meet all the criteria you've set- satisfying and comforting food, and of course without the need to queue! (Well, at least for me :))

The name of the 126 温到食 dim sum restaurant is actually a direct translation from Cantonese. The word "温到食” in Cantonese is actually pronounced as "wen dou sek", which means "food comforting". I guess the number 126 derives from the address of its main branch, 126 Sims Ave, and to me, "126" sounds very similar to the pronunciation of "wen dou sek" (if you pronounce fast enough). It is very interesting to know the fact of this restaurant and somehow, the name of the restaurant has too much coincidence to its location as well.

The branch we visited is actually the second branch, located at Serangoon road. The menu provided is more or less the same as the main branch.

There are so many choices for you to choose on the menu! We've been there several times and most of the food we ordered is up to standard. Food is prepared only when you have ordered, be sure not to swallow them at once when the food is served!

Other than dim sum, they provide zi char menu as well! However, the zi char menu is only available from 5pm-8pm. Be sure to arrive during that timing if you want something heavier.

As we were not very hungry, we didn't order a lot this time round. 

Most of their drinks are served in the container, the type you always see when you pack your food from hawker center. They will provide the lid of the container if you choose to tabao (takeaway).

We ordered this carrot cake based on the recommendation online. We love how they dipped the carrot cake with egg before they put inside the hot oil to fry. Nice!

The deep fried carrot cake is crispy on the outside and very soft inside. It is very flavourful, with abundant of fried onion, lup cheong, and shrimp in it. It is nice and the taste is to our liking, however, it will be better if the carrot cake can be made slightly harder to enhance the springy feel in every bite. 

Fried prawn dumpling is not uncommon in a dim sum restaurant, including here as well. The amount of prawn they wrapped into a dumpling is so much that you can taste the prawn in every bite you take. It compliments really well with the mayonnaise, and I love the way how each dumpling can retain it's moist within when the skin of the dumpling is so crispy. It was piping hot when served, definitely a plus point!

Har gow (steam prawn dumpling) and Siew Mai (steam pork dumpling) are also commonly seen in almost every dim sum restaurant. At 126, they have many types of har gow and Siew Mai, and of course priced differently. Be sure to flip through the menu first before you order :)

The Siew Mai we had was good! Fresh minced pork meat was used, with the meat infused with sesame oil and soya sauce. Though simple ingredients used, the taste is definitely not compromised, and it is a must order dish whenever we are at this restaurant. Some restaurants of similar price use frozen minced pork and it has spoiled the overall taste. Glad that 126 still uses fresh minced pork for their Siew Mai.

The steam prawn dumpling (har gow) was an utter disappointment despite the great taste we had from other dishes. Though the whole piece of shrimp is used, the crystal skin which was used to wrap the prawns stuck onto the parchment paper underneath. It was almost impossible to pick up the whole har gow without tearing the skin. It sticks to the tooth as well when you bite it. Though the ingredients they used is fresh, we dislike the texture of the skin and didn't really like it.

126 温到食 has many food choices to satisfy your dim sum cravings, and most of their food are still nice in general. It is a restaurant which I will keep going back despite the disappointment from their har gow. Their chee Chong fun and fan choy is also another "must order dish", but we were too full to order this time round. They have many uniqueness in their other dishes, so feel free to let us know what are the other nice dishes at 126 温到食.