Source: Burpple
Hey Hive!
It's time to share yet another one of our recent food haunts we found during quarantine! Even though restaurants and eateries in Singapore have been given the okay to enable dining in (with social distancing measures of course), we've still been limiting our time spent eating out, or just being out in general, to be safe.
So while we were still staying in our rental place in central Singapore, we would visit the Plaza Singapura mall a lot since it was just a quick walk from our apartment. And after getting some groceries one Monday, we decided to get dinner there too. I was in the mood for some wantan/wonton noodles so we decided to try this restaurant called Eng's Heritage!
There were quite a few people there at the time but it was still empty enough and we've never tried it before so we decided to give it a shot.
Apparently it was a new outlet of theirs that just opened up about a month ago, and it seemed to be doing quite well so it looked promising.
I did like that they tried to marry the traditional and modern aesthetic with the interior, using light wood panels for the walls and partitions but the classic marble tables and dark wood chairs that you'd often find in old coffeeshops.
Even the tiled floors and the cross-shaped metal frames in the dividers are reminiscent of traditional coffee shops. But they also had farbric benches that most modern restaurants and cafes have. Everything seemed to blend together seamlessly despite the huge contrast in styles though.
They even use the retro-style plates and cups when serving customers' who dine in, and had a whole display of them on the wall! The display shelf itself looked modern but the items on display definitely radiated with nostalgia.
Anyway, we were really hungry so after admiring the interior for a bit, we went to the counter to order. They actually have 2 different counters; 1 for their signature wantan noodles and/or drinks,
and another separate counter for what is locally known as "ngoh hiang"; which is a Hokkien and Teochew dish which is essentially a composition of various meats and vegetables and other ingredients, all deep fried and served with a sweet chili sauce and a side of beehoon.
They didn't really have a menu for all the ngoh hiang items but here's the wantan noodle menu, which was literally just soup or dry and extra wantans. Truly simple and traditional.
We decided to get 2 dry wantan noodles and some ngoh hiang. And a while later, our food arrived!
First was our noodles:
And our ngoh hiang came not too long after, freshly fried and crispy!
Tbh the noodles weren't that great imo. I expected there to be some chili sauce underneath the noodles like most dry wantan mee and there was some gravy but I think it just the soup or water from when the noodles were cooked. It didn't taste like much at all. It's no wonder that the noodles looked so white and plain. And the chili sauce that came with it wasn't like the usual wantan mee chili, it's the special homemade chili sauce that is known to be super spicy, so we were careful not to add too much. But it was a tad too thick to mix with the noodles well and while it was tasty it just didn't taste like what I would've expected. The wantan and char siew slices were alright though.
It could be that I already have a favourite wantan mee stall and my tastes and expectations are more geared towards that specific wantan mee but I'm sure anyone can see that the noodles are different just from these pictures.
I guess you can't really compare "restaurant" wantan mee with hawker centre wantan mee but for a restaurant that supposedly aims to keep popular hawker food alive, this is sadly a really poor representation of wantan mee. Maybe it was different style of cooking, or the chef was having an off night but it definitely felt like they were missing something. It also didn't help that it wasn't the type of noodles that I really liked; these noodles were just a bit too chewy for my taste.
But regardless, at least the ngoh hiang didn't disappoint. It was crispy, and fried to perfection. I guess it's harder to mess that one up since most ngoh hiang ingredients are the same they're literally just frying it. It did get cold pretty fast though since the air conditioning is quite strong in the mall.
Overall, it was kinda average meal. Maybe even slightly below average, but I might be biased since I prefer the authentic hawker centre wantan noodles. I'd definitely go back for the ngoh hiang if I ever crave it though since their outlets are more accessible.
Eng's Heritage actually comprises three concepts; Eng's Wantan Noodle (which is this one), Old Hainan Curry Rice which serves old school Hainan curry rice; and Teochew Handmade Pau, which is known for its delicate handmade pau skin generously-stuffed with fillings (Cr: Thomson Plaza). Apparently their wanton noodles has been around since the 1950s and first started as a tricycle-converted pushcart in the Joo Chiat neighbourhood. And now they have almost 20 outlets in malls all over Singapore! A truly impressive feat.
But what many people may not know, is that this history comes with a messy backstory in yet another family food feud.
[Sidenote: I previously covered a family food feud with a soy beancurd stall a few months ago that you can check out here if you're interested!]
So I guess it's time to spill the beans yet again. The following is paraphrased from articles by Vulcanpost and Straits Times btw.
Source: Vulcanpost
Apparently there is an intense rivalry between two ENG's wantan noodle stalls along Tanjong Katong Road.
The original ENG's Wantan Noodle stall was opened by Ng Ba Eng in 2012. I believe this was what started the Eng's Heritage chain that we patronised. Ng Ba Eng started ENG’s from a pushcart business more than 50 years ago. And he opened his first ENG’s Wantan Noodle stall in Dunman Food Centre in the 1970s. Then with the help of an investor by the name of Jason Sim, they shifted their stall to a storefront on 287 Tanjong Katong Road in 2012.
Source: Straits Times
But unfortunately, Ng Ba Eng passed away the following year due to a heart attack. The business later rebranded to ENG’s Noodles House, and was then registered as a company under Desmond Ng (Ng’s son), and Sim’s wife Pauline New, as the director and shareholder.
However, in early 2016, the relationship between the business partners soured. They went to court, citing problems such as account inconsistencies, disputes regarding shareholdings, and disagreements about customer service.
Supposedly, there were many customer complaints regarding the quality of customer service by Ng and his sisters after they took over the family business.
Source: thedeadcoackroach
Then in March, Ng applied to the High Court to close down the company, citing these disagreements and saying that the directors cannot work with each other and were not on speaking terms. But the court rejected his application, claiming that he needed to sell his shares to Ms New in order to do so. Obviously he refused, and he had to pay 4,000 SGD in legal costs to Ms New instead.
After that, there were more accusations and lawsuits here and there. Ms New questioned some claims made by Mr Ng, then her husband (the original investor) sued Mr Ng over a purported loan.
In the end, the business was taken over by the CEO of soup chain Lao Huo Tang, Thomas Hong, who is a fan of the noodles. It was then renamed Eng’s Wantan Noodle and co-managed with Pauline New. They retained more than half the staff and chefs that were previously the late Mr Ng's proteges.
Source: Straits Times
In 2018, Desmond Ng and his two sisters set up ENG's Char Siew Wantan Mee right opposite the original ENG's Wantan Noodle. Unsurprisingly, both places have the same menu, but the new ENG's has air-conditioning and more seating. Yet, both of them kept claiming they are the original — ENG’s Char Siew Wantan Mee even marketed themselves as “The One & Only Original Award-Winning Brand” on its social media pages.
There were more lawsuits in 2018, and another shareholder (who was also the original bookkeeper) Bill Teng, sided with Desmond Ng, but New sued them over an alleged conspiracy to "injure" the company and cause them losses, on top of breaching their duties as directors. Apparently they might have misled her into diluting her shares and lose her title as director as well. But the jury is still out on the multiple lawsuits against each other, as both parties continuously fight for the ownership of the brand name, ENG's.
It's an interesting story, but ultimately I think nobody wins from this endless fighting. I think neither party is doing the original founder any justice with all these lawsuits, and they should just focus on upholding his legacy by selling quality wantan noodles.
If you've read this far, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
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