Seafood Tom Yam Siew Mai Whilst being an establishment where one would likely hear divided opinions on, it is an undeniable fact that 126 Dim Sum Wen Dao Shi 搵到食 is one of those establishments that one would likely come across when searching on the various casual dim sum establishments that are located across the island. While the previous iteration of 126 Dim Sum Wen Dao Shi had since walked into history with the closure of both their Boon Keng and Geylang outlets, the brand has since been revived at its Boon Keng location under a new management. For those whom are unaware, the brand is now run by a former client and former staff, and there is also a little bit of a revamp of the store that brings a new lease of life to the brand. Extensive works had been done to its location at Boon Keng; there is even a change in the signboard which now states ”126 点心” rather than that of its previous Chinese name of 搵到食 — the shop also now sees a bright facade with the exterior walls of the shop being painted in yellow; there are also installation neon lighting that helps to attract the attention of passers-by as well. Within the shop is a rather compact dining space — regulars of 搵到食 at Geylang would find the Boon Keng space a little limited, while the interior sees the use of cushioned seats with wooden accents that matches the cement-esque vinyl flooring and the wooden fixtures and fittings of the space; a little bit of a rustic look, while the walls are also plastered with wallpapers filled with enticing photos of dim sum to hopefully whet the tastebuds of the patrons before they even make their order. Regulars of 搵到食 would likely recall the menu comprising of several quirky dishes and we are glad to find some of such dishes still being listed in the menu at 126 点心; the menu at 126 点心 also being segmented into sections dedicated to Signature, Steam, Fried, Tender & Crispy, Porridge, Noodle & Rice, Pau and Soup.
Siew Mai of various flavours had been a rather common trend in recent years — places that we had encountered similar dishes would include that of Wangi Garden, and Fantastic Dim Sum; just to name a few. Despite so, we found ourselves being very intrigued by the availability of the Seafood Tom Yam Siew Mai at 126 点心. Here, the Seafood Tom Yam Siew Mai comes with a dumpling wrapper with a slightly green hue along the sides, but there is an obvious orange hue that comes with the meat fillings of the Siew Mai. Going straight for the Seafood Tom Yam Siew Mai, we noticed how the meat filling here doesn’t come with any noticeable porky stench — all that whilst providing a slightly spicy kick and a zippy note typical of Tom Yum powder that tickles the tastebuds; not something that we would describe as life-changing, but definitely hit the right notes to its description. We also managed to try other items such as the likes of the Pissing Beef Balls Soup that came with a broth that came with beefy notes and a slight tinge of herbal infusion that lingers at the back of the tongue — almost similar to that of herbal Bak Kut Teh but way lighter and quite manageable even for those whom are not particularly into herbal soup. The Pissing Beef Balls are essentially double-layered beef balls containing a savoury broth that “explodes” in the tastebuds as one takes a bite into it; provided an umami note that checked off the right boxes for us. Another item that we tried was the Chives Dumpling that came with a dumpling wrapper similar to that of the usual Siew Mai; the meat filling saw the infusion of chives that provided the dumplings with the fragrance of chives that cuts through the meatiness.
Meanwhile, the Fried Bamboo Shoots "Soon Kueh" comes with a golden brown, deep-fried batter that was crunchy — the batter also encased the chewy, crystal skin of the Soon Kueh whilst the elements within the Soon Kueh provided an element of crunch that gave the dish a myriad of textures. Whilst the Signature Bean Curd with Mango Salad comes with bean curd that we felt could be a tad smoother, we did find it to still be fairly acceptable for a causal dim sum establishment like 126 点心; still one that is smooth and has a consistent texture amidst the crisp, golden-brown batter — the addition of mayonnaise and mango with what seemingly are bits of apple provided a creamy and slight sweet note with a contrast of soft and crunchy textures for a good mouthfeel. The staff at 126 点心 could also be observed walking around the establishment asking patrons if they wished to order their Egg Tarts and Coconut Tarts. Whilst they were typically packed in three (3) pieces in a plastic box, patrons can actually order the tarts individually — the Egg Tart was the one that caught our attention thing how these were freshly-baked during the course of our meal and they wafted of a buttery fragrance that we found it hard to resist from ordering. Coming with a flaky tart base, the tart base held up to the heft of the egg filling well; it also held firm without easily flaking into a mess, yet still light with a lingering buttery note that makes it easy to eat. The egg curd is still soft and wobbly; suitably sweet with an evident note of eggy-ness and pretty much hit the spot for us.
The Coconut Tarts was also decent; coming with cookie crust tart base, what we liked about the coconut tart was its soft and fluffy interior that hinted of a roasty hint of toasted coconut — quite alluring. One thing that we must mentioned about 搵到食 was that we had never found ourselves to be a fan of the establishment in the past; whilst we had made our visit to only their Geylang for a number of times in its previous form and under the original management, we had always found their food to be rather lacklustre to say the least. With that in mind, we found ourselves heading to 126 点心 at Boon Keng with pretty much zero expectations and was pretty surprised with what they had to offer. Yes; it is indeed true that the meal at 126 点心 wasn’t one that was life-changing, but we did feel that they had fixed whatever that wasn’t working well in the past and the entire experience was one that was more pleasant than our visits to 搵到食 previously. Prices of the dim sum are a little bit on the higher side with most dishes from $4 onwards, though there are a handful that is still priced under $4 — the Porridge and Rice & Noodle items being the more value-for-money dishes considering how they are priced from $5 to $10 for a portion size suitable to be shared for two (2) pax as indicated on the menu. Sure, there may be no snaking queues for 126 点心 these days, but they were still operating near full capacity on the evening that we made our visit — and we probably know the reason why now with how they do pretty much serve satiating and comforting (sometimes even quirky) dim sum items worth giving a go for supper goers (they are open till 4am daily) looking for a meal where options aren’t aplenty.
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