Whampoa Keng 黄埔庆鱼头炉 @ Balestier

At Whampoa Fish Head Steamboat, it seems it’s the women who does all the cooking and serving while the men just sit around!

In 1990, Mr Keng went into the food business by himself in the teeming Whampoa area, which was Ground Zero for fish head steamboats. Whampoa Keng 黄埔庆鱼头炉 moved to the current location when the food centre closed for renovations, and Mr Keng and his wife, Doris, continue to run the place to this day.

There were two Whampoa Keng, this one in Balestier Road (the original) and the branch in Rangoon Road. Both were equally good, and were operated each by the two wives (yes, you have not misread it) of Mr Keng. Fast forward to 2025 – the “second wife”, Sharon has split with Mr Keng, and the Rangoon Road restaurant is separately owned now.

Buah long long refers to the tropical fruit Ambarella, or kedongdong in Indonesia. It is a popular fruit in Singapore, especially when I was a kid, it was readily available everywhere. It went missing for a while and recently made a triumphal return. The fruit is known for its tart, acidic flavour and is often mixed with a salted plum. The salt neutralises the acid to produce amazing sweetness.

And once the order has been placed, they placed the appetiser on the table. Mind you, the appetiser is not free. It looked like deep fried spring roll skins. It was but made luxe with truffle oil.

Whampoa Keng Signature Fish Head Steamboat

Whampoa Keng has attained high accolades in Singapore in the fish head steamboat category, as recognition for their excellence in their titular specialty – fresh fish meat (especially fish head) cooked in a rich fish-based broth.

The bucket pomfret 斗鯧 was very fresh and fish bones have been deep fried to cook the stock. Together with fried yam, sour plums, fried sole fish, tang orh (crown daisy) and Chinese cabbage, the stock was so rich, we couldn’t help but to finish the entire pot.

But these days, the soup seemed to be different; I remember the soup to be much clearer than this, but it could be a difference between the two locations.

Whampoa Keng doesn’t make a distinction between fish head and sliced fish in their offering, so you don’t have to worry about having to make that decision of choosing which parts. I ordered both the pomfret and red garoupa 紅石斑 so I don’t have to be stuck on which one I prefer – these days the garoupa and pomfret are the same price.

I couldn’t remember if they had fish roe previously, but they can be ordered separately. These are not garoupa or pomfret roe, most like batang (mackerel) roe.

The steamboat came with only one serve of vegetables and ingredients, so if you want more tang oh (crown daisy) or seaweed or anything else, they can be added for a price. That’s one portion of tang oh for (an inflated price of) $7.50.

Signature Deep Fried Prawn Rolls 招牌炸虾枣

You also want to order a dish which are preferably deep fried (since fish soup is so healthy, you need some deep fried stuff to balance your diet). I would not recommend their hae zor (shrimp roll) as I have tasted better; theirs neither taste of fresh shrimps nor freshly made.

Famous Prawn Paste Chicken Wings 招牌虾酱鸡

The ever popular har cheong gai (prawn paste chicken) was well marinated, hot and juicy. PS: even when we brought them home, they remained a great snack, still crispy when cooled down.

Claypot Pork Trotters 砂锅猪脚筋

The Chinese name of this dish was misleading as it said pig’s tendons 豬腳筋 while the English name said pork trotters 豬腳, which is a more appropriate description of this braised claypot dish. Nevertheless, I am always in need of a collagen boost. It was so tender that the meat fell off the bone with ease and the skin part simply melted in the mouth.

Overall a very delicious dinner with the piece de resistance being the fish head steamboat. Recommended if you are looking for Teochew style fish head steamboat as many others have dwindled over time, either because of rentals, manpower or simply greed (high price, lower quality). Whampoa Keng has remained consistent, although prices have gone up quite significantly. But haven’t most things in Singapore as well.

Whampoa Keng Fish Head Steamboat 黄埔庆鱼头炉
556 Balestier Road #01-556, Singapore 329872
Tel: +65 6356 7371 (Reservations)

Visited Apr 2025