- Prawn Noodle Shop serves a variety of Malaysian noodle soups, including curry laksa and Hokkien-style creamy
- The popular chain’s latest outlet is in a busy food court, so it’s no place to linger
When the popular Prawn Noodle Shop in Wan Chai was about to close a couple of years ago, its fans (including me) queued up to get a final bowl. Rumour had it that the owner wanted to retire, but in the nick of time, somebody stepped up to buy the place.
In addition to the shop in Wan Chai, they also have branches in Tsuen Wan and Quarry Bay, and recently expanded to open a stall in the 11th-floor food court of the Hysan Place mall in Causeway Bay, so we visited for a weekday lunch.
As at the other branches, they offer a number of soup bases, including curry laksa, pork and chicken, Hokkien-style creamy, and the signature spicy prawn, all available in small and large, and with a selection of noodles. They also serve Malaysian-style side dishes and drinks, and, exclusive to the newest branch, there's a "Penang street fighter set"; soup noodles plus a side dish and drink range in price from HK$66 to HK$91.
We tried the Penang set prawn and sliced meat noodles (HK$81) with the spicy prawn soup base, which was neither spicy nor very prawny. It looked like what I remembered from the Wan Chai original, but the flavour was mild. The noodles " a combination of yellow noodles and rice vermicelli " were not overcooked, and the prawns and pork slices were good, although the pieces of chicken were chewy.
As a side dish, we had the loh bak, a Straits cuisine snack of bean curd skin wrapped around a minced pork filling. This version was quite good: it was served piping hot so the wrapping was crisp, and the filling was flavourful, if a little too finely minced. The iced milk tea with the set was watery, even though I drank it before all the ice had a chance to melt.
We also tried the curry laksa seafood noodles (HK$65 for regular, HK$75 for large). As with the spicy prawn soup, this soup base wasn't very seafoody, but at least it had a kick of spice. It was much lighter than most of the curry laksa soups we've tasted, but it had a nice selection of seafood " a head-on peeled prawn, pieces of squid, a green-lipped mussel, fish cake and crab stick, as well as bean sprouts and bean curd puffs.
We're not sure what made the Malay fried chicken wings (three pieces for HK$25, or HK$23 if ordered with noodles) Malay, other than a fried lime leaf used as a garnish, but they were hot, crisp and moist.
The food stall is in a food court that has seating for a lot of other vendors, so if you go at peak lunch time, be prepared to hover over other diners who are finishing up their meals. It's not a place to linger.
Prawn Noodle Shop, Shop 1109, 11/F Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay.
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