Rubbish! Rubbish! Eatery has gone down hill in standards and in quality.
Ordered shrimp roe noodles, won ton noodles, beef brisket noodles. All noodles had been precooked,were over-soft and tasteless.The entire bowl of noodles was served lukewarm and didnt deserve the tourism recommendation badge. It just cant keep up the service and so delivers below par food to its customers. if it keeps this up, sooner or later the customers will find better offerings around the area.
Better off going hungry than wasting your money in this place!

i have tried this one and "no 6" and "wong chi kei", i can gaurantee you that this place offers the best noodle...you cant have such kind of taste in hk, not even in the one at "Shum Shui Po"...

of course, when you are going with a great deal of expectation and being treated rudely, your taste would be a bit different, but if you can just tasting the food without concerning anything else, it would be such a great experience....the old fashioned style of noodle making would give you a unique experience....

蝦籽撈麵 is a must try...some people say its a bit dry, it really depends on what you are looking for, cuz 撈麵 is actually dryer than noodle in soup...if you really want it to be a bit wetter, you can ask them to give you a bowl of soup...they do have soup to offer, only if you ask them though

they offer the "fish skin" as well...and its very crispy...but it's a bit salty as too many soy sause was put on the dish, note that this is not "fried" fish skin, but seethed instead...so its wet, but its still crispy....

for wonton and others, you may go try at other places...

ANOTHER MYTH BUSTED...

Next time you come here to eat their famous Prawn Roes Noodles,
remember that the flavours are coming from oil-soya mixture,
topped with mostly Sesame taste.
And its not even freshly grinded sesame....

I reviewed here when I first visited more than a year ago during May 2009. That's before it received Michelin Recommendation in the 2010 Guide: [ http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?shopid=24168&commentid=2037575 ] Last time around, I wrote about how this Macau Noodles Shop is kind of "deceiving in a way" as I dicovered the noodle's taste to be not coming from the prawn roes itself, but from the soya and pork oil mixture! Yet as a learning Foodie who is adamant on finding out the real truths and in a never ending quest to update my brain's firmware constantly, never quite self-satisfied, I decided to give here a revisit to try and understand more again rather than being complacent. .... I therefore returned back in April 2010 after having had a bit more experience eating around various HK Wonton Noodles. And this time, I managed to uncover yet another staggering truth, which might well shock you the 2nd time as it certainly did to myself....

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蝦籽雲吞撈麵:
I thought the Wontons I ate recently in April 2010 improved over my previous 2009 visit, at least it wasn't dried-out and solid like a 燒賣. Its not as good as the best HK wontons, but its ok edible. The Prawn Roes (祥記蝦籽) however received the centre of attention as I had my biggest doubt with these - and I certainly studied it under a microscopic view with a magnifying glass... I finally figured that it does look rather odd on the plate indeed, as it is way too fluffy, light coloured and not the usual brownish or amber coloured prawn roes served at other shops. Most crucially, they had a texture of a 'Grinded & Shaved' look rather than as 'Individiually-Proud Prawn Roes' ..... And on the plate, it carried a different aroma than is normally associated with fresh water prawn roes - it was more toastily aromatic, rather than oceanic... Something definitely smelled fishy (pun intended), and it wreaked havoc on my senses. More about that later... Anyway, the hand made noodles still carried a great bouncy texture, even if it had scarce wheaty or egginess taste - but at least they're boiled well, I enjoyed their texture and the sauce turned them into a miracle.

牛筋蝦籽撈麵:
The 牛筋 was quite good too, tasty and crunchy. The prawn roe noodles were same as the above, somehow everything wasn't very convincing as a package..... arrgh. I was scratching my head. Read below.

湯
The soup in 祥記麵家 from memory wasn't outstanding and this was re-confirmed again, as despite naming 方魚 amongst other good ingredients used, it seemed somewhat more pork bones base in taste and 1 dimensional. Seems like Macanese noodle shops don't make high grade high broths that're comparable to places like HK's 正斗, 麥奀雲吞麵, 池記, etc, nor even the lesser 忠記, 麥文記, 麥兆記 versions. At best, you'll get the equivalent of a 劉森記, 楊記, 佳記, 永華麵家 version, never mind if they're authentic or only because we have recently developed personal expectations... General consensus tends towards the latter these days??

蝦籽
The Prawn Roes in Cheung Kei is the one thing that continued to baffle and trouble me the most ever since my last April 2010 visit. I knew something wasn't computing right in my head, but I couldn't work out why and it returned to haunt me for the next 2.5 months... so during late June 2010, which was only a few days ago, I decided its time to end ALL SPECULATION and find the answer. Stuff eating it at the shop this time - I'll just purchase a jar of their so-called 蝦籽 for around MOP80, which is probably the most expensive on the market!!!! I opened it immediately the same night in the hotel and put a spoonful into my mouth, my jaws dropped, then I got a new spoon and devoured another scoop of it just in case : NOT A TRACE of real prawn roes aroma or taste or umami hit. I felt absolutey disgusted, felt cheated for paying a premium 80 bucks, it was beyond comprehensible. Guess what one of the main ingredients the label says its made up of ? Sesame (芝麻). Yes, the famous 祥記麵家's 蝦籽, is made up of toasted then wok-fried grinded white sesame, along with some obviously under-proportioned prawn roes. And it isn't even freshly Stone Mortar grinded sesame, so it had lost even that fresh sesame taste. This MOP80 Sesame-Slash-Prawn Roes is now sitting in my fridge, if anyone doesn't believe me and wants to give it a personal tasting, feel free to shoot me a mail.......!


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Having said that,
I sincerely believe 祥記麵家 does a pretty good noodles dish and I would still go back... It is quite unique in a way and the Sesame Noodles Dish with its Special Sauce is addictive. I do have trouble giving out a Smiley Face though, due to the prawn roes quality alone!

But I guess unlike many normal diners who think its comfortable enough to take things only as they come, for me 比多分, I think life and eating is about a never ending saga to discovering interesting experiences and to re-learning old things and tricks (I mean to put it pessimistically, we'll all die 1 day anyway, why be so anal about it? ) - and as much as I try to limit the controversies involved in adopting such approach as it might rattle some cages in the process or others are bothered by my style of writing which sometimes involves a bit of naughtiness as I'm a really playful person as you can probably guess , at least I try to end up having my own fun, simultaneously finding out some real answers rather than making false assumptions and taking things for granted, and then having everyone else copy and regurgitate the wrong information for generations to come...

Its not even about egoticism and WHO is more right or wrong, its more about WHAT are the truths out there to me.... And if you don't like this approach, just send an assassin or a bomb in the registered mail! Wait, lucky I'm largely anonymous... you'll have to dig deeper to find where I live or work!

Arrived in Macau at 8.30 in the morning. Had planned to take our breakfast at Loja Sopa Da Fita Cheong Kei (Cheong Kei Noodle House) but was let down for the shop only starts operating after 10. Well, I didn't feel dejected as I knew I could always come back during lunch hour. However, we were astonished by the long queue when we returned to the shop at 2. We joined the queue but our waiting was not too long because all the patrons were very understanding and they finished up their meals fast to let the others take the seats.

We placed our order immediately after we were seated. We had made up our mind on what to have during the waiting period. Our choice of food were Wonton noodles with Nam Yue Pig's Trotter and Wonton noodles with shrimp roe (Har Ji Meen). We appreciated the fast service of the restaurant as we were famished by the time we settled ourselves in the shop.

The bamboo-pole noodles were very springy and nice to bite. Besides, the pig's trotter and noodles complement each other and we had enjoyed eating it so much. Apart from that, the shrimp roe sprinkled on top of the noodles is truly an A graded ingredient which has created wonders to the noodles.

Came past this street around 5 months ago for shopping. 1st things 1st: when I was only a few years old more than 20 years ago, I remember everyone and close relatives always loading themselves up with snack items from 咀香園. Nowadays, how things have changed as that shop was completely empty, despite the bleeping annoying 'SOLER brothers' TV commercials (not even 1 single customer! ). Yet 鉅記 next to 祥記麵家 was completely packed!

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雲吞+蝦籽撈麵 -
The 雲吞's were very densely packed with pork meat with little prawns, and despite the miniature size with a long skinned tail the authentic way, they managed to resemble the texture of a 燒賣 rather than fluffy. Not good and below-average.

The Hand-beaten noodles meanwhile are quite different to the Hong Kong offerings. Similar to the 六記 & 黃枝記竹昇麵, they're of the thicker strands compared to our thinner and more rubbery but chewy versions. The Macanese versions are slightly less bitey or firm, they break instantly when you chew on them and always thicker than our versions, resembling more like capellini's.

WHY DID I SAY THAT THE DISHES HERE ARE VERY DECEIVING IN MY HEADING, YOU MAY ASK? - Well its simply because, unlike what many people have said, I find the 蝦籽 here to be not aromatic nor tasty at all, certainly nowhere near the Mak's noodles version in HK. The Aroma and Tastiness of this noodle's dish did not come from these shrimp roes but from the HIDDEN, RENDERED PORK OIL/SOY MIXTURE that was placed beneath the noodles. While lard oil mixtures are mostly served 'pre-mixed by the premise' into the strands or poured/brushed on top of the noodles in HK, 祥記麵家 in Macau places them underneath on the plate before the noodles sit on top. So you might not notice them at first, but as you flip and play with the noodles with your chopsticks, it inevitably 'catches' the aromatic oily sauce coating, giving the false impression that the noodles were 'tasty' and the shrimp roes were 'beautiful'. It also seems to work particularly well with the Macanese 'thicker' but Straighter rather than Curved noodles.

Fooled I was not - and I only tried to point this bit out because that's how I really felt! , but at the end of the day, I did enjoy this noodles but not based on what it was credited and renowned for. The wontons meanwhile were downright POOR.

豬手+蝦籽撈麵 -
Same as above. The 豬手 had a strongish Fermented Beans marination and the gelatinous skin was too over-cooked that time. Average noodles (no wheat's or eggs taste) and average Shrimp Roes and Pork Knuckles, aided by rendered lard oil mixture! Deceiving again!

炸鯪魚球 -
I ordered this version instead of the 米'捅' version in anticipation of the fact that we will visit 六記 afterwards during night time, which is famous for that dish according to my guide book!

The 鯪魚球 we got came with a breadcrumbs coating. The inner fishball's taste was surprisingly bland and also not 'bounciful' in texture enough. It really surprised me as I have heard great things about this dish here (despite everybody else ordering the 米'捅' version with fried vermicelli coating, which will make it crunchier but more deceiving again.). The 'fish meat' part was disappointingly bland and even the 蜆介 sauce it came with, lacked any ALCOHOL aromas and taste, nor the Pipi's natural umami taste. 羅富記's version, whilst not perfect, still beats here handsdown. Don't be fooled by the 米'捅' coating part.... which makes it much more enjoyable but for different reasons altogether!

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OVERALL - The dishes here are fundamentally very average only but somehow, manages to please all customers due to being intelligent and employing certain 'deceiving' enhancements to fool one into liking them.

I will come back here to eat definitely as I in fact found it quite enjoyable, but will do so with my mind clearly knowing that I come here doing so only because I enjoy Lard Oil and probably the hard to find in HK, 米捅 version of 鯪魚球.

MID '3'

The baby prawn in dry noodle was a little too oily and I couldn’t taste or smell any prawn but the noodle itself was pretty nice it’s not too soft or too hard; maybe I should try the jellyfish or grill squid with dry noodle instead.

Dishes ordered:
Baby prawn plus wonton in dry noodle
Pig feet – really tender but the dish was too small
Deep fry Fish ball – it’s not oily and it’s made from nice fresh fish meat you can tell by the taste there were not bad seafood smell to it.
Fish skin – a really smart dish made from the left over skin of the fry fish ball dish and it taste good too.
White radish cooked in chicken stock
Coke in glass bottle and Soya milk in glass bottle

At 11:55 AM, I kept on walking around the store, but it's still not opened yet....

But I kept waiting, and found out that more and more people waiting...

Once it was opened at 12:00 PM, all of us rushed in and took up all the available spaces....

Maybe it's early in the day... the noodles given to us were a bit dry, and make it less delicious...

But I personally recommended the thick noodle.... taste better with beef brisket..!