After quite a long wait at the crowded and hot Jaffe Road with cars bustling around somewhat dangerously, the four of us finally got in. We were led to a table for four but another customer was also sitting there. She didn't mind us sitting there nor did we mind too. The air-con was pretty cool and the interior was nice, bright and clean.

We just had to keep out voices down and speak "less" offensively - which was next to impossible to do so for at least one of my colleagues!

One of my colleagues had been here many times before and she recommended the Laksa, which looked quite tempting on the menu. However, since I've recently tried the prawn mee at "Prawn Noodle Shop", I'd like to compare the two to see the differences.So I ordered the deluxe version at HK$81 with a beverage of your choice. I choose a glass of barley water to cool internal heat as I was expecting the prawn noodle to be quite hot. My colleagues ordered Laksa and a portion of "Tung Choi". Those arrived first.The laksa smelled and looked pretty good!

I tried the veggies a bit. I seem to recall that those were tung choi in prawn sauce and prawn broth. The tung chois were fresh but the taste was on the light side. Definitely less strong than the normal tung chois you have in most Chinese eateries, whether it's fermented bean curd and shredded chilli version or the purple prawn paste version. It's a bit light for me but perhaps less salt means more healthy living. I didn't try the laksa. But my colleagues seemed to like it very much - which showed that the laksa probably wasn't too spicy and should contain quite a lot of coconut milk.

Then my deluxe prawn noodle arrived:It looked pretty substantial and had quite a lot of toppings on it!

The moment it was placed on the table, it had the pretty aromatic smell of fried shallots and garlic, which seemed nice.

The toppings were dried tofu, a big prawn, some fish cakes, some tung choi, pork meat and a lot of fried shallots.

However, to my disappointment, after I've had a sip of the broth, it was not spicy at all! To be fair, they never said it was going to be spicy. I just assumed it.

Broth: The nice part was that the broth had a very aromatic and clear (but light) prawn taste. It also had some pork bone taste as well. (Similar to home made pork broiled soup - not the whitish type you get at ramen shops!) The fried shallots and garlic also enhanced the taste somewhat. I think it was OK. I believe those who appreciate a light prawn broth would like the broth here (it felt a bit like a Cantonese pork and seafood soup but not Singaporean style). But if you're looking for a spicy version of prawn mee, you won't find it here. It's almost a bit like a very light "bah kut teh" with some prawn soup and belachan - if you see what I mean.

I ordered some chilli sauce to go with my broth. However, the chilli sauce was standard sambal sauce. There are tons of variations for sambal sauce and those provided here weren't the strong type. It's more salty than spicy.

The noodles were "Yau Mien" as well. The texture was a bit different from those used at "Prawn Noodle Shop". Those provided here were just as fresh but the texture seemed a bit more firm. The portion was also more generous that those provided at "Prawn Noodle Shop".

The fish cakes were quite fresh and were crisp and had some fish taste. The pork chunks (loin/belly?) were quite tender and the portion was generous. I remembered that they had quite a few pieces inside, so it was quite filling.

The best thing about the prawn mee was the two prawns: It was very fresh, nice and meaty. A lot better than the one provided at Prawn Noodle Shop. This prawn was different from the ones used for other prawn mee, which probably increased the price quite a bit ($20?)

I only managed to take one photo of the interior as a chef who looked very much like a martial artist was calmly observing the whole shop! (resembling Pai Mei in Kill Bill! ) In conclusion:

The broth was quite interesting but not spicy at all. The prawns were very fresh. Generally quite filling.
I think at HK$81 per bowl (plus drinks) it was a bit pricey. OK for those who enjoy a light prawn broth.

If I had to spend time queuing, I'd rather queue for Prawn Noodle Shop. Having said that, I might return here to try out their laksa & satay, which my colleague also recommended.

The service was very good. All the staff were very friendly and smiling all the time.

Worth a try.



總評:

特色蝦麵：

-配料包括大蝦，豆卜，通菜，豬腩（？），魚片．加了大量炒香了的蔥，蒜．可能有點”馬拉盞”．

-湯頭是清香的蝦及豬骨味．與中式的瘦肉湯（或很淡的肉骨茶）有點相似．再加上清甜的蝦湯熬製．完全不是辣的．與”蝦麵店”濃郁帶辣及帶甜的蝦湯有很大分別！

-大蝦：很新鮮．大隻．比”蝦麵店”新鮮厚肉得多．

-油麵：比”蝦麵店”的實一點，亦大碗一點．吃完都飽的．

-薏米水: 跟餐的,正常

HK$81 覺得有點貴．

喇沙：同事叫的．色水好似幾好．椰香撲鼻．應不太辣．

通菜：幾淡口，但新鮮爽脆．

環境：光猛，冷氣夠勁．坐位不算太逼．午市很長人龍．不會特別排．

服務：相當好．阿姐服務殷勤，有效率，又有笑容．其中一名大廚貌似武林高手！

一試無妨．

This place serve the most disgusting and yuckiest Prawn Mee and Mee Siam i have ever tasted. So bad that i can't get it down my throat.
The Laksa is edible but not fantastic

My friend is from Singapore and he highly recommended this place. So we went in one Saturday afternoon.
We ordered 2 bowls of laksa, an order of咖央多士 and my friend said we must try his favorite dish 羅惹.
Laksa was the first to arrived – I immediately scoped a big spoonful of the soup. It is not the thick broth that I have had in Singapore. You can taste the coconut in the soup but it’s not overwhelming, it’s only mild spicy. I like it!

We order a combo of noodle and vermicelli for the Laksa. It is very interesting. There were lots of veggie in the Laksa but not enough shrimp (only 3 pieces of half shrimp).
咖央多士 tasted good, but the thin layer of 咖央 wasn’t enough to even spread on the thin toast.
I find 羅惹 a bit strange. There is a dark sweet sauce (plum sauce?) mixed with pineapple, guava, cucumber, tofu, deep-fried rice stick and other veggie. It’s refreshing but it’s not my cup of tea.
I closed the deal with a glass of iced Milo. It’s so rare to find Milo in a restaurant. So I cherished each gulp of it and finished it nice and clean.


One thing to mention – there are not many seats and the space for table for 4 is kind of small. I would only recommend this place those who want a quick bite.

2 days after my visit to the Sabah Malaysian Cuisine (SMC) nearby , I came here for Laksa again.
I ordered their "Traditional/Genuine Laksa. Since I was having lunch on my own again, I got to sit with the other 3 people in the same table and I felt awkward when they were not talking much at all. The environment is very crowded with lots of tables tightly placed in a small shop.
It takes about 10-15 mins until the laksa is ready. The size is similar to the SMC but there are cockles and half a hard boiled egg as well. The broth is rich in coconut and is very creamy, I like this even more than that of SMC!!
Since I dont like cockles, I will not go for this supreme one next time.

There are so many places serving laksa in Hong Kong. After so many disappointments, I was so glad to try Katong Laksa.
It's officially my favorite laksa in Hong Kong so far.
I ordered their supreme laksa, which includes large prawns and cockles in super tasty and creamy broth. A must try!
Summer is here, and rojak (fruit and veggie salad) is just perfect. A very refreshing mix of jicama, pineapple, guava, tofu puffs, cucumber, yau jar gwai (Chinese deep fried dough) topped with tasty dark dressing with some crunch from peanuts. Delightful! I feel that their rojak is even much better than the ones I've tried in Malaysia/Singapore.
Their satay was lovely too! Tender, juicy and tasty meat with peanut topping.
Their homemade barley juice drink cured my longing for the ones I've had in Singapore.
I can't wait to go back and try other dishes.
http://mochachocolatarita.blogspot.com

After trying numerous Singapore cuisines in HK, this is the best so far.

I used to get Laksa from here nearly thrice a week, but once the Laksa was super spicy, so I got deterred from it.

I decided to give it another go, and the Laksa was back to normal, not that spicy.

Ordered Laksa with beef Rendang, the Laksa tasted as good as usual, and the beef rendang was authentic according to my SG friend.

The drinks were perfect too, the barley water was not too sweet, and had a hint of pandan, the texture of the barley water was slightly thick.
The lime soda was literally lime + soda, a can soda with wedges of lime which tasted quite refreshing.

Finally the dessert was mango coconut sago, and as a Anti-Asian dessert person, I really liked it, it was pieces of mango on top of Coconut paste and sago, which is much more natural than mango pudding. The coconut paste was real coconut instead of the processed coconut cream which is a bit fake, and the syrup on top made the whole thing sweet naturally rather than pre-mixed.

I had a sudden craving for Laksa this afternoon and with my friend's recommendation for this outlet in Wan Chai, I decided to give it a try. Since there are a few items I wanted to try in addition to the laksa, I decided to call up my friend (around 5:30pm) who works nearby to join me on this little food venture on a Tuesday evening. With such short notice, my friend actually said yes and together with my friend and her mom, the three of us headed down soon after work.

It was not as crowded as I expected when we arrived around 7pm, so we can actually pick our seats. The restaurant is of a very casual but cozy style with relatively strong air conditioning (which is good!). Before I forgot, I have to give this place two big thumbs up for their impeccable services! Not only was the service very attentive, it was detailed and responsive as well, way beyond my expectation. Read on and you will see what I mean.

(1) Laksa Supreme
(with Prawns, cockles Fish Cakes, Egg, Shredded Chicken, and dried bean curd) According to my friend who introduced this place to me, one of the rare items in the laksa is the cockles (鮮蚶 ) which is not a common ingredient you find in Hong Kong while it is standard in laksa served in Singapore or Malaysia. I liked it. Anyhow, back to the rest of the laksa! Based on my humble knowledge, a so called traditional laksa should consist of a mixture of clear and "oil" noodles but what was served consisted of only clear noodles. Almost all laska I tried in Hong Kong use only one type of noodles. Nonetheless, the clear noodles served was slightly chewy and together with the moderately spicy soup, it was delicious! I only wish the soup was a little bit more thicker, richer and with more coconut sauce / paste. Alright, at this point I need to talk about its great service! While I was serving the laksa to my friend and her mom, I was being very careful because of the possible splashes of the soup when serving the noodles. The staff came over and asked me if I need a big napkins to protect my pretty white shirt from the possible splashes. Wow, I did not expect such detailed observation and responsiveness from the staff, I was, and I am still, surprised and greatful to get such services.

(2) Hainanese Chicken
It looked tasty but it was actually relatively light in flavors and was a bit dry. However, if you eat with the skin, then you can get more flavors out of it (together with the various standard sauces)

(3) Beansprouts and "Tung Choy"
A simple and delightful dish of vegetables without much oil. Simplicity is the secret formula sometimes.

(4) Pork Ribs Soup with Herbs 肉骨茶 (Bak Kut Teh)
At this point, our plates and bowls had been replaced by cleaner sets because our plates were full of chicken bones and the next serving was the Bak Kut Teh. Again, unexpected service level. The soup was hot and the taste was strong but lacked a bit of the Chinese herb flavors I heart for. Sabah's Bak Kut Teh has a very strong Chinese herb flavors in my opinion.

(5) Singapore Satay
Not sure why they called it Singapore Satay, maybe of some secret ingredients from Singapore in the sauce? Anyhow, we ordered 3 skewers of chicken and 3 of beef. It was hot off the grill because I almost brunt my tongue eating the chicken skewers. I prefer the chicken over the beef because it was more tender and the seasoning / spices used complimented the chicken better than the beef when eating without the sauce which was a bit weak in flavors by the way.

Likes:

* Service, Service and Great Service
* Laksa - not bad, would be better if the soup was thicker and with more coconut sauce.
* Singapore Satay - especially the seasoned chicken skewer

Dislikes:

* Not enough Chinese Herb flavors in the 肉骨茶 (Bak Kut Teh)
* Hainanese Chicken - relatively weak in flavors (unless you eat with the skins)

Original Blog: http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2009/08/katong-laksa-prawn-mee.html

i have been visiting this restaurant ever since it's first branch was opened in sheung wan, but i enjoy the added convenience of this branch as i live in causeway bay.

i sort of think that the standard of this branch is slightly below the one in sheung wan (probably because the original chefs are there) but then all the ingredients should be the same.

i've read some negative comments below which i found some of them being quite funny because it seems like some of them who hasn't really tasted the real laksa but pretend like an expert. my girlfriends were singaporeans and i've traveled much enough to know what exactly malay food tastes like - this is my suggestion for those who hasn't tried the real laksa to pay a visit in singapore or malaysia just to avoid yourself looking stupid.

anyways, there are more than just one type of laksa (the ones in singapore are actually more similar to those in KL and penang and the ones in ipoh are stronger in curry flavor). this restaurant offers strong singaporean style laksa and you know it's done properly that they got thai cockles in the bowl (remember those chiuchowese ones are much cheaper). soup base is great (but they often make it a bit too thick so you might have to make request when ordering) but hope they can get some proper fish cakes soon.

prawn mee isn't really a great thing of this store, as if you wanna eat prawn mee then you must go to the one in landale street (prawn mee store) - however, mee siam in this store tastes exactly the same as the ones in singapore - highly recommended.

dry prawn mee is ok as long as you request "mee pok" (means thick noodle in fukienese). they'll give you proper chilly to go with it upon request.

with the good portion served in this restaurant, this is definitely my favorite laksa store in hk (FYI another one on johnston road called pasar also serves the same laksa but provides greater variety of food, just smaller portion).

and for those who doesn't know - shut up and read more.