Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee: $10 prawn noodles at new Michelin Bib awardee, worth it?

We are so back. Last month, I lived to tell the tale of eating prawn noodles for 5 days straight (no questions asked) and since then, I last had a solid bowl of that briny dish a long time ago. 

To satiate my hunger for some hae mee, I came across Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee at Kallang. Sounds familiar? 

Along with Ru Ji Kitchen, this stall is one of the two awardees promoted from the Michelin Selected Category (nearly qualified for Michelin Bib Gourmand or Michelin Star) to the Michelin Bib Gourmand list this year. Congrats!

Despite recently being in the spotlight, the prawn mee veteran has been in operation for over 70 years! Coupled with a Michelin Bib title and decades of experience under their belt, I had high expectations for this legendary spot.

Will it be a letdown?

What I tried at Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee 

Upon reaching the archaic location, I had my eye on their “MUST TRY” Pork Ribs Prawn Mee (Soup/ Dry)(S$6/ S$8/ $10) and the “RECOMMENDED” Sultan Prawn Noodle (Soup/ Dry)(S$10/ S$15).

Yeah, compared to other hae mee stalls I’ve tried, the prices were hefty sia.

According to a staff member, Sultan Prawn Noodles’ S$10 portion includes Tiger Prawns while its S$15 portion includes Sea Prawns. On the other hand, excluding the King Prawn Pork Ribs Noodle (S$10/ S$15), the remaining items on their menu use “much smaller prawns”.

Were these bowls of prawn noodles worth the splurge? Thus, I got myself a titular Sultan Prawn Noodle in Soup (S$10) with my preferred yellow noodles (you can choose among 3 types of slurp-ables here).

Similar to the Google Reviews I have read, there was a large and ever-growing crowd at noon. They were like materialising out of nowhere. Nevertheless, I thanked my lucky stars for dropping by early. The preparations were pretty efficient though!

After getting my ngoh hiang fix from the neighbouring stall that shared the coffeeshop space with Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee (their Prawn Crackers were worth trying), I espied a staff member teetering towards my table with a tray that held several orders including mine.

Notice how I used the word “teetering?” Lo and behold, look at this portion. I cannot imagine how much strength it takes to carry numerous bowls of this weighty dish alone.

For S$10, you will get 6 half-de-shelled Tiger Prawns in a large bowl generously brimmed with broth and noodles. Portion-wise, worth it. However, I was surprisingly indifferent to the taste.

Let’s start from its base. Topped with a teaspoon of shallots and pork lard, the darkly-coloured broth also featured tau geh and stalks of kang kong. It was similar to the “traditional type” at Adam Rd Noo Cheng Big Prawn Noodle. While the full-bodied broth was umami-laden with notes of natural sweetness from the prawn heads, I felt that it was heavy on the palate lah.

With the aforementioned addition of garnishes, I wished that there were a little more. I could taste a subtle savouriness that had the potential to be amplified further, without overpowering the prawn-y taste.

Moving on, I was frankly disappointed by the prawns. Okay, the reason being I think that these could be fresher and cleaner. It was meaty, yes, but unlike my ideal texture of prawns that retains a firm chew, some parts of the Tiger Prawns were inconsistently mushy. Perhaps I should have arrived earlier?

I appreciated that they were served as a whole though, this directly imparts the natural flavours of the prawn heads into the dish.

The portion for the yellow noodles was huge, I almost could not finish it! This carb perfectly soaked up the broth, but the only gripe was that it tasted too alkaline to my liking. After talking to our trusty Office Chef, he explained that yellow noodles yield the highest alkalinity.

Oh, maybe opting for chu mi fen or guo tiao would be better? To be honest, I have always prioritised the Prawns and Broth for every hae mee tasting, so noodles are secondary. Given the circumstances, I will be taking this into account as well.

Final Thoughts

The portion at Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee was the biggest draw to me.

Looking back, I believe that the trajectory of my article may have changed if I tried their Dry Prawn Noodles. You will probably claim that I don’t know how to appreciate dishes that are “重口味 (heavier in taste)“.

To clarify, the prawn broth was rich and flavourful. It just didn’t have the WOW factor and depth I was searching for.

Unfortunately, the biggest setback was the prawns. Once again, I’m not sure if coming earlier will address this issue, but for that high price point, I expected something more. I guess that the “more” is literally the impressively-sized servings ba.

This begs the question: Worth it anot?! Yes, if you prioritise quantity. No, if you prioritise quality.

Considering how the Michelin Bib stall is conveniently located a 3-minute walk from Kallang MRT, swing by if you are craving a decent bowl of prawn mee in the vicinity. Interestingly, despite their adequate share of outstanding reviews, I’ve heard that standards have dropped in comparison to the past.

Has the legend truly lost its lustre?

Expected damage: S$6 to S$15 per pax

We tried Singapore’s best-rated prawn noodles