Beach Road Prawn Noodle House 美芝律大虾面 is one of the most famous hae mee shops in Singapore. We went to have prawn mee lunch at East Coast Road recently in 2022 to see how things have changed since our last post in 2015.
Beach Road Prawn Noodles shop has not changed much over the years. It still occupies 2 shop-houses along East Coast Road near the East Coast-Telok Kurau Junction. A no-frill coffee shop, it has maintained a clean and airy look all these years. The shop has 2 stalls, the prawn noodles stall, which also sells drinks, and a ngoh hiang stall.
Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House – Best Time to Visit
Another thing that remains the same is that it can get very crowded, especially during the weekends and lunchtime on weekdays. However, they have a fairly efficient system. At peak hours, when there is a queue to get in, diners are shown their table. Take note of your table number as the food and drinks will be brought to the table. From recent experience, the best time to visit Beach Road Prawn Noodles is around 2.30pm on a weekday. This is a picture of the Monday crowd around 1.30pm (which we thought was late enough for the crowd to have cleared).
This is a picture of the crowd on a different Monday at 2.30 pm. It was a picture of calm and tranquility. The magic hour seems to be 2 pm. But there is also a reason not to go too late as they may be sold out even before the designated closing time of 4 pm.
This is a picture of the other shophouse – nice and serene on the quiet Monday (2.30 pm).
East Coast Ngoh Hiang
Sharing the shop space with the prawn noodles is a small stall simply known as East Coast Ngoh Hiang. It has a steady flow of customers but its traffic is much lower than the prawn noodles. Since the range of prawn noodles is limited we believe many people (like us) may want to have some deep-fried items such as ngoh hiang and fishballs to add variety to the meal. We are glad that it is still here.
The range of food is not very wide but there are the usual items found in ngoh hiang stalls – Fritters, fish cakes, spring rolls, tofu etc. They will be deep-fried before being served to your table.
Here is a picture of our modest selection from East Coast Ngoh Hiang. I cannot remember the precise pricing, but the total cost of this was around $6.
Beach Road Prawn Noodle Prices 2022
The Beach Road prawn mee menu is very straight forward. Five versions of prawn versions are available – regular prawn mee, prawn with pork ribs, prawn with pig tail, pork ribs or tail mee and Jumbo prawn mee ($12.50). Other than the Jumbo, the rest can be ordered in S, M , L sizes that cost $6.50, $9.50 and $12.50 respectively. The default noodles served is a mix of bee hoon and yellow noodles.
2015 Prices
This is a picture of our visit in 2015. Everything looks roughly the same except the prices.
In 2015, the prices of the prawn noodles were – small ($5.80), medium ($8.80) and large ($11.80). There is an increase of 70 cents which is quite reasonable in our opinion, considering how prices for everything in Singapore have jumped these days. The small bowl should be sufficient for a person with an average appetite. You can read more about our 2015 visit here.
What We Ate in 2022
Below is a picture of some of the items that we tried in 2022. Clockwise from top left – Prawn mee with pork ribs, medium size ($9.50); Jumbo prawn mee ($12.50) and regular prawn mee, small size ($6.50)
The quality of the food has not changed much over the years. The prawns were fresh. The pork ribs noodles use the same soup base as the prawn noodles. The mee and bee hoon were well cooked to retain a nice texture. The soup had an intense prawn flavour, enhanced by generous amounts of fried shallots and pork lard. We found every thing to be very enjoyable.
Prawn Mee
The basic prawn in a small portion ($6.50) is the most affordable way to enjoy the flavours of Beach Road prawn noodle. Two prawns, sliced in half, provide for topping for this dish. The wonderful soup is the same as the pricier versions.
Beach Road Prawn Noodle with Pork Rib
For those who have a bigger appetite, the medium portion ($9.50, picture below) may be the answer. The pork ribs are cooked till soft and falling off the bone. For those trying BRPM for the first time, this combination can be a good intro.
Jumbo Prawn Mee
The “jumbo” here refers to the size of the prawn. The amount of noodles and soup was not much more than the small portion. Three large prawns, sliced in half, were present in our bowl. The texture of the jumbo prawns was firmer. The thicker shells mean that they were easier to remove from the prawn. This alone will be the reason to order the jumbo for those who dislike fiddling with de-shelling. If I have to do it again, I think two bowls of the prawn mee (2 x $6.50) would offer better value for money than the Jumbo ($12.50).
The picture below shows a jumbo prawn placed next to two small prawns. I find the small ones sweeter but harder to navigate. Overall we were glad to revisit Beach Road Prawn Noodle House again after so long. The 2022 prices have increased but not as bad as we had feared.
Beach Road Prawn Noodle House 美芝律大虾面
370 East Coast Road
Singapore 428981
Tel : +65 6345 7196
Opening Hours: 7 am to 4 pm
Closed on Tuesdays
The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog
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