Penang Seang Lim Toptaste Hokkien Mee

Penang Seang Lim Toptaste Prawn Mee (27 February 2016)


Penang Seang Lim Toptaste Hokkien Mee (GPS: 5.4168, 100.32265) is a Hokkien Mee stall at Pinang Delicious Food Court, at Macalister Road, Penang.



Today my wife and I were going to Ah Soon Kor Har Mee to enjoy its Hokkien Mee, but when we got there, we saw that the shop was closed. So we wandered to Macalister Road, where we saw that there is a Hokkien Mee stall that we have not tried before. It is at Pinang Delicious Food Court. Outside the food court, the stall has a banner saying "Penang Seang Lim Toptaste since 1983". The stall itself has a big prawn on it with the words "蝦面王" (Prawn Noodle King).

The small, aka regular bowl, is RM4.50. On that, you can add on various items, the prices of which are listed on the menu.

Penang Seang Lim Toptaste Hokkien Mee Price List (27 February 2016)


We want the stall to "give us your best shot", so we straightaway ordered two RM9 bowls. There was a waiting time of about 10 minutes or so, which give us confidence that the Hokkien Mee must be good, since there are other orders ahead of ours.

Finally our orders arrived, and here's how our RM9 bowl of Hokkien Mee look like.

Our two bowls of Hokkien Mee (27 February 2016)


It has, as the order states, pork ribs and mantis prawns. At first I thought there was minced meat, but my wife corrected me, saying that's mantis prawns that has been minced.

The Hokkien Mee is incredibly salty. If you have been to Ah Soon Kor Har Mee, you will find that it is quite salty too, but Penang Seang Lim's Hokkien Mee is even more salty.

A closer look at the Hokkien Mee (27 February 2016)


What I do like about this Hokkien Mee is the pork lard. Though I have to admit that it is a bit strange to find pork lard in Hokkien Mee.

What I do not like, and find it strange in an unpleasant way, is the minced mantis prawns. As I've mentioned, in the beginning I didn't even know it is mantis prawns. I thought it was minced meat, which also would make it a first ever for Hokkien Mee. No, it's mantis prawns. But the mantis prawns have an odd taste that is disagreeable to me. It doesn't taste fresh. Yes, that's the thing. It tastes like something that has gone bad. My wife described it as "minced meat marinated in tau joo". Maybe it is a delicacy and a speciality of this stall, but the taste puts me off.

While I suppose this Hokkien Mee stall will have its own fans, I am sorry to say that its taste is not quite agreeable to me. Perhaps the minced mantis prawns spoilt it all. At least, not my idea of tasty Hokkien Mee. Price wise, at RM9 it is on the high side. Also, I don't find any prawns. I suppose there are small shrimps which went into making the soup, but I would have expected big prawns. But it was nowhere on the menu, which is a bit disappointing to me.

List of Hawker Stalls in Penang