River South (Hoe Nam) Prawn Noodle – Two Different Flavours Under One Roof

River South (Hoe Nam) Prawn Noodle ('RSPN') is one of the most highly rated Prawn Noodle / Mee place in Singapore. A quick google will find that there are lots of glowing reviews of this establishment. This place can be consider as an 'almost' 24 hours eatery. The reason being that it is run in 2 shifts. The morning/afternoon shift is run by the sisters from the stall in middle part of the coffee shop, while at night to the wee hours in the morning, the brother run the front stall. Quite a unique arrangement.

On our first visit, we went during the day around 1PM. Although it was raining, the coffee shop was packed. We need to wait a while for a table to be available. There are two ladies in the store calling the shots. One of them responsible for taking the order and the other to check if the order is completed properly.

The Stall run by the Sisters

The Menu Board

Little Devil ('LD') ordered for me the Prawn Noodle with Clams ($7), while she had the medium size Big Prawn Noodle ($5). Normally I would prefer pork ribs, but they run out of it that day.

Big Prawn Noodle

The broth looks light in colour with a slight cloudiness. First sip of the broth, you can taste the sweetness of the prawns and pork bones. The prawns are fresh while the yellow noodle is still crunchy. We normally like to mix the noodle with bee hoon, as bee hoon is better in absorbing the broth. The clams on mine is sweet, springy and resilient. Although we find the prawn noodle is good, we don't think that it is that fantastic as reviewed by many bloggers. The broth seems to be diluted, not robust enough. Some of the prawns are overcooked. We are puzzled on where the hype is coming from.

Prawn Noodle with Clams

Unsatisfied with the previous tasting and unfulfilled Prawn Mee cravings, LD decided we need to give it another try. This time around we went there for supper. The stall are run by all male crew.

The Night Stall (Not Open in the Morning)

The Night Stall

The Menu

We had Big Prawn & Sliced Pork ($7); and Abalone Clams, Prawn, Pork Ribs, Pig Tails and Intestines ($12). From the first sight, the soup looks similar. Clear with a slight cloudiness in it. For the taste part, it is so much better, very robust and full of flavour. The prawns are fresh although it is still overcooked, the pork ribs and tails are tender and the small intestines are clean.

Big Prawn & Sliced Pork 

For the noodles, we combine the yellow noodle with bee hoon. The bee hoon absorbs the broth better and carry it well with every slurp of the noodle. We actually very tempted to ask for a top up of the broth. Yummyy!

Abalone Clams, Prawn, Pork Ribs, Pig Tails and Intestines

As this is a coffee shop and self service, we won't comment would say no more about those service topics.

Overall, we find the Prawn Noodle at night is better compare to the morning version. The broth in the evening is just more robust. You can tell that the Prawn Mee has a lot of similarity, however this time around the execution in the evening is just much better. Cheers!!!

Food: 7/10 (morning), 9/10 (evening)

Value: 7.5/10

Service: N/A

Ambiance: N/A

Budget per Person: $0 - $10

River South (Hoe Nam) Prawn Noodle

31 Tai Thong Crescent

Singapore 347859

Tel: 6281 9293

Op Hours:

Tue – Sun: 06.30 – 04.30

Closed once a month on Monday