Restaurant Review - Hana Prawn Mee - Hong Kong

Am I in Malaysia?

Impression

Needless to say, Asian cuisine has its wide variety to the point that they could be totally different from cities to cities. With years of history, now it has developed to a very mature stage where even in the same location, different styled could be demonstrated. This time when we were looking for places to pay a visit, we found it a hard time to trim down the scope haha. We were looking for somewhere which served affordable and authentic Malaysian cuisines in a convenient spot.

We have ordered Dinner Set for 2 (HKD 198) which includes a Starter (5 choices), Vegetables (4 choices), 2 Main Dishes (9 choices), 2 bowls of rice (or an additional HK20 for Laska noodles), and 2 Desserts (or an additional HKD12 for the Malaysian Special Drinks).

For the Starter, we have ordered Chive Dumplings (4 pcs). Freshly fried, we found it quite a good one given that the portion of vegetables were more than the meat, and on average 1-2 prawns have been added too to give the flavour an extra kick. What's inside was quite similar to the Chinese dumplings, just the presentation of it, or how it's been wrapped was different.

For the Vegetables, this one is Water Spinach with Sambal which has marked the first time for us to taste Sambal. Simply put, it's a sauce tastes a bit like XO sauce, with the equal amount of freshness of seafood - mainly from the deep-fried prawns - but less spicy. As you can imagine, it's quite a good match with the water spinach, which is a very common type of veggies used in local restaurants.

One of the Main Dishes we ordered is the Bak-Kut-Teh, such a classic classic. However, we found it quite disappointing given that the meats provided was very very average - just some random sliced meats that has no flavours in it at all; the soup base was unexpectedly tasteless with a slight flavour of black pepper and that's it; last but not least, the ingredients here include few sliced meats, mushrooms and fried tofu-puff, and nothing else! It is quite hard to imagine such quality of a classic dish would be served by a Malaysian place.

Let's forget the previous one, and the other Main Dishes Beef Rendang is a much better choice. The sauce is rich and flavourful, with a light flavour in coconut milk - not as spicy and creamy as we imagined - but still it has successfully drew out the flavours of the meats. Serving with the white rice allows us to soak up the soupy goodness. Generous amount of brisket has been given and they are all tender and being cooked with the right amount of time.  It served with few okra which we found quite pleasing.

Here's the Malaysian Special Drinks Lime Soda (an additional HKD12) which is not literally a classic but we just felt like we want one haha. Nothing can stop us from having this freezing drink in winter time!

Meet and Exceed?

As mentioned in the Impression, we totally agree that somehow even for a same location, the so-called "authentic" dishes could be varied, and apparently there's no such thing as 100% authentic. Especially when the restaurant opened in a place where far from its original, it's unavoidable to adjust the recipe in order to suit the locals' taste and habits. After all, the business needs to be sustainable and we found it totally acceptable. In conclusion, this place for sure served affordable up-to-standard food items with a light flavour, and super comfy sitting environment!

Hana Prawn Mee // 852-3467 7868 // Facebook page 

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