[Review] One Prawn & Co by Red Marble – Claypot Prawn Noodle with Shabu Pork and more

Headed by a young, but experienced chef, Chef Gwyneth Ang, One Prawn & Co occupies an entire coffeeshop on the first floor of a block of shophouses at MacPherson Road.

Do not be fooled by her youthful look, Chef Gwyneth has over ten years of culinary experience under her belt, having earned her stripes at established restaurants like Burnt Ends, Tong Le Private Dining and Forlino. Before launching One Prawn & Co, the brand started out as One Prawn Noodle, a popular modern hawker stall at Golden Mile Food Centre. One Prawn Noodle was founded by Chef Gwyneth and her business partner, Kun, whom she met while working together at Michelin-starred Burnt Ends. The duo later took the bold move to expand their business from one hawker stall to taking up an entire coffeeshop.

What is so special about One Prawn & Co that keep regulars going back again and again for their signature prawn noodles?

The answer to that is to pay attention to the basic – the broth.

100 Litres Daily – The 24-hour Prawn Broth that Never Stops Boiling

“All the prawn noodles (broth) that I eat around all taste like pork ribs; doesn’t taste like prawns!” Quipped Chef Gwyneth candidly on what her formula for success was.

Described as a hybrid between Penang Prawn Noodles and Japanese Tonkotsu-style broth, the secret to One Prawn & Co’s success is a broth that never stops boiling. Day and night, the boilers at the restaurant are kept on a constant high to extract flavours from over 48kg of prawn heads and pork bones.

Daily, 100 litres of collagen-rich prawn broth is created in the kitchen. It takes almost 4 hours to peel, rinse, blend and fry a whopping 18kg of prawn heads just for one batch of broth.

Claypot Prawn Noodle with Shabu Shabu Pork, Ngoh Hiang Fritters and more

The menu at One Prawn & Co can broadly be distinguished into two main items – Claypot Prawn Noodle and Ngoh Hiang Fritters. The difference between what you get here and at your regular hawker stalls is an added level of finesse to elevate the dining experience, answering the Singapore government’s call for the next generation of hawkerpreneurs to preserve our hawker legacy.

For instance, instead of the usual pork ribs, you can add Japanese-style shabu shabu sliced pork in your prawn noodles, lala, Tobiko prawn balls and more.

You also get to customise your individual portion of prawn noodle, right down to the type of noodles you want (yellow noodles, thin bee hoon, thick bee hoon or kway tiao) as well as the combination/type of ingredients and add-ons.

For the ngoh hiang, Chef Gwyneth explained to us, how she only fries each piece of fritter, one at a time, unlike how most others fry in batches. This is because different items have different ideal frying time and she wants to ensure the best quality is delivered for every item sent to the customers’ table.

The result?

Delicious fritters, fried to perfection, sent fresh from the wok to your table, without excess grease dripping off the edges. To further elevate the enjoyment, the sambal chili sauce is a housemade specialty too.

Prices start from $8.50 for a tasting platter for 1 to 2 pax to $13.50 for a full platter that serves 4 to 5 pax. Alternatively, you can also order them ala carte.

For their signature prawn noodles, we tried their most luxurious Five Fortune Jumbo Prawns Claypot ($30), Lala & Prawns Claypot ($14) and Shabu Sliced Pork & Prawns Claypot ($14). Each order comes with a serving of noodles.

The Five Fortune features all the ingredients they have – Jumbo Prawns, Tobiko Prawn Balls, Shabu Sliced Pork, Lala and Pork Ribs.

We like that the ingredients are all very fresh and well-prepared, with the prawns all nicely unshelved around the bodies for ease of eating, while keeping the prawn heads intact for the flavouring of the broth.

The signature broth is lighter in taste than the regular porky prawn noodle broth which we are used to and as such, the prawn flavours come out more.

Compared to regular hawker food pricing, the prices here are a tad higher, but compared to restaurants, it is very wallet-friendly. I think this may be the sweetspot pricing between the two for future hawkerpreneurs. There is a yearn for a more elevated hawker dining experience, with customers willing to pay more for it. One Prawn & Co is well-positioned for this market segment.

Their serving is huge and hearty by the way. I usually can finish an order of prawn noodle or ramen by myself, but I almost couldn’t finish my portion.

I will be back for more with friends. 🙂

One Prawn & Co

Address: 458 MacPherson Rd, Singapore 368176

Tues – Sun

11am – 5pm
Monday Closed

Tel: +65 98788897
Email: [email protected]