From soba to ramen to rigatoni, there’s no wrong way to roll and cut noodles — but these are our favourites doing it in Hong Kong.
Noodles. There’s little more comforting than dough, rolled this way and that; then, boiled, strained and served smothered with marinara. Or, served piping in a bowl of steeped-for-an-entire-day broth. Or, even, served cold with julienned pears and cucumbers as garnish.
Much like the Best Pastry category in our MMMs Awards, noodles are, in all honesty, much too generic of an umbrella term to truly let us get into the nitty-gritty of the very, very best. So, just treatour MMMs Awards winners (special shoutout to our exclusive sponsor foodpanda) as the cream of the crop of the very best noodle dishes — be it udon, pho or tsukemen — you can slurp up in Hong Kong.
(And, fingers-crossed, look out for a Best Pasta category in the 2022 edition of the MMMs Awards!)
Where to get the best noodles in Hong Kong
TamJai SamGor
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MMMs Awards Eaters’ Choice Winner
There is the humdrum mixian noodle, then there’s TamJai SamGor. Holding court in their new LKF location (amongst many, many others), this is where homey, comforting bowls of slurpy noodles can be personalised to perfection. Don’t sleep on the thin-sliced pork belly smothered with mashed garlic, too.
TamJai SamGor, (various locations), G/F, Hong Kong House, 15D-19 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2712 9738
Carbone
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MMMs Awards Winner
Carbone’s original Greenwich Village location is home to many, many celebrity sightings, but the real star of the show from this New York transplant is their spicy vodka rigatoni. Don’t get one to share; you’re going to want your own.
Carbone, 9/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2593 2593
Roji
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MMMs Awards Winner
Nestled in the shadows of LKF, Roji is hardly a kept secret — you might have heard the riotous cheers of sake bombs being slammed and sloshed all the way from D’Aguilar Street. While the drinks are excellent, stop by this Japanese izakaya for their bites, too. It was the Mentaiko Udon that really stole our hearts — and will keep us coming back.
Roji, G/F, 20A D’Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong, +852 9884 0704
Rollie
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MMMs Awards Winner
From Cookie DPT to Carbs and, now, Rollie, Wil Fang has all but proved he’s no One Trick Pony. Roll by Rollie for the hand rolls, the sushi and the snow crab udon — but also roll by for the sick puns.
Rollie, G/F, 32 Cochrane Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2845 9244
DAM:A
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MMMs Awards Winner
Not much has changed in Okra’s Sheung Wan location since DAM:A has taken over the joint. The address is the same. The decor, identical. What’s new, though, is DAM:A’s mouthwatering menu, with serve after serve after serve of utter deliciousness. Every single noodle dish is good, as are their entrées. No notes.
DAM:A, G/F, 110 Queen’s Road West, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
KiKi Noodle Bar
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MMMs Awards Winner
You might have already tried KiKi branded noodles from the comforts of your own home (they’re delicious!) but KiKi has since expanded with storefronts in ifc Mall and K11 MUSEA, so you can slurp up these Taiwanese favourites exactly as they’re meant to be enjoyed: piping hot, and topped over with KiKI’s special spicy sauce.
KiKi Noodle Bar, (various locations), Unit 406, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, +852 2111 3764
More noodle favourites we love:
- Samsen: There are two things you’d expect from a trip to Samsen. One: A queue, that’s a given. Two: Ordering their Wagyu Beef Boat Noodle Soup, because you cannot go without if you’re lucky enough to get a seat.
- Mashi No Mashi: Mashi No Mashi’s menu is small because perfection needs no substitutions, and their tokusei wagyu tsukemen is nothing short of perfection. Slow-cooked Ozaki beef sits atop a bed of whole-wheat noodles, served with a soft-boiled egg, cabbage, bamboo shoots and chef Hisato Hamada’s signature eyes-cast-downwards-arm-reaching-outwards presentation pose.
- Cô Thành: Cô Thành may have moved from Kau U Fong into Basehall and Pacific Place, but their signature Phở Bò, Bún Bò Huế and Bún Thái — all traditional, age-old recipes by Nguyễn Thi Thành, better known as The Lunch Lady — are here to stay.
- Hungry Korean: Hungry Korean is one of the city’s quickest, easiest routes to consuming as many Gim Bap medallions as possible, but don’t sleep on their Neng Myun and Ramyun noodle dishes, either.
- Butao: Butao’s heaping bowls, which stay true to the Japanese Hakata tonkotsu tradition, come signature (“Butao”); with squid ink (“Black King”); with an almost inordinate amount of spice (“Red King”); and with olive oil, basil and Parmesan cheese powder (“Green King”) — so you can really pick your poison. Or, uh, ramen.
- Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao: It’s in the name! In case you were distracted by the xiao long bao denomination, the two words immediately preceding it, la mian, means noodles — it’s all hand-pulled at Crystal Jade. Go for the signature Dan Dan noodles.
- Ming Ming Cart Noodle Bar: Modernising the cart noodle (車仔麵) experience, Ming Ming Cart Noodle Bar lets you customise your perfect bowl with both traditional ingredients and ingredients a little more innovative (chicken wing tips, anyone?).
- Mak’s Noodle: There isn’t a bowl of wonton noodles in Hong Kong with quite as much history and clout as the ones served at Mak’s Noodle on Wellington Street, now run by third-generation descendants of the original founder Mak Woon-chi.
- Zagin Soba: If you ever walk past Gough Street and spot a queue, it’d probably be leading into Zagin Soba and their signature bowls of chicken broth-based ramens.
- Nam Kee Noodle: From a humble food trolley in Wong Chuk Hang to an award-winning franchise across Hong Kong and South Korea, Nam Kee Noodle, really, needs no introduction. No bowl of rice noodles from Nam Kee is complete without their trademark spring rolls.
- Xuân: Name a better beef pho in Hong Kong than the one on Xuân’s menu, complete with Angus prime rib and a steeped-for-24-hours beef broth.
- Shugetsu: Michelin-recommended Shugetsu is yet another favourite amongst ramen-heads, with their tsukemen and ramen swimming in a shoyu broth made with a soy sauce fermented for 18 months in a 100-year-old wooden basket.
- Ichiran: Sometimes, you’ve just got to slurp in the company of nobody but you. Ichiran’s cordoned-off seating arrangement lets you enjoy a classic tonkotsu ramen — spice, richness, garlic and dashi levels all customisable — with no one to bear witness. Slurp away.
The above list was compiled by Nathan Erickson, Sandra Kwong, Joey Wong and Lorria Sahmet.
For more delicious food, see all the winners of Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong’s The MMMs Awards.