Videos of steaming opeh leaf noodle parcels from the newly opened Hokkien Mee Club have been popping up all over social media. Behind the Newton Food Centre stall is Mitchell Ong, 27, co-founder of Shiok Hokkien Mee, which has grown into a ten-outlet chain in three years.
The slightly fancier spinoff soft-launched on Oct 2, offering noodles cooked in a crab-enriched stock, plus wild-caught ang kar (firmer red-legged) prawns all wrapped in an old-school opeh leaf. This natural food wrapping comes from the inner leaf sheath of the betel nut palm, and adds a welcome earthy aroma to dishes.
The plated version costs $6.50, $10 and $15 for small, medium and large respectively, compared with $6, $8 and $10 at Shiok. Opeh leaf-wrapped noodles come in medium ($9.50) and large ($15) only.
Mitchell personally helms the wok here, telling 8days.sg: “I just want to achieve a Michelin star, no matter how long it takes. Even if it takes five years, I will be here.”
From five Shiok outlets to ten
When 8days.sg last spoke to Mitchell and business partner Kendrick Tan, also 27, last year, Shiok had five outlets. Friends since primary school, they served together in the Singapore Police Force during NS. Kendrick stayed on in the force before joining Mitchell in the hawker business in 2024.
Mitchell previously worked in sales and marketing before joining his dad and younger brother Andre at their family’s biz You Fu Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle full-time in 2022. He later took over the Golden Mile Food Centre stall and rebranded it Shiok.
His dad still runs You Fu at Chinatown Complex Food Centre, while Andre is no longer involved in the business.
Mitchell says he and his brother funded their first stall with their savings. Together with their other business partners, they have since invested “about $300,000 to $400,000” in the business.
“My goal is a lot bigger than just money”
Why launch a separate brand at Newton instead of another Shiok outlet? Mitchell says maintaining consistency across a growing chain is challenging. Hokkien Mee Club lets him focus on one stall in pursuit of Michelin recognition rather than just profit.
“My goal is a lot bigger than just money,” he says.
“We use very fresh products and also more expensive seafood,” Mitchell explains. “We mainly focus more on the cooking techniques over here.”
$30K investment, monthly rent of $4,888
Mitchell started the stall with managers from his Shiok outlets as business partners. The setup cost about $30,000, covering renovations, equipment, the rental deposit and NEA-related costs.
Monthly rent is $4,888, which seems relatively modest for a Newton location (perhaps being right beside the washroom is a factor).
Mitchell says choosing Newton was deliberate: he wanted a location where he could charge prices that would accommodate his more expensive ingredients.
Spends $600 daily on stock ingredients
Mitchell spends around $600 daily on soup stock ingredients, simmering it for up to 20 hours the day before and straining out the solids before service.
“We cannot overcook the seafood,” he says, explaining that he gently cooks the prawns rather than boiling them vigorously, then transfers them to an ice bath.
The Shiok chain features vannamei prawns (white leg shrimp) for all sizes. Here, only the small portion of Hokkien mee is cooked with vannamei; medium and large portions star the bigger ang kar prawns.
Mitchell’s dad initially questioned spending so much on ingredients for a staple dish like Hokkien mee. Even after hearing about his son’s Michelin ambitions, he remained doubtful — but gave the noodles his approval after tasting them.
Old-school opeh leaf parcels
Mitchel says he introduced the opeh leaf wrapping here as it traps the noodles’ aroma and adds fragrance to the noodles. The leaf-wrapped Hokkien mee comes with pork belly, prawns, squid and pork lard, plus chilli served alongside.
Diners are instructed to wait five minutes before opening the parcel, allowing the noodles to soak up the stock and the leaf’s fragrance.
Business has been brisk since opening, with Mitchell telling 8days.sg that the stall sells about 300 plates a day.
“I never expected it to sell so well,” Mitchell says of the opeh parcels, adding that he had to arrange a last-minute delivery of the wrapping from his supplier a few days after opening.
He says diners have also responded positively to the larger prawns and richer seafood flavour of the broth.
Reactions from netizens on Facebook have been more mixed. “The opeh leaf aroma makes it extra fragrant and nostalgic — truly shiok!” wrote @LG Cheng. However, @Xia Lan Kia cautioned, “don’t be fooled by the leaf packing, taste very normal only”.
“We are giving our best every day,” says Mitchell.
The taste
Our colleague tried medium portions of both the regular ($10) and opeh leaf-wrapped ($9.50) noodles. He found the mix of yellow mee and thin bee hoon moist without being too wet, and nicely infused in an umami gravy.
What he appreciated most was that the noodles boasted good wok hei. He opined that the opeh leaf option helped retain the dish’s smokiness better, though he wouldn’t necessarily pay extra for the wrapping again.
Meanwhile, he found the large ang kar prawns fresh but slightly overcooked, the squid tender and pork belly firm. They went well with the tangy sambal.
Overall a pretty good rendition cooked by the boss, he declared.
How the haze is affecting biz
Mitchel tells 8days.sg that while his Newton stall is currently doing well (perhaps due to heavy social media promotion), its sister brand Shiok’s sales have dipped by about 20 per cent over the past two months.
“Partly due to the haze. A lot of people don’t want to go out so often,” he explains. That being said, he shares that the business is still doing reasonably well on the whole.
Meanwhile, he is preparing to launch a new halal Hokkien mee stall, Syok, which he hopes to open in about a month’s time at Ayer Rajah Food Centre.
Hokkien Mee Club is at #01-70 Newton Food Centre, 500 Clemenceau Ave North, S229495. Open Tue–Sun, 5pm to 11.30pm. Closed Mon. More info via Instagram.
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