Omega Pork Noodles @ Pandan Indah

I've heard about this well-known pork noodles with branches in Kota Damansara, Sri Petaling, Puchong (old Fatt Kee), Pavilion Bukit Jalil and Kepong.  Finally one opened in my very neighbourhood.

Omega Pork Noodles @ Pandan Indah (the 6th branch) opened in late December 2022 to much fanfare (with lion dance performances and such) and a hefty crowd initially.  I made sure I stayed away until the crowds subside which surprisingly happened in less than a month I noticed.

So, there I was one morning and I ordered their Pork Noodles (Soup) @ RM12.50 (small, RM13.50 for big) for a taste test.  Let me break it down for you piece by piece just for fun.....lol! :D  The bowl of pork noodles came laden with sliced pork, pork liver, pork balls (there were two), pork intestines and a minced pork patty. Pretty loaded in terms of porky ingredients I have to say.

First and foremost, the soup base is clear with softened cabbage lending some sweetness to the broth. Unfortunately, the broth is too clear for comfort and it showed in its taste by not having enough porky flavour in it! >.<

The minced pork patty was huge (as you can see, twice as big as the spoon would fit).  The patty was soft and tender but lack the smoothness of other pork noodles shops I've eaten at (I believe the one here was not rubbed with cornstarch or tapioca starch to give it that smooth velvety texture).  I felt it was underseasoned as well, so it tasted rather bland on its own.

Next, the pork liver slices were also cut into big slices....but thin!  Too thinly sliced, if you ask me, so much so that it gets overcooked very quickly in the broth.  I like my liver thicker and slightly bloody, thank you.

Then, you have the pork intestines.  I appreciate that it was multi-layered, just that the layers weren't tightly bound together and there was still a bit of uncleaned fat between the layers.  Finally, for the noodles, you have a choice of pho (kway teow lah), vermicelli (or beehoon), yellow mee or silver needle noodle (lo shi fun).  You can also choose yee mee, mian xian (mee sua), Vit's instant noodles or cross bridge rice noodle (?) but these come with an extra charge of RM1 (for the first three) and RM3 for the latter.  The cross bridge rice noodle I was told is something like mixian, so I wanted that (and no, I don't have to cross a bridge to get it...lol, I'm assuming that's the brand name).  Turns out it's just a very thick rice noodle that's thicker than mixian) and more chewy (reminds me of udon).  I prefer the thinner mixian that's more like cho mai fun (thicker beehoon).

And yes, you get a solitary chee yau char (pork lard) that's crispy (and bigger than usual) but not particularly fragrant.  I was recently told by the owner of a noodle stall that even pork lard has different quality...who knew?  No wonder some pork lard tastes better than others.

Besides their signature pork noodles, they also offer Nanyang White Curry Noodle @ RM13.90 (for small, big RM15.30).  As the name implies, the curry noodle will appear white (like Penang-style curry mee) until you mix in the spoonful of sambal.  The curry broth takes on a reddish, oily hue once the sambal is mixed in.  

When the bowl of curry noodle arrived (I asked for a mixture of beehoon + yellow mee), I saw that it was filled with prawns, beancurd sheets, fish balls, crab sticks, tofu puffs, long beans and bean sprouts...but I wasn't one bit impressed.  They were all processed food that are procured commercially, nothing special, nothing house-made.

The prawns (there were two) had a bouncy texture without any sweetness (like the frozen kind).  Same goes for the fish balls and crab sticks...frozen produce.  The beancurd sheets and tofu puffs were also comercially ready-made ones that require no cooking.  You would think that since only the long beans needed cooking, they would at least get that right...but no, they weren't soft enough.

I actually hate to see fish balls and crab sticks (let alone processed ones) in my curry.  The beancurd sheets I can still tolerate.  Where's the chicken (I'm not even asking for char siew) or fresh sihum (cockles) lah?  The beancurd sheets turned out to be the best thing as it seems to have a bit of filling and tasted savoury.

In any curry, the must-have tofu puffs will become super tasty once it absorbs all the lovely curry but, unfortunately, this curry looked the part only but didn't follow up in taste.  The curry was pretty spicy but still tolerable but it lacked the creaminess and fragrance of santan that I was looking for.  There was some sweetness in the broth that probably came from milk.  Between the pork and curry noodles, the pork noodles is still the better of the two.

You can add on a bottomless drink for RM4.90, hot or cold (you just get a bigger paper cup if you choose cold).  The choices for cold drinks include fruit tea, winter melon, honey lemon, lemongrass tea, wheatgrass, jasmine tea (not sure if the drink choices change daily) and soft drinks while hot drinks include coffee and tea (Nescafe & Nestea).

I chose lemongrass tea thinking it'd probably be less sweet compared to others but it turned out so sweet that I abandoned it after two sips.  It just tasted like a sugary syrup with hardly any lemongrass flavour.  The drinks (and refills) is self-service.  The second time I was here, I chose not to drink.

People talk of queues and a full crowd at their other outlets but I'm happy to report there are none in this branch, at least not when I was there in the mornings (at breakfast time).  Both times, only a few tables were occupied (maybe there's a better crowd during lunch and dinner).  Also, the side dishes I see selling at their other branches have not made it here yet.

My Personal Opinion

I don't get the hype and is unsure why this pork noodle garner such high ratings.  I guess it's not my taste.  I can easily name a number of pork noodle places that I've eaten at that will trump this one.  Even my go-to pork noodle stall in my neighbourhood coffee shop tastes much better.

I think they differentiate themselves from other pork noodle specialists by reiterating the fact that they use myGAP certified premium pork that's purportedly produced with hygienic food safety and health in mind that's high in omega-3 content with no transgenic feed, added hormones and antibiotics.  So, their meat is safer and healthier lah! ;P

Their other selling point could be the limitless drinks coz some people really love to consume those sugary drinks in abundance.  I guess they can then sit longer and enjoy the air-conditioning while having bottomless drinks.  A good thing is there's now plenty of parking on this road in the mornings when previously it used to be difficult to find when I need to buy stuff from the nearby shops.

A bowl of noodles + drink will easily set you back RM20 which is still reasonable considering the large portion size + you also get to eat it in a cool setting and comfortable environment....but, at the end of the day, it needs to be matched by taste...and it wasn't, at least not for me! >_<

Omega Pork Noodles

No 24G & 26G 

Jalan Pandan Indah 4/8

Beautiful Pandan

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 010-660 1660