Maureen

Randomly walked into this place as I was wondering around the area. Great noodle dishes. Particularly the beef short ribs. Would definitely go back.

I walked down from Victoria peak and Unilocal told me about Maureen. I walked in, and Maureen herself asked me what I’d like. It was close to closing time, so I made a point of ordering something simple, the beef short rib with noodles. The sauce on the short rib was a real delight, I ended up putting some of the noodles in the leftover sauce so I didn’t let any go to waste. The greens in the noodles were perfect, slightly wilted but still crisp and bright. The restaurant seems right at the intersection of simplicity, elegance, and freshness. 4.5 stars, especially given the reasonable prices for the visible elegance.

This place brings noodle to the next level. Started off with the 48 hours beef with noodles. Loved it. Sous vide beef that came with a Chinese influenced sauce that has hints of star anise lingering. It was accompanied either with regular or spicy noodles. I choose the regular one as I didn’t want the spice to dominate any other flavor. The noodles were mixed with jade sprouts and topped with a sesame oil mousse.
Noodles had a unique texture that seems like a cross breed of a Hong Kong Style egg noodles and a northern Chinese ramen noodle
Next came the slow cooked egg that was cooked to a creamy consistency, accompanied with a shiitake mushroom sauce.
Then came the special noodle of the month which was a Uni Lo Mein. Fresh Uni with noodles that were also mixed with jade sprouts and topped with sesame oil mousse.
Both of the noodles came with a boiling hot Chinese broth that was just spectacular. Will definitely be back for more.

Scoring a seat at Maureen is kind of like hitting the jackpot. It’s tiny inside, but thankfully they take reservations. Rest assured that if you plan ahead you will be lucky enough to eat the delicious noodles they serve.
The main event at Maureen are the noodle dishes, served up with slow cooked meats and other accoutrement like the sesame oil that is served at the table via a syphon. I’m not sure I really «get» the theatre of this element when everything else is so classic, but hey just roll with it okay?
The menus are confusing. Especially at lunch when there’s a lunch special, a special seasonal set menu, a bigger seasonal menu and then an executive menu. I literally read five different menus and was still none the wiser about what to order! Some of my dining companions went simply for the special dish while the others went for the set menu. We assumed the set menu, at only a mere HK$ 20 or so more, would mean smaller portions of the main noodly event. But it turned out that the noodle dishes were all the same size and that the addition of a few extra dollars meant we got a few smaller bites to eat before. Bargain!
All in all a really great value meal, served in simple surrounds and with a lot of care and attention.