How I’m Making It: One Prawn & Co’s Gwyneth Ang on turning a nostalgic bowl of prawn noodles into a modern Asian seafood concept

From prawn noodles to prawn ramen

A bowl of Prawn noodles is a dish that’s deeply personal to Ang. She shares: “Growing up, prawn noodles were a rare festive feast, thanks to the long cooking process and my mother’s Penang roots.” This sparked her obsession with finding the best prawn noodles in Singapore and eventually led to the opening of One Prawn Noodle in 2019.

A reflection of Ang’s culinary journey and the evolution of her love for prawn noodles, One Prawn Noodle began as a humble hawker stall at Golden Mile Food Centre. Here, she offered a single prawn noodle dish and got “obsessed over getting it right”. Her hearty bowl takes inspiration from her mother’s recipe and features an umami-filled prawn broth made from a medley of prawn heads and pork bones.

Her comforting bowl of prawn noodles quickly drew crowds and eventually led her to expand beyond the signature dish.  To cater to the increasing demand, Ang’s stall expanded to a coffee shop at MacPherson Road and changed the stall’s name to One Prawn & Co.

However, the experience wasn’t all smooth sailing. In fact, it was chaotic.

There was a time when Ang questioned whether the company had expanded too quickly. However, instead of backing down, she continued to find ways to refine her workflow and structured the menu to better suit both her customers and the kitchen. Her experience at both locations taught her that passion alone isn’t enough to survive. Rather, it takes grit, strategy, and adaptability to be successful in the industry.

In 2024, an opportunity arose for Ang to open a restaurant in the newly launched lifestyle destination New Bahru. Seizing the moment, she rebranded her MacPherson establishment as Zhup Zhup and introduced a reimagined One Prawn & Co. The new iteration ventured beyond the familiar prawn noodles, evolving into a modern asian seafood grill.

Constant evolution

At the new restaurant, you won’t find prawn noodles but instead, a slate of new dishes from prawn ramen to wood-fired seafood. Ang shared how getting her customers to understand that the brand was evolving was one of the biggest challenges.

“Some customers expected us to remain a hawker brand forever,” she explains, adding how she would receive questions from customers about why the brand was moving away from its original prawn noodle identity. “But that’s the thing, growth means change and One Prawn & Co was always meant to evolve,” the entrepreneur says.

Ang believes the name One Prawn & Co still reflects the brand’s identity—seafood remains at the brand’s core as it continues to push boundaries in modern Asian seafood dining.

With her new restaurant, Ang has come full circle. She muses: “One Prawn & Co has transformed from a hawker stall specialising in prawn noodles to a full-fledged coffeeshop eatery. Now, we have come back full circle [to] where we started our culinary journey—casual fine dining.”

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Built on evolution, the brand is never stagnant, constantly pushing boundaries with seafood and using various techniques to elevate flavours. Beyond food, Ang wants to create an overall experience for her diners. “Dining with us isn’t just about eating—it’s about interaction, storytelling and being immersed in the process, whether it’s watching flames at the open kitchen or trying unexpected flavour combinations,” she says.

Being in the industry since 2012, Ang has learned many life lessons, with one of the most important being resilience. She explains the brutality of the F&B industry and the importance of being willing to adapt constantly.

“There was a time when I wasn’t sure if transitioning One Prawn & Co from a hawker stall to a restaurant would work. People doubted whether a prawn noodle concept could evolve into something more refined,” she reflects. Her resilience in pushing and refining her craft led her and the restaurant to where it is today, with a full seafood-focused menu and a dining experience she’s proud of.

Along with getting the brand to where it is today, one of Ang’s biggest accomplishments is never losing sight of why she started cooking in the first place. “Every obstacle and hurdle we faced taught us many great lessons. We are who we are because people around us believe in us and watch us grow,” she continues.

Opening One Prawn & Co at New Bahru represents everything Ang has worked for—bringing her love for prawn noodles, her fine dining background and her passion for pushing seafood to new heights in one concept. It’s clear that Ang’s passion for her craft is shining brighter than ever, and there’s no doubt that she will continue to navigate the culinary landscape with skill for years to come.

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