The Cart Noodle Shop That Has Outlasted Everything in Yuen Long
Most food trends in Hong Kong burn fast. A new ramen joint opens, queues form for a month, and then everyone moves on to the next thing. Wing Nin Store (永年士多) in Yuen Long has been doing the opposite for over sixty years. Founded in 1962, this family-run cart noodle shop has survived three generations, multiple economic downturns, and an entire decade of neon signs disappearing from Hong Kong’s streets. Its neon sign is still up. So is the queue.
The Yuen Long flagship sits at ground level in Po Shing Building on Kau Yuk Road, a low-key spot that you could walk past without noticing if it were not for the glowing sign and the smell of curry-spiced broth drifting out onto the pavement. The space is compact, and the decor leans hard into nostalgia: retro enamelware, vintage Coca-Cola bottles, old tin biscuit boxes, and hand-painted murals of 1960s Hong Kong street scenes. It looks like a museum that happens to serve noodles.
What Makes the Broth Different (and Why You Should Care About the Sauce)
Cart noodles (車仔麵) are everywhere in Hong Kong. You can find them in food courts, cha chaan tengs, and chain restaurants across every district. Most of them taste fine. None of them taste like Wing Nin’s.
The difference is the sauce. Wing Nin makes a proprietary curry-spice blend using over 30 ingredients, a recipe that the Lau family has refined across three generations. You choose your heat level when you order: 勁辣 (extra hot), 大辣 (very hot), 中辣 (medium), 小辣 (mild), or 細辣 (very mild). Start with 小辣 unless you know what you are doing. The curry is warm, fragrant, and layered rather than aggressive. It coats the noodles and toppings without drowning them. That balance is what separates Wing Nin from the curry powder-and-water approach you get elsewhere.
The broth itself is a rich, reddish-orange soup that looks heavier than it tastes. There is depth from slow-cooked aromatics, a gentle sweetness from simmered radish, and enough body to cling to every topping in the bowl. If you have only ever had cart noodles from a food court counter, this will recalibrate your expectations.
What to Order (30 Toppings, One Correct Strategy)
The ordering system is classic cart noodle: pick your noodle base, choose your toppings, select your sauce level. Wing Nin offers over 30 toppings, which is both a gift and a trap. Here is how to navigate it.
Start with the pork intestine (豬腸). This is Wing Nin’s signature and the one topping that locals will argue about. The intestines are cleaned and processed at Wing Nin’s central kitchen, braised until soft and yielding, with a rich savoury flavour that pairs perfectly with the curry broth. If you have avoided offal before, this is a good place to start. The preparation is clean and the texture is closer to tender braised meat than anything challenging.
Add fish balls (魚蛋) for bounce, radish (蘿蔔) for sweetness (it has been simmering in the broth for hours), and chicken wings (雞翼) for something more substantial. The wings are braised until the meat slides off the bone with minimal effort.
For the noodle base, egg noodles are the default and the best match for the curry. They hold the sauce well and have enough chew to stand up to the toppings.
The Signature Bowl (招牌麵, around HK$57) comes loaded with pork intestine, pork blood, radish, fish balls, and pork hand. It is the kitchen’s own edit of the best combination, and it is hard to argue with. If you are feeding a bigger appetite, the Large Bowl (大碗麵, around HK$75) stacks ten toppings including squid, pork skin, red sausage, and beef tripe. That is a complete meal for under eighty dollars. In Yuen Long.
Side dishes are simple but worth ordering. The oyster sauce choy sum (蠔油菜心, HK$19) is a clean palate break between bites of curry. The Chinese chive flowers with pork blood (韮菜花豬紅, HK$19) is a pairing that works better than it sounds: the iron-rich pork blood softened by the sharp freshness of the chives.
Three Generations, One Kitchen (and a Neon Sign)
Wing Nin’s story starts with founder Lau Wing Nin (劉永年), who set up a small kiosk in the Ping Shan area in 1962 selling congee and fried pastries. By the early 1980s, the family had moved to a proper shopfront in Yuen Long town centre, and the second generation, Lau Wai Hung (劉偉雄), introduced cart noodles and developed the curry-spice formula that defines the brand today.
The third generation, Lau Yat Hin (劉逸軒), started working at 19, cutting pork intestines before moving through every station in the kitchen. He established a central kitchen around 2013 to maintain quality as the business expanded, and led a major renovation of the flagship in 2014 that brought the retro aesthetic the shop is now known for. Wing Nin today operates over ten branches across Hong Kong, from Tsim Sha Tsui to Causeway Bay to Tai Po, but the Yuen Long original remains the one with the atmosphere. And the neon.
That neon sign, by the way, is not just decoration. It is a piece of Hong Kong street heritage from the era when neon defined the city’s skyline. Most of those signs are gone now. Wing Nin’s is still lit.
How to Get There from Yuen Long MTR
Take the Tuen Ma Line to Yuen Long Station (元朗站), Exit B or G. The walk to Po Shing Building takes about eight minutes through the Yuen Long town centre. Alternatively, Long Ping Light Rail Station (豐年路) is closer at roughly three minutes on foot.
If you are exploring the New Territories food scene, Yuen Long is worth building a half-day around. Old Fung Tea House in Tai Po is another heritage spot with a similar philosophy of doing one thing well for decades. For a completely different noodle experience, Yugu Noodle in Tsim Sha Tsui does spicy Yunnan rice noodles with a build-your-own approach. And if traditional Hong Kong dining heritage is your thing, Luk On Kui in Sheung Wan is one of the last tea houses still pushing actual dim sum carts between tables.
Wing Nin’s Yuen Long branch tends to be busiest at weekend lunch. Weekday evenings are quieter. Last order is 21:30.
Quick Info
| Name | 永年士多 Wing Nin Store (寶城洋樓) |
| Address | 元朗教育路88號寶城洋樓地下2-4號舖 Shop 2-4, G/F, Po Shing Building, 88 Kau Yuk Road, Yuen Long 📍 Google Maps |
| MTR | Yuen Long Station (元朗站), Exit B/G, 8-min walk |
| Hours | Mon-Sun 11:30-22:00 (last order 21:30) |
| Phone | 6655 5580 |
| Budget | HK$51-100 per person |
| Payment | AlipayHK, Alipay, Octopus, WeChat Pay, Cash |
