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Longfeng Prawn Noodles at Tampines Street 91 has closed down for good after the stall owner decided to call it quits and retire having worked for 33 years.

Known as one of the best and most lowkey prawn noodles stall in the east of Singapore in a nondescript coffee shop, its final day of operations was on Feb. 27.

News of its impending closure leading up to Sunday brought out the crowds who queued for one final time and to bid the hawker goodbye.

Run by 67-year-old stall owner, Lin Shunmei, Longfeng Prawn Noodles has moved twice over the last three decades as the coffee shop changed hands and rents increased.

But it brought along with it its ardent fans who would travel from as far as Punggol, and some as many as three times a week, to savour a taste of the prawn noodles, according to 8 World News.

Going to retire

Lin told the Chinese media that she decided to retire, citing increased costs and a shortage of manpower as reasons.

A video of her at the stall on her last day saw her cooking for diners one final time and helped out by a friend, who served as a stall assistant as it was difficult to find hired help.

Lin said: "Moving forward, I feel very reluctant to give up. No matter how I say it, I have worked so hard for so long to get these results."

"Every customer treats me very well, I am really very reluctant to give up. Many customers bought gifts, flowers, drinks, and snacks. They are really nice people."

"I feel very conflicted now. First, I feel relaxed when I retire. Second, I am afraid that I don't know how to pass the time. I have to plan and arrange slowly."

"If possible, I will do some volunteer work or do some part-time jobs in the future."

Long queue on last day

On the final day of operations on Sunday, a long queue of diners were spotted waiting just after 7am for their last taste of the prawn noodles before it was gone for good.

One diner said: "We arrived here at about 7:30am, and the queue was all the way from the stall to the corridor outside the coffee shop, and it took more than an hour to get to order."

Regular queuing time is about 30 to 45 minutes on average.

Lin said that since the news of the closure was announced, many new customers came to visit the stall.

The queue got very long with some diners arriving as early as 5:30am.

The stall serves prawn noodles, laksa, and lor mee.

The prawn noodles broth has been described as thick and rich.

Shin Min Daily News reported that one customer bought 10 packets of the prawn noodles on the last day and said it will be eaten over three meals.

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