Is Family Mart’s new chilli pan mee the real deal or just another passing phase?

Let’s be real, Family Mart is a go-to place for a lot of us when we’re in need of a quick snack or when craving a comforting paper bowl of spicy odeng.

With their creative and ever-evolving lineup of ready-to-eat meals, the Japanese convenience store chain has won over locals, serving up a mix of hits and occasional misses. Just last week, as of the writing of this article, they decided to shake things up by introducing a new pork-free chilli pan mee, adding a little more local flair to their menu.

Chilli pan mee needs no introduction. A spicy, savoury, and deliciously greasy noodle dish—I mean, how could any Malaysian resist?

The question is, can Family Mart’s take on this classic and much-loved local dish truly satisfy our cravings, or is it just another convenience store gimmick? As someone who swears by the legendary Restaurant Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee, I’m here to put the Family Mart chilli pan mee to the test.

Let’s see if it comes anywhere close to the real deal and if it’s actually worth your time and money.

Talk about an inconvenient convenience store meal

Let me just preface this by saying that getting my hands on this wasn’t exactly a convenient process, despite being a convenience store meal! Despite the countless Family Mart outlets scattered around PJ, trust me when I say I struggled to track down this new launch.

Over the course of two days, I visited the Family Marts nearest to me, only to be met with disappointment after disappointment. I got excuse after excuse—either they didn’t have the onsen egg (and let’s be real, you can’t have chilli pan mee without the egg), they were sold out, or they didn’t even carry the new menu item to begin with.

At my wit’s end, I finally caved and opted for a Grab delivery. Surprise, surprise, more challenges followed. I kid you not, I placed five different orders over two days, and each one was cancelled. It wasn’t until my sixth attempt that I finally, FINALLY, got my hands on this chilli pan mee (RM17.50, including RM4.40 for delivery).

By this point, I was thinking, “Do I even still want to try it?” But hey, we had finally reached the moment of truth, and I wasn’t about to give up now.

Moment of truth: Reviewing Family Mart chilli pan mee

Let’s start with my initial impression—the chilli pan mee was really quite spicy, and I don’t mean that in a good way. As someone who can handle her heat, I might have enjoyed this better if it was spicy and hit the right flavours, but all I got was heat. It didn’t help that the noodles arrived already mixed-in with the chilli.

The noodles were an immediate letdown. Undercooked and rubbery, they threw off the whole dish. On top of that, a strong prawn flavour seemed to dominate the noodles, making it feel more like dry seafood noodles rather than the chilli pan mee I was hoping for.

One thing I did appreciate was the amount of sauce—it was saucy enough to coat every strand of noodle, but unfortunately, that’s where the positives ended. After mixing everything thoroughly (though there wasn’t much left to mix), the saltiness became quite overwhelming, leaving a lingering salty aftertaste in the back of my throat. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of seasoning they used.

Strong kicap notes only added to the confusion, giving the dish an odd mix between hawker-style pan mee and chilli pan mee. It was an unusual combination that just didn’t quite come together.

The ikan bilis only intensified the saltiness, and while I know we Malaysians love our intense flavours and seasonings, as a self-proclaimed ‘sodium girly,’ I can confidently say this was a bit overboard. There were vague hints of chilli pan mee flavours, but they faded fast.

There was no meat taste to speak of, and given that it’s pork-free, I was hoping for at least some minced chicken or an alternative protein, but that wasn’t the case.

Can you even compete with the real chilli pan mee?

Image Credit: Sheryn Ng on Google Review (left), MFT (right)

Unlike Super Kitchen’s chilli pan mee, which features thinner noodles, this version uses the standard pan mee variety. While not terrible, I personally prefer the slimmer noodles which are more slurp-worthy and offer better texture.

After just a few bites, my lips were tinted orange and I was left a strange, off-putting feeling on my tongue —again, what kind of seasoning did they use here?

Every element of this Family Mart chilli pan mee was a far cry from the real deal. Maybe that wasn’t their intention, but at RM13.10, it’s priced far too close to Super Kitchen, and frankly, it doesn’t deliver a well-rounded chilli pan mee experience that its name promises.

Granted, it’s tough to compare directly since it’s pork-free, but even then, it lacked any real protein substitute—something other pork-free versions manage to get right. The launch felt like a half-hearted attempt at chilli pan mee. So if you’re looking for something more authentic, you’re not going to find it here.

If I don’t compare it to chilli pan mee, though, then I’d say it’s an average bowl of noodles—salty, but edible.

In short, readers, if you eat pork, stick to the OG chilli pan mee at your current go-to spots. And if you’re after a pork-free version, there are better options out there.

Real deal or just another passing phase? Well, we’ve got our answer.