The Noodle House opened on London’s busy Shaftesbury Avenue earlier this year and has grown throughout Asia since launching in Dubai in 2002.
The casual South-East Asian street food restaurant offers signature dishes from a number of countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It also takes inspiration from Asia’s tea house culture with an extensive tea menu, plus exotic cocktails and juices infused with tea.
We visited The Noodle House on a particularly hot day and light, tasty South-East Asian food was exactly what we were craving. The restaurant was already busy for dinner with a mostly touristy crowd, perhaps due to the proximity of the West End theatres.
We were served quickly by the friendly staff and were asked if we’d like all of the dishes to arrive as they were ready or if we preferred our starters to come out first. There was hardly any wait before the first dishes came out of the open kitchen and the others were followed swiftly, so our table was covered with a feast to tuck into.
The Noodle House has a tempting cocktail menu, but as it was so hot outside, we went for a mocktail instead. I loved the refreshing and summery Jasmine & Peach Iced Tea (£3.30) – a delicious blend of sweet jasmine tea, white peach purée and lemon.
The first small dish of steamed Prawn Hacao (£3.90) was enjoyable but they came apart easily and there was a little too much filler and not enough prawn.
Spicy Wings (£5.45) were succulent and nicely charred, marinated in a sweet and smoky Sambal chili glaze. The portion size was substantial yet they made a perfectly light starter.
For the main dish, I was tempted by the classic Cantonese Roast Duck (quarter for £8.60).
The slow-roasted aromatic duck was tender and juicy with plenty of delicious crispy skin. It was carved to order and served in bite-size slices with a basket full of paper-thin steamed pancakes, julienne cucumber and leeks on the side and a rich, sweet hoi sin sauce.
A quarter portion is more than enough for one person with a few sides, or you could order a half portion for the table if you want to share.
Steven’s Black Pepper Beef (£12.25) was full of lean steak smothered in a sticky, punchy sauce with lots of black pepper and a strong chili kick. It was cooked with mixed peppers, red onion and topped with fresh spring onion.
We accompanied our main dishes with a side of Fried Jasmine Rice (£5.25). The aromatic, slightly sweet wok-fried jasmine rice was packed with chicken, prawns, bean sprouts, egg, chili and Thai basil. It went well with the Cantonese Duck, but the Black Pepper Beef was already spicy enough and might have been a better match with simple Steamed Rice.
I really liked the side of Broccoli (£3.80), which was steamed to perfection with lots of oyster sauce and crispy garlic chips.
After such a flavoursome, spicy meal, we cooled down with a few scoops of Mango Sorbet. I was tempted by the Banana Spring Rolls and Chocolate Fondant, but the mango sorbet was refreshing, sweet and bursting with exotic fruitiness.
To round off the meal, I chose the White Peony Single-Estate White Tea from the excellent choice of Asian teas. It was served in a cast-iron teapot with a small cup and was a calming, fine quality tea.
While the food and drinks were done well at affordable prices, I didn’t really enjoy the restaurant experience. The open-plan kitchen was far too close to the table where we were sat and the noise from the roaring woks, too-loud music and the non-stop traffic quickly became irritating and made conversation difficult.
The interiors of the restaurant were also starting to look a little tired with scuffed tables and curling paper menus. I can’t help thinking the concept would work a lot better if the restaurant was located in a slick shopping centre like Westfield, as per The Noodle House at the Dubai Mall.
It may not be a destination restaurant but The Noodle House is good for a quick South-East Asian fix when in central, plus they do take-out if you fancy a quieter Asian picnic in the park.
Chérie City was a guest of The Noodle House
Photos by Chérie City (interiors by The Noodle House)
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