Last week I was kindly invited to review a brand new restaurant in London, The Noodle House. Located on Shaftsbury Avenue in the heart of the West End, The Noodle House borders Soho and Theatre land and is perfect for dinner after a shopping spree, for London sightseers or a pre-theatre dining experience. The Noodle House serves a fusion of flavours from all over South East Asia, alongside bespoke cocktails made from fragrant spices and traditional teas. South East Asian food is my absolute favourite so I was very excited to give The Noodle House a try. We were on our way to see Matilda at the theatre and to finally take some time out celebrate our engagement properly so this was a lovely treat for our little ‘date night’ out in London.
We were greeted by the friendly staff and as we were a little early for our table, we started with a cocktail in the downstairs bar area. Walking downstairs you feel like you are in a completely different place, the horse-shoe shaped bar has low lighting, the walls are lined with apothecary jars filled with mysterious Asian herbs and Spices and the hanging brass coloured pendant lights, this creates a cool space for a cocktail or two! The Barman (or mixology master I hear they like to called) was enthusiastic and helped us with our cocktail choices. After much deliberation, I went for the Singapore Slipper, a blend of Vodka, Choya Plum Wine, Watermelon, Lime and Hibiscus, and Vee went for the Moonshadow which consisted of Vodka, Lillet Blanc, Chrysanthemum and Jasmine Tea Syrup.
The signature cocktail, Moonshadow – you pour a cocktail mix of Jasmine Lillet Blanc and vodka over frozen Jasmine and Hibiscus tea ice pops which slowly sweeten the drink as they melt.
After our cocktails, we were shown to our table upstairs and presented with the menu. There was so much choice it took me quite some time to decide what I wanted. The tables include such thoughtful details such as a USB port as well as pots of Asian condiments – pickled vegetables for palette cleansing, red chilli ginger garlic sauce and kaffir lime and sweet chilli sauce.
I eventually went for the Vegetable Spring Rolls with coriander and soy sauce dip as a starter and Mee Goreng with Tofu for my main course. I was also excited as they serve Roti Chanai (Malaysian Flat bread) as a side dish, a favourite of mine from my trip to Malaysia and I haven’t managed to find it anywhere in the UK since!
Mee Goreng – Udon Noodles with pak choi, tomatoes and bean sprouts, chilli and a spicy tomato sauce with Broccoli and Crispy Tofu.
Vanessa went for the slow-roasted aromatic duck, which she said was cooked to perfection! She was explaining to me over dinner that it’s hard to cook duck properly (I had no clue being a veggie) so was very impressed indeed. This came with pancakes, vegetables and hoisin sauce which looked delicious. I wish I could have tried it! We also had Pak Choi and Brocolli as a side dish which was so flavourful and accompanied our meals perfectly.
With room for one last cocktail, I decided to try something a little different. This is the ‘Hit the Rojak’ – a blend of Tequila, Kamm&Cons, Star Fruit juice, pineapple juice, Rojak syrup and lime. I have to say the taste was quite something! Rojak is a fruit found in South East Asia, which I have to say I hadn’t heard of before. This was quite an experience to try, delicious but a very unique taste.
After all that food we were so full, so we shared a Mango and Coconut desert, a light mousse, packed with flavour. This was a perfect treat after such a big meal.
We were both so impressed with our meal at The Noodle House, they really do cater for all tastes and had an excellent choice for awkward vegetarians like myself and meat-eaters alike! There is so much on the menu I want to try so I will be going back soon no doubt!
Thank you to The Noodle House for having us and making us feel so welcome!
See you again soon!
