Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hand pulled: Noodle Bar, Leicester Square


Having been at my “new” job now for six months, I have had a decent amount of time to assess the lunch options and report back. One of my more favoured destinations happens to be a place quaintly named “Noodle Bar” (amongst a myriad of Chinese (?) characters that I am unable to decipher). In the window they have a rather dire array of pre cooked, probably been there for 3 days, fodder. Not the best start.


Once you look past the sheen of the hotlamps, you will see a guy standing next to a bubbling vat of water/stock, hand pulling noodles to order. Rumour has it that he was flown over specifically to perform this role, and in all fairness, I have seen him do little else. Rumour aside, a bowl of steaming hot noodles comes to a very reasonable £6, and most variations come in either a dry or soup version.


Although the rare beef version (number 1 on the menu) seems to come highly recommended, I always seem to opt for the spicy chicken. Although the broth seems to change on every visit, nothing quite hits the spot on a cold winters day than a freshly made pot of steaming and spicy noodles. Well worth dropping in, and not just for a takeaway as they have a few tables out back too.

Noodle Bar - 33 Cranbourne St, London WC2H 7AD

Noodle Bar (Lan Zhou La Mian) on Urbanspoon

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice one. I have a photo of the writing in the window if you're interested — mouse over the picture for translations.

Hollow Legs said...

Awesome. I do love me a good noodle.

kaszeta said...

Cool. I love hand-pulled noodles. There's a guy out at Greenwich Market that always does a great job, but this looks like a good option when I'm closer in.

Helena Lee said...

ooh, this is a good spot. have you tried noodle oodle? haven't been since it decided rhyming was a good idea, wondered how that measured up. x

London Chow said...

Like Noodle Bar quite a bit when I first went there. Thought that the the beef brisket noodle was quite good value. The guy who was doing it when I was there seems no longer there though.

PDH said...

Sounds good, might have to have a wander up!

Helen said...

Those noodles look damn good actually. Look, I know we're both Camberwell lovers but seriously, working there? NOT great for a quick lunch.

tori said...

Ah! One of my favourite places in Sydney was Chinese Noodle Restaurant (which actually was its name, not just a description with excessive capitals). Have been missing their hand pulled noodles lots. Great to learn of a substitute. Thank you!

Su-Lin said...

Wish I had a place like that near my work...

Gemma Heating said...

I often treat myself to their noodles and they are the best, great post on a wonderful place to eat.

philwbass said...

Got there today. The beef soup noodle was pretty good...loved the noodles. And we had the cucumber in chilli oil and garlic which was a winner.

Have you tried Chang's in Coptic Street?