I recognised the location for the Soho branch of Noodle & Beer in Chinatown. The building was formerly home to one of the slightly tired old Cantonese joints that reminded me of cheap eats in Tsim Cha Tsui from one summer holiday living in Hong Kong as a 20 year old. Fundamentally noy very good food, but cheap and open until into the wee hours as that was the best time to get some custom. At 3am it always suited me as it was a short walk from the flat and frankly if I out getting food at 3am then I was way beyond caring about how it tasted.
Yet the late night opening is perhaps the only thing thing to have survived the metamorphosis into the Soho branch of cool Shoreditch joint Noodle & Beer, because Noodle & Beer is open until 4am Wednesdays to Saturdays. This is not for the early-supper-meeting-in-the-morning crowd. This is one for the cool crowd.
And because this place is bang on the money and on trend, there is no Formica tables and outdated Chinese travel agent calendars in sight and the food pays homage to Chongqing & Sichuan cuisine. In fact Noodle & Beer was founded by Xiaoxiao Wang, a Chinese foodie raised in the restaurant industry, the concept coming from the owner’s obsessive love for Chongqing Xiaomian, a bowl of noodles flavoured with ginger, sesame, chilli and preserved Sichuan pickles.
The décor is very 2025, with its stylish cafe-style curtains and pendant lights, almot neighbourhood bistro style, while inside there are wall-to-ceiling mirrors and scenic Chinese artworks. On the ground floor there is counter seating from where you can watch the kitchen at work, and a scattering booths or window side tables.
But I think the action is down a small staircase into a discreet basement bar and dining area that just screams 19th century opium den. Without the opium. Obviously. Red is the colour – in the lighting and on the walls – and it both prepares you for the red heat of the chillies that is to come while comforting you that you are still on a proper, and seriously cool, night out in a sexy, hidden basement.
We started with the Choo-Shou dumplings – excellent parcels packed with minced chicken filling and delicious when dipped in the accompanying spicy peanut sauce, which gave a slight sense of the spice to come. Albeit I preferred the beef jerky with an awesome hot sticky Sichuan sauce. Now we are rocking, and getting through maybe a few more of the inventive cocktail list than I had planned.
I had their special Martini with Vodka, Pear vodka, Pear eau de vie, Sandalwood liqueur, Pear juice, Dry vermouth followed by a velvety Whisky Highball with Pu er whiskey, Pu er cordial, Coconut syrup, Coconut liqueur. Great drinks, but as I needed to be able to walk back up the stairs I switched to the house lager, which was usefully at session strength (3.4%) and (on- trend to the last) brewed for them in Spain.
Now when you hit the main courses is where it gets serious my friends. Their ‘chilli-ometer’ ranges from one to five chillies per dish. The star of their Noodles with Soup dishes – Niu-Rou Miian, with wheat noodles, premium braised beef, Chinese herbs, cabbage and coriander, comes in at a sharp jab three-chilli rating while their signature dry noodle Xian Jiao Niu-Rou, with wheat noodles, red pepper, beef, peanuts, spring onions and pickled greens, is the full uppercut five-chilli rating. It was like I used to feel ordering a phall curry as a student. But in infinitely (and I mean infinitely) cooler surroundings.
If you panic at spice go for the super king braised beef ribs with blanket noodles, or the Xia Xian Mian soup noodle dish with king prawns, fish balls, tofy, bok choy and corriander. All very good, but somehow you’ll feel like you are missing out, which is because you will be. So order some fiery stuff instead.
Although missing out is in a reverse sense what this place is about. It is the reverse of missing out. It is eating proper punchy spicy Chongqing & Sichuan in a cool, loud, red, crowded buzzy basement, washed down by delicate, original yet alcoholic cocktails and thinking bloody hell I’m at the centre of it all. And just for that moment, yes, you are.
Noodle & Beer 27 Wardour St, London W1D 6PR – Noodle & Beer – 020 3589 3345 – opening hours: Sun -Tue: 12:00pm – 11:00pm; Wed-Sat: 12:00pm – 04:00am (yes – 4am)