Noodle Inn Review - Soho - London - The Infatuation
"In Noodle Inn’s steamy glass hot box kitchen, pamphlet-thick Xi’an biang biang noodles are stretched, smacked, flipped, and spliced into existence. Industrial pots bubble and must-order potstickers are gaining their crispy skirts in a pan. The wooden-panelled Soho dining room is packed and heaving in a way that makes you feel like you’re at the centre of something exciting—namely impassioned noodle consumption. All is well. Until you notice the faces pressed against the windows from outside and the person next to you going all Werner Herzog with an iPhone 16 and their subject, a noodle the width of a post-it note. Because at Noodle Inn, the hype sizzles hotter than the spices. video credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley video credit: Emily Hai video credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley video credit: Emily Hai The queue to get into this casual, walk-in-only Chinese spot on Old Compton Street tends to be long and full of people watching videos of an influencer getting to second base with their hulking beef rib. The bad news for the meat-obsessed mukbang gang: the beef rib is a bit of a nightmare to get off the bone and the life-affirming chilli hit is missing in action. There’s the odd knock-out hit, like the tangy, spice show shredded potatoes, and the chewy headliner slurpers could pass a buoyancy test. But there are plenty of other places in London where you can marvel at the girth of some biang biang. Places where you won't need to stand in the cold for longer than it takes to update a MacBook Pro. Let the frenzy pass and return when you can casually walk into Noodle Inn for the experience it was destined for—friends and family eating big bowls of decent noodles, their phones forgotten. Food Rundown Jasmine Tea A must-order. Why? Because you’ve just spent upwards of an hour on a Soho pavement and the ice blocks formally known as your hands are very cold. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Hot & Sour Shredded Potatoes This sauce is so wonderfully sour and complex it could probably go to therapy and find new things to talk about each week. The near-glutinous slivers of potato are the perfect vehicle for the unadulterated sinus-clearing joy of the spices. This unsung heat hero is how you should start a meal at Noodle Inn. Oil Spill Wide Noodles With Braised Beef Rib The beef shank is very much committed to staying on the bone which makes it pretty troublesome to eat. Yes, you can pick it up with your hands but we are greedy little carb lovers with a potential iron deficiency who want to be able to eat our beef and our noodles in the same magnificent bite. Also, breaking news, the oil spill was minor. More chilli, please. video credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Braised Beef Brisket Biang Biang Noodles The braised beef is chewy but it’s also a touch dry. The noodles themselves have a great, elastic bounce but they’re borderline too wide, resulting in a jaw workout that would make Facegym proud. photo credit: Emily Hai Pan-Fried Dumpling With Minced Pork & Chinese Leaves Comforting juicy pork meets highly snackable fried crispy skirt. An instant yes. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Shredded Duck Burger With Hoisin Sauce We’ve got history with this burger. The good kind, the kind that would make us check its ‘last seen’ if we were texting. At sibling grab-and-go spot Kung Fu Burger, the generous portion of duck was meltingly soft, the hoisin sauce sweet and moreish, and the flaky bun had a perfect, soft tear. At Noodle Inn, the duck was too fatty and the bun was edging towards burnt. Skip." - Heidi Lauth Beasley
