Braised beef noodles
I’ve never been to northern China, but with Chinese cinema gradually spreading I’ve built an impression of giant anonymous housing complexes, warrens of neon-lit shophouses and eateries, huge brown rivers snaking through vast plains covered in crops under chilly grey skies. Feels like the kind of place you need simple, heart-warming and flavour-packed starch.
Noodle + Snack in a little Fitzrovia side street is getting popular, probably due to a recent review in one of the nationals. That’s the only reason we’d have ever known it existed! But we only had a five minute wait for lunch, mainly because they took a little wooden picnic table from outside and squished it into the dining room between two of the other tables. “For you! Hope it’s not too small?” We all grinned, because it was a few inches lower than the other tables so it looked like we were on the kid’s table.
Shredded potato
We each ordered a bowl of noodles, and shared a dish of shredded potato and chilli. This is a dead simple side dish, the julienne potato just soaking up the fiery and tangy dressing. Maureen chose the sour and spicy Chongqing noodles, with black vinegar in the broth and a really hefty punch. I went with braised beef noodles, and the beef was full of earthy, spicy flavours and just wonderful, the broth a soothing ramen-like stock (I felt quite ready to head out onto the vast plains and tend my crops under a leaden sky after this!). They are very proud of their house-made wheat noodles, and justly so; they had a lovely bite and a really wheaty-nutty flavour.
That’s it. I think the bill was £35 for both of us with some green tea. Absolutely vital place to know in Fitzrovia. There’s soooo much more on the menu.
Chongqing noodle
