Noodle House, Dubai’s popular little homegrown chain, recently overhauled its menu and relaunched their Madinat Jumeirah outlet; and after sampling some of the new fare, we can safely say that it’s all for the better — much, much better.
Nestled in a corner on the ground floor at Souk Madinat, the refurbished Noodle House is all about understated class: soft lights, wooden embellishments, and black decor; and from almost all angles you have an uninterrupted view into the kitchens where the chefs are quietly at work. We recommend this particular outlet for a date night or a quiet evening with the family.
My dining companion and I chose sofa seating so we could dig into our food as comfortably as possible. And even though the house music playing in the background was a little jarring when compared to our surroundings, we found that we could relax quickly as our waitress took us through the extensive menu.
For starters, we tried the wasabi prawns, the chicken satay with spiced peanut sauce and soft shell crab bao, and the first and last choices really hit home for us. The bao especially, with its delicate flavours and crunchy texture, left a mark.
For the large plates, I had to head straight to their wet noodles menu, where I tried the Miso Tsukemen, which is basically a ramen bowl made up of egg noodles, miso broth, prawns, soft boiled egg, enoki and shiitake mushrooms. And while the bowl could have easily fed three people my size comfortably, I found myself slurping all of it up like I’ve never seen food before.
My friend, the meat fiend, opted for the beef short ribs — thick pieces of juicy meat resting on large bones — laid out over what looked like pilaf. One bite into the melting orange-glazed beef and you know you’re going to be ordering this dish every time you visit the establishment.
This particular dish was ordered from their new Umami section — Umami apparently means a moreish savoury taste, a fifth taste that accompanies the more established sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes. This section offers other delightful plates that include nasi goring, rice congee, lemongrass sea bass and Thai chicken with cashew nuts.
After all this, along with some accompanying mocktails, and we were ready to call it a night and give our happy tummies a rest, but not before dessert. Both, the cheesecake and the creme brulee were comforting and gave the perfect ending to a memorable dinner.
The details
Cuisine: Pan-Asian
Credit Card: Yes
Location: Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
Good for: Groups, families and couples
Avg cost: Dh400 for two
Opening hours: 12pm-12am
