Noodle Inn is giving Covent Garden something many central London openings lack: a queue-worthy reputation before the doors have even opened. Following the runaway success of its Old Compton Street original - where diners regularly spill onto the pavement waiting for a bowl of hand-pulled noodles - the restaurant is now expanding into the former Gordon Ramsay Street Burger site.
The new restaurant will follow the same formula that made Soho such a hit. Expect theatrical open kitchens, cooks rhythmically stretching dough behind the counter and bowls of noodles that arrive looking unapologetically enormous. Noodle Inn’s whole thing is simplicity done properly: flour, water and salt transformed into chewy, hand-pulled noodles with enough bounce and texture to justify the inevitable queue outside.
Starters lean heavily into street-food comfort territory. There are deep-fried chicken wontons with sweet chilli sauce, shredded duck spring rolls with hoisin and salt-and-pepper popcorn chicken clearly designed to disappear within about thirty seconds of reaching the table. The handmade “Chinese-style burgers” - fluffy flatbreads stuffed with braised chicken or shredded duck - sound particularly dangerous for anyone attempting to “just order something light”. Then come the noodles.
The signature oil-spill biang biang noodles with braised beef rib remain the main attraction: wide ribbons of dough coated in chilli oil, spices and slow-cooked meat. Elsewhere, there are knife-cut noodles with minced beef in soybean paste, braised chicken noodles, curry noodles and several deeply restorative-looking noodle soups, including braised beef brisket with pickle and beef shank broth.
What’s made Noodle Inn resonate so strongly in Soho is that it feels enthusiastic rather than overly polished. There’s noise, movement, giant bowls flying out of the kitchen and enough chilli oil to permanently threaten white clothing. In other words: exactly the sort of energy that will fit right in in Covent Garden.