The Place
We’re not sure what’s up with Huasui Lu. First, we had Dumplings Café, which tried to convince us that jiaozi and coffee work well together. Now, Noodle Bar has moved in on the very same street, and is attempting to fuse noodles and draft beer (not in one dish, thankfully – just served together). Fun fact: it’s a food combination that’s frowned upon in traditional Chinese medicine.
Noodle Bar is the brainchild of food photographer Cayman Liu, who was turned down in an interview with the company behind Enjoy (an app promoting food and drink), only to receive an interview request from the same organization after he opened his restaurant.
The eatery itself is housed in a two-story establishment (second floor opening soon) with an all-glass wall facing the street.
The Food
On our visit, Noodle Bar was offering just three select noodle dishes: chef shrimp laksa (RMB58), beef king laksa (RMB52) and laksa dry noodles (RMB43).
The shrimp laksa is composed of a boiled egg, tofu, sprouts, fresh shrimp the size of one’s thumb and thin noodles typically used in ramen. Liu utilizes both chicken soup and oil extracted from frying the shrimp to prepare the broth, which gives the dish a satisfying depth of flavor. But at RMB58, it’d better be tasty.
As for the ‘bar’ part of the moniker, well, it isn’t ready yet. Two imported draft beers are listed on a temporary menu, but we’re told more will be available in the near future. In the meantime, cold brew coffee (RMB25) was recommended to ward off the heat outside.
The Vibe
The atmosphere at Noodle Bar is upbeat. It’s kind of like slurping noodles to the repeated track of ‘Become My Dream’ by Silya and The Sailors while getting glances from passersby. Actually no – it’s exactly like that during our visit.
Price: RMB70
Who’s going: hungry pupils, curious passersby
Good for: robust laksa, a quick lunch
See listing for Noodle Bar.
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