Noodle Doodle

The Place
Taking residence in the legendary former Cubana building on Trippet Lane, Noodle Doodle certainly have big shoes to fill. With Cubana’s move to Leopold Square, this prime piece of real estate was the city centre’s hottest property on the market – and the guys from Noodle Doodle have certainly kitted it out nicely. The modern Asian interior is stylish and welcoming and the menu is diverse with Cantonese, Szechuan, North Eastern Chinese and Malaysian cuisines all represented. To say we were excited was an understatement.

The Food
Ok, so the menu is seriously huge, and sometimes this can be to a restaurant’s detriment – so we were intrigued to see if this was a case of the old “jack of all trades” analogy. To investigate the theory, we greedily decided to opt for a wide selection of styles. Our smorgasbord of starters included extremely tasty spring rolls, mouth-wateringly moreish salt and pepper chicken, and the best Dim Sum style prawn dumplings and roast pork buns I’ve had outside of London’s China Town. This was a great way to start and, considering the very good portion sizes, we still had room for plenty more.

Now, I pride myself on my ability to eat anything. Not much scares me (I ate snail eggs once), so I went for a bit of a menu roulette approach for the mains. The dried pork fat ends with chilli instantly drew me in and, when they arrived, I immediately realised they were not what I expected. I thought ‘Fat Ends’ would be some kind of pork crackling in chilli, but oh no, It was only dried pig’s intestine! Gulp!

The crispy circles of offal were an absolute revelation – and the Szechuan chilli seasoning was intense and delicious. I will 100% order this again. Our journey continued with the exceptional steamed king prawns in garlic with sweet potato noodles. The ‘shell on’ prawns were cooked to perfection and the savoury and aromatic garlic coating gave the crustaceans a sensational lift. Finally, a traditional Malaysian laksa curried noodle soup ended our mains selection. The broth was bold and intense and filled to the brim with melt in the mouth pork, chicken, prawns, tofu and soft egg noodles.

We were pretty full by now – but still found room to cleanse the palate with a top class vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The Verdict
These days, Sheffield has a wealth of Chinese restaurants. There are some great examples… and some pretty ropey ones. Noodle Doodle certainly fit in the great category and is most definitely a welcome addition to the city’s restaurant scene. The diverse menu boasts a wealth of delights for both the novice and the aficionado that enter their doors. The staff are knowledgeable and friendly and the décor is modern, clean and inviting.

To sum Noodle Doodle up: Master’s they are, Jacks they certainly are not.

Noodle Doodle
34 Trippet Lane
Sheffield
S1 4EL
Tel: 0114 272 7688 

http://www.noodle-doodle.co.uk/

Opening Hours
Mon: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Tue: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Wed: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Thurs: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Fri: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Sat: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Sun: 11:00am – 10:00pm