Restaurant Review Project 24 - Noodle House

How does it feel when you finish a project? Especially the one which has been dragging for a long time. I feel a great sense of satisfaction that finally a long-dragging project has been brought to an end in a delicious manner. I am talking about my Restaurant Review Project that I started in November 2010 and the one in which I promised that I would complete reviews of 24 restaurants in 6 months! Talk about setting oneself up for failure! It is not that I didn’t eat out 24 times in those six months. As a matter of fact I must have eaten out more number of times than I can even count and also went to new restaurants. But somehow I never sat down at my plate thinking I want to review this one. Reviewing a place requires a different state of mind. It requires me to prepare beforehand with all the reviewing paraphernalia such as my camera and my little red note book in which I take many mental notes. Reviewing an eating joint or a restaurant requires planning such as how am I going to savour and enjoy my meal whilst keeping an eye on my hyperactive toddler. So you see it hasn’t been an easy ride and many times I have set out trying to review a restaurant and miserably failed to do so because either my toddler isn’t in the mood or the glaring eyes of the head server or the restaurant manager  make me queasy while I try to take the best shot of the food that I have ordered. Not all restaurants lend themselves to be ideal for reviewing. So I missed many good opportunities to review some very interesting restaurants that I have had a chance to visit. Keeping this in mind, I have decided to not stop reviewing and continue this exciting saga of tasting, experiencing and appreciating exhilarating bouquet of world cuisine that Bahrain has to offer.

For my 24th Restaurant, I have Noodle House to review. Noodle House is located in Seef Mall; one of my favourite malls in Bahrain and seems like the first of many Noodle House joints planned around Bahrain. The day Noodle House opened doors, I was very sure that this Pan Asian restaurant had to be reviewed. So finally, when the stars aligned favourably, we found ourselves at Noodle House on an unhurried weekend. We were greeted politely by the staff and were seated comfortably. For a weekend, the restaurant wasn’t crowded as we expected. The ambiance seemed none too extravagant yet modern and comfortable. We immediately felt at home. The head server introduced himself with a warm smile and guided us on how to order at Noodle House. A form was presented to us with a noodle -shaped pen and whatever we desired to order, we were to tick against the boxes in the menu. We went through the menu that seemed like any Pan Asian restaurant but I am not the one to judge instantly. I am back to being a vegetarian and it disappointing to see that there were very few vegetarian options on the menu.

I ordered for a 4 seasons mocktail which was essentially a refreshing blend of 4 fruit juices and strawberry puree. This rejuvenating start raised my hopes for the rest of the evening.

For starters we ordered vegetarian dimsums/vegetable Hacao which came very quickly to our delight. We attacked the piping hot dimsums with gusto only to find the pasty, sticky stuff constantly sticking to the roof of our mouths. Plus it was hot. So definitely quite annoying. So our hopes were dashed momentarily until our main courses arrived.

I had ordered for Wok fried Vegetables with Tofu and black bean and Brown Rice. From the very first morsel it was simply divine. I haven’t tasted better tasting wok fried veggies and tofu in the longest time. Every spoonful was a sheer delight. It was light, full of flavour and paired with brown rice, it was such a satisfying meal. Even as I type this post, I can clearly recall the taste.

My hubby had ordered a Crispy chicken in plum sauce which was fantastic too. My hubby who usually remains unimpressed and is known to leave his portions at restaurants, finished his chicken in no time.

Our friend Namit had ordered a Thai Green curry with vegetables served with jasmine rice. He too couldn’t have enough of his portion and literally wiped his plate clean. It was only after we finished every bit on our plates in record time did we realize that we were too full to even move.

In my greed, I had also ordered a salad called the Asian Chopped salad which largely remained untouched inspite of being fresh and so inviting.

Noodle House served us well and though the dimsums were disastrous, the rest of the course more than made up for it. The portions look deceptively small but are more than sufficient.

I could easily find myself stepping out on any Saturday evening and heading towards Noodle House to eat the very same thing I had ordered before. The taste stays with you and that is what makes Noodle House so special. That quality only certain restaurants have and hence remain  firm favourites with all their patrons.

Now for the verdict;

Food – 4.5/5

Service – 4/5

Ambiance 4/5

Overall – 4/5

The total bill amount came to BHD 24.200. In my opinion it is value for money spent on Noodle House food.

I am extremely thrilled to announce that Noodle House has been sliced and is officially the last of the restaurant reviews for the Restaurant Review Project (RRP). Noodle House gets a huge thumbs up from all of us and they can easily assume that they have made loyal customers out of us in just one dinner experience.

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