4/5
Noodle House has developed into quite a franchise for Jumeirah Group, although I have found mixed results across the restaurants. I've always enjoyed eating at the Emirates Towers branch but for some reason the Madinat Jumeirah one has tended to disappoint. Not having eaten at any Noodle House for a year or more and having a hankering for duck pancakes, my friend Louissa and I decided to give the one in Dubai International Financial Centre a go. DIFC has a great variety of restaurants both in the underground shopping boulevard next to the visitor car park and up one level on the ground floor under the offices. Noodle House is in the underground part but, similar to in the shopping malls, they have created 'inside' seating (next to the open kitchen which can apparently get very noisy) and 'outside' seating. There are a small number of tables and chairs but long tables with benches where you'll be sat with people you don't necessarily know is the main seating arrangement.
I was surprised that it wasn't very busy since I remember being turned away at Emirates Towers on numerous occasions because they had no more space. Turns out we had just been lucky to get there early and by 1pm the place was jammed. Top tip: arrive by 12:30 to have your choice of where to sit. We were able to sit at a table for 2 with nice comfortable chairs rather than a hard wooden bench. The menu is presented as a notepad where you tick the items that you want and this is then handed straight to the kitchen. We started with Japanese beans (steamed soya beans) although I asked for them to be sprinkled with salt instead of the pepper mentioned in the menu. Simple and healthy.
The duck in my crispy duck pancakes was not very crispy so I cut the soft fat off the meat before rolling up the pancakes. Part of the whole appeal of this dish is the crispy skin and the fact that it is not fatty so it was a shame but apart from that they were tasty and just what I was craving. Louissa's Singapore Noodles were really good but she had asked for extra spice and it wasn't particularly spicy. The meal didn't elicit any 'wows' but it was still very flavoursome and I would go back if I was in the area again. At Dhs 45 for the duck and Dhs 52 for the noodles, it does offer very good value and the speed of service means that you can actually sit and enjoy your food in your 1 hour lunch break.
P.S. I just went onto the Noodle House website to add the link above and found that if you sign up then you can avail of special offers. This month's offer is a voucher for a free main course when you buy 2 other mains. Not a bad deal so I'm likely to be going back before my voucher expires at the end of next month!
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