Takeaway: Café Yum / Chao Kitchen, Old Street, London
There’s a new kid on the block in Old Street. And they’re serving up noodle soups jam-packed with fresh ingredients.
The guys who own Chao Kitchen in Whitecross Street have opened a new restaurant on Old Street. Serving up just 3 soups, 2 rice dishes and 2 noodle dishes, the small menu shouldn’t put you off. There’s a lot to be said for doing a few things really well.
You can place your order through the open shop front and watch the guys prepare your food in front of you. I ordered the Char Sui Pork Won Ton soup, though I declined the chilli and also the boiled egg which comes in it as standard. I know it’s popular in ramen, but I’m not much of a fan of hard-boiled eggs, especially not in soup.
On opening up the soup the first thing that hits you is a lovely aroma of fresh vegetables and rich broth. The piping hot soup is topped with pak choi. Dipping your chopsticks in brings both succulent won tons and sweet honey pork to the top. Yum. All of these are sitting on a very generous bed of egg noodles, perfectly al-dente and swimming in rich broth.
The soup is lovely, very well filled and with lots to keep you interested and filled up at lunchtime. I have no complaints with this, and it’s very different to the Pho’s served in the restaurant’s sister Whitecross branch so it’s a good addition to the lunchtime soup options. The liquid does get slightly greaser as you get through the soup, but that’s just from the ingredients being in the broth for a while and all adds to the flavour.
The shop only opened this week so I hope they do well. I think as word gets out the queues will start to grow. I’d definitely have this again, and it definitely didn’t need the egg!
Words and pictures @ladylavish
