Dr.Noodle

Most trips to the GP don’t come easily, but no one should have any qualms about heading to Dr.Noodle in New Cross. The noodle soups at this little Chinese specialist are a nourishing, crowd-pleasing kind of prescription, and you feel all the better for slurping them down.

The simple, white-tiled space has eight or so tables and is completely unspectacular. So, all your attention should be on the menu, which isn’t hard with food this good. A tranquil midweek lunch will likely only be ruptured by the sounds of your own unashamed guzzling. Come dinner things get a little busier. SE4 locals pile in with drinks from the offy in hand, preparing to go big on a meal full of plates big and small.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

There's plenty of bite in these noodles, the beef broth has a deep umami flavour, and the amount of meat and herbs point to a parental kind of generosity. Fragrant bowls of soup like this need plenty of fresh foliage, and this one has got it. A spoon of the doctor’s chilli oil is a must—the Sichuan pepper film coats your throat like an aggressive Strepsil. If you’re umming and ahhing over the rice dishes, go for the silky aubergine with minced pork. 

Like any great neighbourhood restaurant, Dr.Noodle requires revisits. The menu is as moreish as a Dan Brown book by the pool in 2003. Even the hungriest soul will struggle to take down a noodle or rice dish, an excellent frankfurter jianbing, a cucumber salad, and a deep-fried sausage for good measure. Nor should you be expected to. Because a check-up at Dr.Noodle is worthwhile any day of the week.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Tian Jin Crepes

While this jianbing is a great dish to share (the crepe comes in two halves), you can just as easily put this wonderful little frankfurter creation away yourself. The sesame seed-flecked batter is spread with sweet and lightly spiced bean curd and stuffed with an enormous fried dough stick, a frankfurter, and a whisper of lettuce.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Deep-Fried Sausage

Look, we’re a sucker for deep-fried anything. But a deep-fried sausage with wings? Well that’s just magnificent.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Beef Soup Specialty Noodles

There are a tonne of noodle soups available across the whole of London and this is one of the best around. The broth is rich without being overwhelming and has a clarity of beefy, herby flavour that feels healing and invigorating all at once. There’s plenty of meat, sometimes chewy, sometimes tender, and a good handful of greens in there too. We like to add just under a spoon of chilli oil as well.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Noodles With Braised Pork, Tomato And Egg Sauce

This brothless noodle dish hits every mark your taste buds could desire. The minced pork is in a glutinous, umami-heavy mixture, the tomato and eggs are chopped together to form a sweet, salty mound, and the pile of lip-smacking Sichuan oil is generous. The noodles are perfectly weighted thin wires of bounce and, swirled together, it’s a great bowl.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Aubergine With Minced Pork

An all-time classic combination of silken aubergine, juicy ground pork, and a sweet soy and oyster-heavy sauce can truly never go wrong. It’s also laced with that fizzing chilli oil, which is always welcome.