Authentic halal Chinese restaurants are hard to come by in London, so when Duck & Noodle popped up in our radar, we were excited. Not only is it hard to find Chinese food that is halal, but more so with duck. So, the fact this place has a fully halal menu with a variety of authentic Chinese dishes as well as duck (and high quality duck), is extremely impressive and appealing to the Muslim audience. Their menu is huge with a lot of authentic classics to choose from including soup dumplings, dim sum, roast duck, noodle dishes including dry ones and soup ones, and ma po tofu. And of course their famous Peking Duck dish, which is the national dish of China (or Beijing at least). I’ll mention a little more about their standout dishes (and their authentic names) below after talking a little about them and their story. Duck & Noodle is a rare occurrence. An authentic Chinese restaurant with some proper authentic Chinese dishes including their famous Peking Duck that is fully Halal? Nah, I’ve not seen too many of these around in this country.
Duck & Noodle Story
They and their story started back in Gansu, Northwest China. They brought authentic Chinese food to capital city of London. And their origins actually go back to Oxford Street. In 2006, the success of ‘Noodle Oodle’ led to them expanding and thus was the birth of their restaurant in Queensway. And they claim to be London’s first restaurant to serve hand stretched noodles and Chinese Halal food. As the name of the restaurant suggests, the roast duck and hand stretched noodles are star dishes here.
Their world-famous duck is sourced from Silver Hill Farm in Ireland and it is in and of itself one of a kind because each duck can be traced back to where it was hatched. How mad is that!? It is known as the ‘best duck in the world’. And the great news is that they also offer a halal version. So, I’m quite surprised more Chinese restaurants don’t offer it. As for the hand stretched noodles, it can date back to as far as the Han dynasty. A proper staple in many parts of China and the Chinese cuisine.
The standout dishes
For starters go for the Sesame Prawn Toast. Always a good idea.
They’ve got a decent Dim Sum menu. The following stand out as being the ones to try: Steam Chicken & Prawn Siu Mai, Crab Flavour Xiao Long Bao (the currently popular and famous soup dumplings!) & Steam Custard Bun (for dessert).
Their trademark world-famous halal roast duck is a must here. I mean half of the restaurant’s name is this. Go for one of these: Roast Duck & Rice & Peking Duck.
Homemade Chilli Stir Fry – this looked interesting on the menu. They describe it as being the spiciest dish and one of their favourites. If you like spice, try it.
Spectacular Seabass – Ginger, Spring Onion & Soy Sauce (Deep Fried or Steam) – this is a classic Chinese dish. There are restaurants in China that solely serve this.
Stewed Beef Noodle soup – you can’t come here and not try a noodle dish. I personally prefer noodle soup dishes and this classic looks like the one to try.
Stir Fried Hor Fun Noodles – if you don’t like soupy noodles, why not!? Anyway, you could try one of their dry noodle dishes and this one is a good one.
Vegetarian Ma Po Tofu – this is a classic Sichuan dish that places tofu in the forefront as the main ingredient.
Cincau Drink – a drink that uses the popular mild jelly ingredient from Asia
Banana Fritters with Ice Cream – locally known as Goreng Pisang. It is banana wrapped in a crispy batter served with ice cream and maple syrup.
Check out their menu here.
Our experience
I’ve had Peking Duck in Peking itself (i.e. Beijing) and I really wasn’t a fan, so I wasn’t too keen on trying it again here. I still would’ve though as it is something hard to find halal, but by the time we got here we were very very full. We opted for Stir Fried Hor Fun Noodles and Steam Custard Bun. We were impressed with both. The noodles were flavoursome and smoky. The chilli oil had a slightly funky taste/smell, but it worked well with the noodles. The custard buns were light, fluffy and sweet. Perfect. Taste wise they were almost as good as the famous Chinatown ones, but at half the price!
Getting there:
Parking: Q-Park Queensway (just be wary of parking there, this doesn’t have the best of reputations – check Google Reviews)
Nearest Mosque: Queensway Market Mosque
Nearest station: Bayswater & Queensway
