A rather strange concept of mixing a wine bar with a noodle restaurant and beer on tap. Somehow, it works.

The Venue
Chi Noodle and Wine Bar is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spot that’s located down a small passageway with little more than a small hanging sign and windowed frontage to betray its location. Inside, you have a simple wine bar/restaurant on the ground floor level that has a bright feel to it thanks to the large windows streaming in light and a swathe of light wooden tables. Then there’s the dining room located in the small, low-ceilinged basement where you’ll find a few unadorned dining tables. It has a rather strange appeal that’s more pub than it is either wine bar or noodle restaurant, but it has an easygoing feel that’s welcoming.

The Atmosphere
Little has been written about Chi Noodle and Wine Bar and it certainly doesn’t benefit from a fantastic location. Yet somehow, inexplicably, this is a place that’s often busy and you may struggle to get a table without a wait. Such is the power of word-of-mouth. Offering takeaways, beer, wine and dining-in options, it’s little wonder it appeals to so many people, many of whom work in one of the many – many – offices nearby.

The Food
Chi Noodle and Wine Bar subscribes to the Wagamama School of Easy Dining. Expect the usual mix of snacks, soups, stir fries, noodle, rice and salad dishes, all very well priced at less than a tenner for big portions that will see you through well into the evening if you’re dining here for lunch.

A highlight of the menu is the duck ramen (£8.50), offering delicious meaty slathers of roasted duck, cooked in five spice to offer an almost sweet flavour to the skin. The broth is perfectly seasoned with chunks of spring onion and fried shallots giving it a slight tang, bulked out with greens, wakame (seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots) and carrots. Just be warned, if you’re opting for the soup because you’re not feeling very hungry then this is a very – very – filling dish! Alternatively, opt for a few of the small snacks. The satay chicken (£4.80) comes as four skewers of chargrilled chicken, giving it a delightful barbecued flavour tempered by a sweet marinade. Served with a spicy peanut sauce it’s a well-rounded dish that lingers pleasantly in the mouth. Otherwise, the vegetable spring rolls (£4.20) are perfectly crunchy and filled to bursting with sliced cabbage, carrots, vermicelli and mok yee. The sweet chilli sauce it’s served with is delicate and works well with the simple vegetable flavours. It’s certainly worth every penny of the (very reasonable) price tag.

The Drink
The wine bar could easily have been an afterthought but it actually stands up as a venue all of its own with an excellent and very well priced list of good bottles of old and new world wines spanning several regions and grape varieties. Prices start at just £12.95, ranging up to a still not expensive £39.95, and the list is well described with tasting notes on the menu. Almost half of the bottles are also available by the glass, which is ideal if you’re just popping in for lunch and don’t want to explain to your boss why you downed a bottle of wine in an hour. The choice is rounded off by a handful of roses and sparkling varieties. Oh, and don’t forget their draught Guinness! Note: they do offer the more usual beers for a noodle bar - Asahi (on draught) and Tsing Tao.

The Last Word
This is what drinking and dining out in London should be about – finding hidden little spots like this that possess a genuine charm and are hard not to be enchanted by.

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