With giant portions of noodles for bargain prices, The Yeast Noodle Bar is an exceedingly friendly local eatery that always hits the spot.

The Venue
Putney High St is crammed with places to eat, some much better than others, but if you hold out until you get to the river end of this stretch you’ll stumble across this unassuming and oddly named little noodle bar. Inconspicuous despite its bright blue paintwork, The Yeast is a no-frills restaurant and favourite local takeaway, dishing up fantastic value, fresh Thai/Chinese food for hungry punters until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Split over two levels, with simple wooden furniture, tiled floors, house plants and mixture of pinkish and yellow colour scheme, its basic decor does the job and makes for a comfy place to tuck into some seriously good cheap dishes.

The Atmosphere
The ever-polite, accommodating staff and warming, chatty atmosphere make The Yeast a welcoming hideout to grab a midweek bite, cheeky takeaway or late-night snack. It still remains a little undiscovered by the masses and doesn’t often attract a huge crowd, but this is perhaps less a reflection on the food and prices and more on the stiff competition for eateries in this area and a slightly awkward position at the wrong end of the high street.

The Food
Apart from generous portion sizes and great value for money, the best thing about The Yeast’s menu is the huge amount of choice. You can pretty much select any dish from the wide range on offer and tailor it how you like. You’ll pretty much find all your favourites though – to start, you can never go wrong with fresh and crunchy vegetable spring rolls (£3.50) or crispy prawn crackers and plump gyoza (£4). There are also prawns every way imaginable – butterflied, sesame, satay, battered - and such addictive treats as honey roasted ribs and sesame prawn toasts.

You’ll do well to save room for the mains however, as portions are huge and the food is very tasty. The giant seafood or chicken laksa in spicy coconut broth with tofu and bean sprouts comes in a cavernous bowl, all for just £5. With a nice blending of Thai and Chinese cuisine, other wise options are the Pad Thai (£7) or Mee Goreng. You can always have your fried noodles pretty much any way you like – with udon, egg noodles, flat noodles or rice vermicelli. Some dishes have quite a kick to them so be sure to ask if you’re spice-sensitive, although it would be a shame to miss out on the char siu (with your choice of meat, eggs and mixed veg flavoured with curry spices and fresh chilli). Chilli lo mein (thick flour noodles with chicken, prawns or pork) is another house favourite, and also unbelievably good value at £5.


The Drink
London is seeing more and more restaurants allowing you to BYO (Bring Your Own), although most charge eye-watering corkage fees. The Yeast mercifully allows you to bring your own bottles for just £1 corkage fee – meaning you can spend even more on your food and watch the pounds slide off your bill. That’s not to say the drinks they have there are expensive though – wines (admittedly not amazing ones) start from around £6.50 a bottle and beer from £2.50 a glass.

The Last Word
Better value than Wagamamas down the road and just as good – a better banquet at these prices is hard to find.

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