It’s not hard to find to find The Noodle Theory, the new Pan Asian vegetarian restaurant, on the busy TV Samy Road (West) but finding a place to park your car is much harder.
The space is small; just around 24 covers and the concept is self service. When we entered, my friend and I were handed a piece of paper and a pencil, at which we stared blankly before we realised that we had to tick the boxes next to each item to indicate our orders.
After a major discussion, we managed to decide what we wanted and handed over our papers at the counter. But we forgot to write our names and it took some frantic waving from the boy at the counter to get our attention. The other aspect of this is that, if something is not available on a given day, then the customer doesn’t realise it until the person at the counter checks the order and informs him/her.
Our soups arrived first: Lung Fung and Khao Suey. The latter was a winner: a broth filled with veggies and noodles in which the sweetness of the coconut milk, the tartness of lemongrass and the spiciness of the chillies chased each other. The Lung Fung paled before this.
For starters we had ordered Nutty Spring Rolls and Tibetan Dumplings. The rolls were crisp, the stuffing piping hot and the spicy sauce took the edge off the sweetness. And the best part was not having to wipe your fingers free of the oil. The Tibetan Dumplings were pretty: translucent white cover with a hint of green and a bright yellow corn kernel peeping out. But given how bland it was, a sauce with more bite is indicated as a side rather than the cheesy one we were served.
Noodles or rice Make your own main course
- @ 135 TV Samy Road (West), RS Puram
- Hits: Khao Suey, Nutty Spring Rolls, Noodles in Lemon Butter Garlic Sauce
- Misses: Lung Fung Soup, Tibetan Dumplings
- Meal for two: Around Rs1000
- Contact 0422-4364892
The best part of The Noodle Theory was fixing your own main course. Usually at a restaurant, we’d end up ordering a rice and/or a noodle dish, and two side dishes to go with it. And clutch our stomachs and groan at the quantity. The Noodle Theory tells you instead to construct your own Wok or Salad. First, you choose a base: One of either five varieties of noodles or four varieties of rice. Then a protein, vegetables (five out of 18 for a wok or eight for a salad), sauce (one out of 12) and garnish (two out of 7). You can choose more vegetables, but each extra one costs ₹10. My friend had decided on Jasmine rice with Thai Green Curry while I plumped for Fresh Noodles with a Lemon Butter Garlic Sauce.
What came next was a surprise. We had expected the rice and the curry to come separately but it was served as a single dish. The rice had soaked in the juices and the sauce alternated between mildly spicy and sweet and the result was flavourful and tasty. The noodles too were equally delicious; the sauce was not too oily despite the butter and the water chestnut offered a bit of crunch amid the softer vegetables.
We’d opted not to have a dessert (brownies and/or ice cream) and finished our meal with lemonade: ginger herb for me and pink for her. Not too sweet and went well as a post-lunch digestive.
What we really liked was that the food was all served in arecanut bowls; the only plastic in sight was the spoon. For water, they have set up a water mixer with a glass. Bottled water is available for those who insist. Or why don’t you just carry your own?
