London’s Chinatown can be mind-boggling if you fancy some noodles but don’t know which one of the hundreds of restaurants to choose from. Make it simple and head straight to Noodle and Beer (who also sell much more than that) – it’s a cute, charming restaurant with friendly staff, and a well-priced menu full of delicious dishes.

Where is it?
Just off Shaftesbury Avenue down Wardour Street towards Leicester Square. The French-bistro-style façade hides a walk-in noodle shop on the ground floor – and it’s downstairs where the real fun happens.

What’s all the fuss about?
This is the second restaurant from the Noodle and Beer team – the original in Shoreditch became a favourite with hip East London types. This branch sees a slightly more glamorous fashion crowd, reflecting its West London location and the downstairs bouji restaurant and bar, the Rouge Lounge – an Instagram delight with its red velvet walls, curtains and furnishings. Sexy and cute all at the same time, it makes you feel special just by sitting there, but it’s when the food arrives that your tummy starts to feel just as excited as the rest of you.

 What’s the place like?
A dining room for little devils – it’s dark, intimate and simply delightful.

What did you eat and drink?
A pear martini sounded intriguing, and the blend of vodka, pear vodka, pear eau de vie, sandalwood liqueur, pear juice and (drumroll please) dry vermouth was simultaneously fruity and refreshing, and put me in the party mood.

Alongside the cocktail list, there’s a great selection of Asian beers including Kirin Ichiban on draft, Tiger, Asahi and Sapporo in bottles. The wine list is beautifully curated by Douglas Blyde, the popular London-based wine consultant, and features a small but beautiful collection of reasonably priced bottles.

We were a table of three and wanted to try everything but it’s a good job we didn’t as the portions here are generous. From the 'Small Eats' part of the menu we chose 'Mouthwatering chicken', a Sichuan chicken salad in red chilli oil with peanuts, and it was a heap of fresh flavours with great texture. The eggplant salad was slow-cooked wedges of aubergine in a hot and sour sauce that slithered off our chopsticks, while lang-ya tu dou were crinkle-cut fried potatoes, the whole golden pile garnished with coriander, spring onion, pickled veggies and chilli sauce.

They are all really substantial so it was a struggle to do our main courses justice but we bravely fought on so I could report back. I had ordered the beef rendang, a rich curry full of tender chunks of slow-cooked beef served with wide, slippery blanket noodles while the others had chosen the deluxe seafood rice, heaving with giant king prawns, scallop and shrimp, and zha-jiang mian, a large bowl of wheat noodles with a generous amount of spicy minced chicken and veg.

The verdict?
A first-rate experience at budget prices, this is a must-book treat in the West End.

Lasting memory
The creamy, coconutty beef rendang curry along with the saucy, sexy vibe of the place.