It has been well overdue but I finally made it to Noodles Plus+ on Mill Road. This is one of the most highly regarded Chinese restaurants in the city, with many spouting it as the best place for noodles around.

I tried to visit numerous times in the past, but one of the biggest barriers to dining at Noodles Plus+ is the fact they don’t take reservations. The restaurant is very small and is only able to seat 20 people (at a push), so it is very much a “first come, first serve” situation. Due to this and its popularity, the restaurant almost permanently has a queue outside. I have queued myself in the past and often lost patience after ten minutes but tonight I decided to take the plunge, so I can finish my Mill Road journey.

Upon arrival, I was one of the first in the queue. Despite this, it still meant I had to wait nearly 30 minutes to get in. Clearly the queue was gone because they’d only just let a load of people in, meaning I had to wait the entire time it takes to dine in for my turn. Naturally, it was dark, wet, and cold 😭

The restaurant isn’t going to win any awards for style, with the furniture being incredibly basic and the walls a bright green colour which were somewhat grating on the eyes. Reassuringly, they have an open plan (and very clean) kitchen, so you can see them frantically working to keep up with demand. The lady serving me was manically trying to manage numbers and clear tables as quickly as possible to let the people waiting outside in from the dark and cold. It looked stressful to watch but she was doing a great job.

The menu isn’t huge but there’s a lot to be excited about and prices look reasonable which might be another reason why it’s so popular.

Spicy pork noodle soup

I’m a big fan of spicy pork, so I couldn’t resist the urge of ordering the spicy pork noodle soup.

From ordering, it took me about 45 to 50 minutes for my meal to arrive. I wouldn’t say this is slow necessarily because everything is made fresh to order and you could see that they were working hard in the open plan kitchen to get it out. But this, coupled with the 30-minute wait to get a seat, was quickly mounting up.

The soup came with cabbage, broccoli and what I think was spring onions. The soup has a thin spicy red colour to it, almost like a broth. The noodles were absolutely exquisite. You could really tell that they were made on site and fresh today. This is one of the major factors as to why Noodle Plus+ is so popular in Cambridge.

With that said, the soup tasted perfectly fine but it failed to jump out in terms of flavour and lacked the spicy kick I was hoping for. Maybe I was expecting too much due to the reputation of the restaurant but I couldn’t help but feel a little flat. The pork was nice but it is nothing to write about. Though I still thought £8 was a good deal for what I was getting, especially in this part of Cambridge.

Shanghai Xiao Long Bao

The Shanghai Xiao Long Bao are a type of soup dumpling that was recommended to me by someone in the queue waiting outside. You get about six large ones for £9 which are filled with minced pork.

As with the noodles, the dumpling dough was absolutely delicious. It was so fresh and soft, with a delicate flavour that didn’t overshadow the pork in the slightest. It was also served in an attractive bamboo style steam box.

Watch out for these because they are very hot and when you penetrate them with a fork or chopstick they spurt out all over the place. Needless to say, this didn’t happen to me but I am just warning you 🤣

I had a bottle of flavoured Chinese iced tea which was bloody delicious. All of this combined cost me under £20. Now that is impressive! It isn’t just about quality Noodle Plus+ but also the value.

Warning: Noodle Plus+ is cash only

Worth the hype?

I had a lovely meal at Noodles Plus+ with very few complaints about any of the food. The quality of the noodles and the dumpling were some of the best I have had in the city (though I will admit, I am not blessed with a wealth of experience of Chinese food in Cambridge)…but is it worth the hype?

Well, that depends, in some ways I felt that the flavour of my noodle soup was a little anaemic, even though I could appreciate the quality of the ingredients and the freshness of its preparation. I suppose the question comes down to, is it worth queueing in the cold in the dark, especially for someone like myself who has to travel 35 to 40 minutes out of the city to get in, then to queue for 30 minutes and then wait a further 45 minutes for my food to come out. This is obviously a lot easier for people that live in Cambridge already and I know there are people out there that will be willing to go through all that for slightly higher quality food but I can’t see myself returning, unless I just so happen to be walking past and the queue is gone. I would love to see Noodle Plus+ move to a larger restaurant to remove this barrier of entry but until then I think there is enough quality Chinese restaurants of similar quality that come without the faff.

I guess it is all down to how much time you have on your hands.

Thanks for reading