New pan-Asian Andheri eatery offers quick service, flavoursome food

Food, Zoodles, The Hakka Street Chilly Chicken, Thai Green Curry Zoodle Box and Golden Fried Prawns, pan-Asian restaurant, Andheri

‘Did you know that noodles could be most successfully eaten if you inhaled it like a vacuum cleaner?' Well, now you do. This, and other quirky nuggets of wisdom caught our eye when we walked into Zoodles, the Asian Street Wok eatery that opened in Andheri recently. With its wooden chairs and tables, bright orange and green plastic cutlery, an open kitchen where you can watch your food getting cooked, and the above mentioned bits of foodie gyaan (wisdom) splashed across the walls, the place sure looked welcoming. Judging by the full house on a week day, we couldn't help but think that either everyone in Andheri has started eating out more than ever or this restaurant's food is really good.

The Hakka Street Chilly Chicken, Thai Green Curry Zoodle Box and Golden Fried Prawns were scrumptious.
Pics/ Abhishek Rane

We hoped for the latter and got cracking on the dishes. Up first was a starter that warmed the cockles of our heart. The Hakka Street Chilli Chicken (Rs 190) with its succulent chicken in flavoursome chilly and soya sauce set the bar for the night. We would recommend this dish to any chicken lover. While the chicken starter was over quickly, it wasn't quite the same story with the Thai Lemongrass Potatoes (Rs 160). We don't know if the former was to be blamed, which floored us completely, but we found the latter a tad bland. Thankfully, the next - a plate of Golden Fried Prawns (Rs 195) - had us in raptures again the moment it was placed in front of us. Speckled with tiny bits of coriander, the prawns had a crispy covering and tasted delicious.

Zoodles has bright, colourful interiors

While we waited for the main course, another saying caught our eye - ‘Soya sauce makes food Chinese. Garlic makes it better.' We thought to ourselves, maybe they should change that to butter, thanks to the Buttery Garlic Noodles (Rs 165), which were placed before us. We forgave its bland look the moment we inhaled the aromas. The lovely fragrance of melted butter enveloped our senses. This, along with the Chicken in Chilly Garlic Sauce (R195, mildly spicy and flavoursome), proved to be a winning combination. The Thai Green Curry Zoodle box (R185) with basil, broccoli, carrot and mushroom teamed with rice, and with oodles of lemongrass flavour hit all the right spots on our palate. It was like having Asia on a plate.

The eatery serves just one dessert, the Chocolate Brownie Cubes (Rs 50) and we suggest you don't skip it. The warm brownie cubes were light and warm and were polished off in a matter of seconds. As we were leaving, another saying that caught our eye - ‘We'll wok your world'. And this time, we found ourselves nodding our heads in agreement.

We cannot rate the experience as it was an invitation.