Ok Durban, get off your eisheholes, get your groove on and get down with your mates for some Noodle mania. Mooki Noodle Bar in Brand Road is kewler than kewl. I think that the food has digitally enhanced my world because everything seems to have a little more colour today; the only problem is that I can’t get those Ginger & Red Chilli Chicken Udon Noodles out of my mind. I am in love!
If you read my blog you will know what a huge fan of Asian food I am and how I love to get into my own kitchen and fuse the foods of Thailand with China and Japan. I hereby award Mooki “Hofu” which are kinda like Mooki Kudos to Paul, the owner and cook of Mooki Noodle Bar. He has had the kahonies to play with food and lead his diners into a world where flavours flirt unabashedly with humour and funk! This is no ordinary Asian Food Restaurant …. Na-ah! This is where Nintendo meets a Superhero.
The menu
Mooki Noodle’s menu is short, sweet and simple but every dish that came floating through in Pauls paws was a flavour fest and the portion sizes are very generous. TrickyRicky, my hubby would be more than happy with the size of the portions. I like the flexibility that the menu offers.
It allows you to choose your fave noodle from Ramen, Mai Fun, Ho Fun or Udon Noodles, your desired protein from veg, chicken, pork or prawn and your sauce, from Pad Thai – a sweet Tamarind Sauce with Egg and crushed Peanuts (R45), Ginger & Red Chilli – a mushroom, ginger, garlic, chilli, Oyster and Soy sauce (R45) or Hoisin & Sweet Chilli – Plum sauce, Dark Soy, Sweet Chilli, garlic and Mushroom Sauce (R45) so there is plenty of choice to satisfy your need for Noodle Powa.
The Spring Rolls (R21 for 2) are fantastic – the pastry is wafer thin and crunches and snaps as you bite into it! The freshly made Fish Cakes (R37) with a spicy Teriyaki sauce burst with flavour and the pot sticker style Dim Sum, which is made fresh daily, was served in a beautiful light, clear and clean flavoured homemade chicken broth that makes your toes curl.
Rosy Jobfish
I woofed down my main dish of freshly caught Rosy Jobfish (of the Snapper family and off the SASSI green list) which is a wonderfully flavoursome, juicy firm beautiful white fish that was served on a Ho Fun Noodle salad with sweet chilli jam. (R65) The Ginger & Red Chilli Chicken with Udon noodles was out of this world. I can’t wait to go back for some more – can’t get that mushroom flavour out of my mind!
The full stop at the end of our meal should have a health warning attached to it … true’s Bob this dessert is addictive! The Goji Berry Frozen Yoghurt served with a shot of Chilli Chocolate Sake rocked my world! I want a bottle of that chilli chocolate Sake.
The vibe
The Mooki Noodle Bar is situated in Brand Road in Glenwood. This area is starting to blossom and I can’t wait until it’s bursting with little gems like Mooki. Restaurants that have heart and soul and a chef that’s in love with cooking and is still being creative in his kitchen. I could easily have been seated in a little Thai street café – the décor is funky and colourful yet minimal and the kitchen is literally all of 8,75m square. With packed tables full of Noodle Powered happy smiley people, the vibe is great and the food is so reasonably priced it’s affordable to all and so is the take away menu.
Who is Mooki?
So who is this Mooki dude you ask? Mooki is Nintendo character that spent 10 years in silence his bedroom locked away from society, when he finally found his voice he left a pot of his awesome Noodles with a note for his parents telling them that he had left home to explore the world, and especially Africa as it seemed so far away, and that he would pay his way by singing and cooking for people, because if his family enjoyed his talents so much he would have plenty of “Hofu” or appreciation from those who lived in faraway places.
Mooki, sure as Hofu, found his way to Africa! Thank Heavens!
Janice Tripepi was hosted for the evening by Mooki Noodle Bar.