Noodle Box Kloof Street — Restaurant in Gardens

Just quite honestly very disappointed after ready all the reviews. The spicy salmon dumplings were over spiced so really could not taste the salmon which made me concerned of the actual freshness of the salmon before conceptualizing this “todays special” specially when they own the sushi box next door. Also the dumplings had air dried pastry texture at the top, moist middle and fried bottom rendering them like warm to the touch and cold in the centre. They were drenched in a very sour sauce that did not compliment the flavour either. “Hoisin sauce” in the Chung King dish honestly just tasted like over reduced soy sauce to me and certainly not hoisin and a wishy washy take on nasi goreng that just did not deliver any flavour just left us disappointed as we got more style over substance. With the amount of veg and broccoli stems (not florets) the dishes just fell flat because the seasoning and aromatics couldn't tie the dish together. The Chung King felt forced in flavour due to the reduction which left the noodles intense and veg unseasoned. The house noodles was just so lacking in flavour we felt it was a dish that felt conceptualized but not mastered. I think the main issue with both dishes being the amount of raw veg to herbs, spices and seasoning/saucing to noodle ratio leaves the dishes disjointed. Service was satisfactory and attentive. I wrote the review to pinpoint my disappointment not to rant about it even if it may read that way. I simply don't like it when people leave a less than favorable rating without an...

Unfortunately a comedy of errors - The starter portion of the main meal I ordered came which had no rice ( I had pointed out the main portion specifically on the menu when ordering). They said this does not come with rice. They saw their error and took it away to correct it, but came back 10min later with fresh rice and the now cold squid from the incorrect serving earlier. I returned the order and asked for the bill. The manager came and apologised and said hope you return, which was nice but shoud've taken up what had happened with the kitchen. We asked for the bill multiple times after that and waited. Bill came they asked us to pay, the waitress was clearly upset and silent. But it was the wrong bill. I asked for our bill, which we waited for. Then the machine wasn't working they went to fetch another, waited for that. Paid the bill added around a 12-13% tip anyway. The waitress still cold towards us and not even a thank you, she just walked away. We then went to the manager on the way out and mentioned there was no need to make the situation uncomfortable, to which she apologized and said I hope its better when you come again. There was no discussion around taking it up with the kitchen, waitress or any action for resolve...

It seemed the staff were simply untrained and just taking chances. Unfortunately not a very succesful time at Noodle Box /Sushi Box...

Update #2: After leaving my initial review, I was contacted by the Noodle/Sushi Box area manager Brighton, who offered for us to come back for a second chance.

It was a great night and between Brighton's hospitality and the food (which was delicious), I could not find a single fault. A big thank you for the gesture and to Brighton, he was incredibly professional and welcoming throughout the process. Will definitely be back.

Disappointing. We got the house noodles, pad Thai and spicy chicken open dumplings.

House noodles were flavourless but the cantanese beef was good. The description didn't mention having cabbage, if it did I wouldn't have ordered it. It said it comes with broccoli and mange tout but it ended up only having broccoli stems.

Pad Thai was generally bland, didn't have any discernable taste of lime and the prawns were completely overcooked and mushy.

Dumplings were neither spicy nor open.

**UPDATE: Was asked to provide my contact details by the restaurant. I did this and was told I'd be contacted. To date I haven't been contacted and the owner hasn't responded to my follow up email. Updating from 3 stars to 2 after this...