Chinese Noodle Bar - Haymarket

While on my special quest to Sydney to find the stand out cheap and cheerful Asian eatery I stumble upon Chinese Noodle Bar which I was told by the waitress has only been operating for one week. Prior to this Kung Fu Ramen was the proprietor. It would appear that all of Kung Fu Ramen's operating equipment (kitchen tools, serving plates, furniture, cutlery, everything including expensive custom made plastic wall menus were left behind). 

I suspect that if you had visited Kung Fu Ramen previously you might not feel that ownership had changed at all. The most notable change is that the activity of making noodles on the premises seemed to have stopped. When asked the waitress replied that the meals will represent the North of China from the Szechuan region. Not unusual considering the name of the establishment (Chinese Noodle Bar).

Item No.6 - BBQ Lamb Skewers - $10.00

Lamb is most definitely a cool climate inhabitant (Ever heard of a tropical lamb?) so it's not surprising lamb is on the menu. I choose the BBQ lamb skewers. A most excellent well spiced dish to say the least. Just be careful not to let part of the skewer hang past into the isle as it can catch someone walking past. These skewers should come with warning labels advising the diner to take care when using them.

Item No.8 - Beef Noodle Soup - $8.80

The beef noodle soup was very, well "Northern Chinese". It's clear that there are noodles in the soup. To be honest it wasn't very exciting and it would be fair to describe it as average. It would have been better I condiments were provided as at the time of my visit there was none available. While I acknowledge there was pleasant aroma of a herb that I couldn't identify.

View out onto George St.

While sitting in this position facing the outside traffic I noticed a male/female couple of Asian appearance on the other side of George St. approach other people of Asian appearance who would walk past with a small notice board of something on offer. They seemed to ignore people of non Asian appearance. From time to time people would take up their offer and enter the premisses they stood in front of. I suspect it might have been some kind of special Chinese eatery that doesn't normally cater to western palates. I say this as I used to have a friend from Hong Kong who used to take me to these apparently secret eating houses which specialized in purely Chinese clientele. I remember that there were only Asians (of Cantonese heritage) in those eating houses.

View of the kitchen

As you can see it's the same kitchen from the Kung Fu Ramen days except no signs of noodle making. Notice on the walls there are remnants (memorabilia) of the previous tenant Kung Fu Ramen as there are still old signs up on the walls. My visit was probably a little premature as the new owners were only there a few days before my visit. So have an open mind about this place as it's most likely a work in progress. It would be interesting to see how it shapes up over the next 12 months.

Chinese Noodle Bar
800 George St
Haymarket, NSW

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