Gugsu kickstarts noodle box journey in London Whitechapel

UK’s fast food noodle bar concept has steadily been growing over the past decade, with a number of well-established Halal brands having now made a significant mark.

Located opposite Aldgate East station in London’s Whitechapel, Gugsu joined this community earlier in the year with the tried and tested build-your-own noodle box.

Having chosen the size of your meal box size ranging from small, medium, large, or jumbo; you then get to choose from a selection of bases revolving around rice, noodles, and fries; before considering between a dozen freshly-made toppings.

If creating your own isn’t your thing, then there’s eight combo boxes to consider including the signature Gugsu Box with soba noodles, vegetable fried rice, salt ‘n’ paper chicken, and caramel chicken.

Situated on Whitechapel High Street, this 20-cover restaurant’s vibrant black and yellow colour scheme underscores a strong brand concept for Gugsu, with effective use of neon signage, as well as an Instagram-friendly plant-wall.

An enjoyable range of starters, particularly their soups

Gugsu offer a good assortment of starters, the best of which turned out to be their selection of soups, with one packing a solid punch.

Despite only a pair of small prawns and some rubbery squid rings, our pick of the starters was the Seafood Tom Ka Soup, which was driven by a deeply flavoured, buttery, coconut broth that offered mushrooms and onions, before ending with a sour note.

Seafood Tom Ka Soup, £4.00

As for the Tom Yum Chicken Soup, then with plenty of lime leaves underscoring its gingery broth, we appreciated the gentle heat of the red chillis along with the chunks of moist chicken therein.

The weakest of the lot was the crispy Vegetable Spring Roll, which was more potato than vegetables. On the other hand, the Sticky Wings made up for their small stature with a fairly robust smoky-barbecue glaze.

Crispy Tempura Prawns, £3.50

Vegetable Spring Roll, £2.50

Spicy Chips, £2.50

Spicy Chips, £2.50

Sticky Wings, £3.00; Prawn Crackers, £2.00

Although the Prawn Crackers went well with the soups, we’re not sure a couple of quid justified half-a-dozen of them.

And while the batter of the Crispy Tempura Prawns was certainly light and crispy, the crustaceans, despite being relatively moist, did betray a slight odour (although nothing off-putting).

Base 1: Udon Noodles, Base 2: Steamed Fried Rice; Topping 1: Green Curry Chicken, Topping 2: Crispy Chilli Prawn (+£1.00) – (Medium Box) £8.49

This box was stuffed with quite a flavourous Green Curry Chicken whose vegetables and moist chicken pieces all delivered on that distinct green curry flavour.

The Crispy Chilli Prawns weren’t anywhere near as crispy as we were expecting, with barely any heat coming through.

As such, the Udon Noodles simply did not have much to work with, while the Steamed Fried Rice appeared unseasoned. In the end, this entire combination fell flat on its face.

Base 1: Steamed Fried Rice, Base 2: Subo Noodles; Topping 1: Chicken Katsu Curry, Topping 2: Caramel Chicken – (Large Box) £8.49

This combo was a tale of two halves, with the sweet and semi-sticky marination of the tender Caramel Chicken offering a hint of smokiness, but the Katsu Curry turning out entirely bland.

As for the Subo Noodles, then given their thick and chewy texture, they would to be our choice over their Udon cousins, especially since they were beautifully coated by the sauces from the two toppings.

We also recognised by this stage that the secret to getting the most out of these combo boxes was to give everything therein a good mix before diving in.

Base 1: Vegetable Fried Rice, Base 2: Subo Noodles; Topping 1: Penang Lamb Curry (+£1.00), Topping 2: Basil Beef (+£1.00) – (Large Box), £10.49

This for us was the pick of the boxes, and not least because the Penang Lamb Curry and the Basil Beef will cost you an extra pound each.

Opting again for the Steamed Fried Rice and those thick Subo Noodles, the Basil Beef was the best topping we tried, with a satisfying chewiness to it, and a good balance between the heat, the smokiness imparted by the action of the wok, and the flavour of the basil.

However, the lamb didn’t quite match up to the depth of flavour delivered by its beefy counterpart. Granted it was tender and succulent enough, its mellow flavour quickly petered out to something far more subdued.