Todays brunch was partaking of some Hong Kong style breakfasts up at Cuphead Cafe on Hilton Crescent in West Bridgford. This was a bit of an unexpected find and treat after I got a tip off there was some noodle action I needed to check out.
A friend telling me that “I was up near the co-op and well there were loads of people eating bowls of noodles so I thought I should let you know”
It turned out to be true after a quick gander at google maps I found the place and a picture of a menu listing Hong Kong Noodles. Less than 24 hours later and I was there to check it out, you have to move fast in this game! 🤣😎
HONG KONG CLASSICS MENU
Cuphead Cafe have a small simple menu with just three types of noodles dishes to try
Hong Kong-Style beef noodles in satay sauce and Homemade spiced pork cube noodles both came as part of a meal deal that included two fried eggs, white toast and a drink for £9
The third option was a bowl of Homemade black pepper balls shin ramyun noodle that came on its own all solo like for £6.50
After a bit of contemplation one of us went for the Beef Noodles in Satay sauce and one for the Black pepper balls with Shin Ramyun, agreeing to swap the fried eggs with each other thus getting the best of both worlds.
The idea of eating all three had crossed my mind but I kept that thought to myself!
HONG KONG-STYLE BEEF NOODLES IN SATAY SAUCE
The Hong Kong style Beef Noodles was a pretty simple offering, Slices of beef mixed with a satay flavoured sauce, spooned on top of a mound of thin ramen type noodles.
The sauce was not as thick and nutty like some satay sauces I had had before and I liked it all the more for that. It was quite a tasty sauce, not gloopy and not too spicy so it was very easy to eat
I was pleasantly surprised at how much beef was in the dish, it was a pretty generous portion. If we were being at all picky it could have been a bit tenderer, it was a little chewy and maybe thinner cuts would have helped.
HOMEMADE BLACK PEPPER BEEF BALLS SHIN RAMYUN NOODLES
I really enjoyed my chosen ball which was the Homemade Black Pepper Balls with Shin Ranyun Noodles. Again this was a really rather decent sized bowl of food, a hearty portion that if really had been eating this for breakfast would have kept me going for a while and got me off to a good start to the day
The beef meat balls were quite solid and very peppery, when you cut into them you could see the black pepper grindings mixed into the meat. The balls were all sitting in a fairly spicy broth and it was all catching the back of my throat and giving me the spicy jitters. I was loving it 😜
Again the noodles most probably out of a packet (nothing wrong there) were plentiful floating around in the soup. The only downside was that the broth was a bit too spicy to slurp down on it’s own so once I ate the noodles and the meat balls I didn’t finish it all off. I mean I could of but it was too early for me to fill up on my spice hit for the day
Great dish though and I really liked the texture and the pepperiness of those meatballs!
The Ramyun noodles? yeh you know I can eat those all day long as well 😎🤣
FRIED EGGS ON TOAST
The beef noodles in satay sauce came with a side of two fried eggs and white toast which initially I thought was a bit random but then learned it was a common thing in Hong Kong and that lots of people were coming here to have it with their noodles as it was a happy memory of home.
It was a nice little extra and if nothing else it told me that they know how to fry an egg properly.
HONG KONG CLASSICS MENU
The other dish on the menu was HOMEMADE SPICED PORK CUBES NOODLES which looked pretty good as I yearned after a couple of steaming bowls I saw on the counter.
It made me think of the classic dish of Gong Zai Mein which is Spam and Egg on instant noodles. If I am back here anytime soon I’ll order that and slip one or both of my fried eggs on top!
The noodles looked like the classic ramen ones I get from the Asian supermarket but that is totally fine with me and probably what many street food places are serving up over in Hong Kong. Sure it’s nice to get homemade ones but you get what you get and take your chances as you do.
BREAKFAST AND TOAST MENU
Note if you are not into noodles for breakfast they also offer an English fry up the CUPHEAD breakfast which is a plate of ‘two fried eggs, two bacons, two sausages, baked beans, toast, mixed salad or grilled tomato
Now I am all for a modicum of healthiness with my breakfast but a bit of mixed salad is probably pushing it a little too far. So it would be grilled tomato for me.
Even the hipsters can get in on the action with an offering of and Avocado and egg on sourdough toast. I’d rather eat the side salad 🤣just kidding 😎😘
More seriously I could back for a Fry-up but am more likely to come back for noodle action
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Overall I was really happy to learned about Cuphead Cafe.
It was a great find, simple comforting food, friendly welcoming people and interesting things to try
Located at 24 Hilton Crescent in West Bridgford, NG2 6HT you can check them out on their Instagram profile and on their Facebook page