Sen Noods 仙麵: Best Dan Dan & Vegan Ramen in London

NOVA ESEA
Oct 2
2 min read

Updated: Oct 20

SEN NOODS (East Asian Noodles) in London

East Asian noodles, made for London streets.

Sen Noods began as a lockdown idea between two friends, Godfrey and Johnny. They were living together, both out of work, and kept joking about “one day” running a food truck. In late 2021 they bought a van and actually did it. Their first bestseller was a soy-milk ramen inspired by an episode of Food Wars, created to give the menu a strong vegan option. Today, it is one of their most ordered bowls.

From kitchen mates to a noodle van

The pair met at school, cooked through lockdown, then traded for the first time in November 2021 at their local market on Chatsworth Road. By February 2022 the truck had arrived and they started rotating across London markets, later joining KERB’s incubator programme.

What’s on the menu

Sen Noods calls its food “authentically inauthentic”: a mix of traditional techniques and playful references across East Asia. You can see that approach in four core bowls on their site: Vegan Ramen, Pork Ramen, Hong Kong Curry and Dan Dan.

Vegan Ramen uses a creamy soy base, with teriyaki, aubergine, tofu and sweetcorn. The soy-milk idea first came from that anime episode and stuck because it works so well at markets.
Pork Ramen comes with chashu, egg and bean sprouts for a comfort classic.
Hong Kong Curry nods to Godfrey’s roots, but they are the first to say there is “no such thing as Hong Kong noodles.” This one eats like a curry laksa and is named to honour where he is from.
Dan Dan is the personal favourite story. It was the dish Godfrey always cooked for friends coming home from uni, and it is now their top seller. Full circle.

Ask them to describe their food, and you will get three words: juicy, slurpy, spicy. That is the goal, along with a simple hope that people enjoy a proper noodle soup at a street market, which is still a rare sight in London.

What’s next

Right now the plan is to keep growing, take the van to more festivals and new cities, and keep serving the kind of noodles people want to slurp. If you spot them at the South Bank or in Hackney, say hi and try the Dan Dan.

Where to find them

Sen Noods has popped up at Between the Bridges on the South Bank, where the vendor list calls out their “ridiculously decent ramen and East Asian-inspired noodles”. They have also traded at Netil Market near London Fields. Keep an eye on their socials for current slots.