Post gym and we were hungry as hell for something fresh and easy on the stomach. By chance, we stumbled into a tiny little noodle and rice bar out in Lonehill Shopping Centre in Fourways, Johannesburg.

Now, I do like an authentic meal, which I felt was a given judging from the earthy decor of this brand new franchise. I'm pretty sure its the only one currently open and by the friendliness of the staff, I can tell that the owners' have put love and good energy into the brand.

Choosing off the menu is a three stage process where you choose a base, your meat or veggies, and then your sauce. Clean and simple! You also have options for having starters and regular fizzy drinks. On the topic of their drinks, I ended up grabbing an imported Pepsi which came in a glass bottle. Not as sweet as regular Pepsi and a nice crisp bite when cold.

For the first course, my wife and I shared Pork Buns. Pork buns are a light sweet dough, steamed and filled with saucy slices of pork. It was served with soy sauce containing sesame seeds and slices of ginger to neutralise the palette just before the main course. The downside was that they were initially served cold, but that was rectified after we brought it up.

We let the pork bun issue slide as we figured the staff is still new (but still) and also because we were distracted by the beautiful presentation for the noodles and rice we ordered. The noodles were cooked pretty quickly in a cubicle right beside the counter. You can watch the young South African chef create the meal from the elements you chose. A pretty exciting thing to watch! Now I have to mention that when you enter you are urged to try out their sauces. They are magic!

Each sauce is distinctly different and really captures the essence of asian food. I was disappointed, I personally thought that the dishes themselves lacked the punch from the sauces. The food was still tasty but I was underwhelmed by the lack of sauciness and flavour. Nevertheless, the base flavours and freshness of the ingredients still made it enjoyable.

My wife went for Udon noodles with an egg and veg base, pork, oyster sauce and Taipei chilli on top.

I put together coconut rice with lime and veg base, beef, spring onion, curry and coconut sauce topped with peanuts.

The experience was great. The meal, despite its shortcomings, still hit the spot. The warm atmosphere took us to a place outside the depressing dust and veld of Johannesburg city. Somewhere a bit more exotic. Trying to hold on to that, my wife indulged in one more little piece of Asia before we bounced.

My wife is somewhat of a soupie (I just made that up) so she couldn't leave without some Ramen.

This particular Ramen soup had a light peanut flavour, large noodles (udon), pickled ginger and a fresh mint puree. And it was delicious.

Check out their menu on their website http://www.letswok.co.za/menu/

Directions to Lets Wok
https://goo.gl/maps/D4JVWKBeB8R2