A POPULAR restaurant in Colchester has re-opened its doors after a lengthy six-week refurbishment, much to the delight of hungry customers. 

North Hill Noodle Bar has been revitalised and re-launched after undergoing an expansion, and can now accommodate more than 40 more customers.

Co-owners Ting Tsang and Christopher Andrews purchased the well-known restaurant, which offers traditional Asian cuisine and resides at No. 2 North Hill, last year.

The pair then decided to purchase the adjoining property, No. 1 North Hill, before refurbishing both buildings in an effort to reinvigorate and expand the business.

Gazette: Refurbished - The North Hill Noodle Bar now has extra capacity for seating.Refurbished - The North Hill Noodle Bar now has extra capacity for seating. (Image: Public)

Gazette: New life - the refurbishment was completed over the last 6 weeks. New life - the refurbishment was completed over the last 6 weeks. (Image: Public)

A planning application was then submitted to Colchester Council in 2022 before renovation works started back in August.

During the works, the first floor of both buildings were merged and 1 North Hill underwent a series of extensive changes due to it being in a dilapidated state.

Now the project is complete and the restaurant re-open, North Hill Noodle Bar's "whole team is ecstatic” to finally be up and running again, according to Mr Andrews.

Speaking about the re-launch and what specifically has been upgraded, he said: “Fundamentally we’ve added more than 40 additional covers bringing us to a 106-seater restaurant and have almost doubled the size of our kitchen with all new equipment to accommodate the demand. 

“The whole team is ecstatic to be open again and to welcome our customers back after a six week closure.”

Gazette: Yummy - the Panko Chicken is one of the new dishes on offer.Yummy - the Panko Chicken is one of the new dishes on offer. (Image: Public)

Gazette: Tasty - Wakame is another new dish available on the menu.Tasty - Wakame is another new dish available on the menu. (Image: Public)

Thanks to the renovation, Mr Andrews and Mr Tsang have already started seeing extra bookings flood in for the next few weeks and the business has also been able to take on seven new members of staff.

Mr Andrews added: “We're grateful to have received plenty of reservations over the next few weeks, although we are not running at full capacity for the first week while we train all the new team members.

“So far we have employed an additional seven staff - a combination of full and part time - and are seeking additional full time waiting staff.”

To celebrate the re-opening, the North Hill Noodle Bar team have introduced “six new items” on the main menu and new drinks such as Kirin Ichiban Japanese Lager on draft have been added.