Mark your calendars, noodle lovers: a London restaurant is giving away 100 free bowls of its signature beef noodles next week — and all you have to do is show up early.
Kung Fu Mama, the Taiwanese noodle spot known for its “12-hour beef noodle”, will hand out the free bowls on Tuesday, October 6 to mark National Noodle Day.
How to claim your free bowl
The giveaway runs at both Kung Fu Mama restaurants — Covent Garden and Canary Wharf. The first 50 customers through the door at each location get a free serving between 3pm and 4pm.
To claim, simply scan the QR code in-store during the giveaway window. That’s it — no purchase necessary, no app download mentioned, just be among the first 50.
Missed out? There’s still something in it for you: once the 50 free bowls are gone at each site, customers can enjoy 25 per cent off all noodles for the rest of the day. And everyone who takes part — free bowl or not — picks up three bonus loyalty stars, which can be saved towards a free noodle dish in the future.
Key facts: the giveaway
When: Tuesday, October 6, 3pm–4pm.
Where: Kung Fu Mama Covent Garden (80 Long Acre, WC2E 9NG) and Canary Wharf (64 Jubilee Place, E14 5NY).
What: 100 free beef noodle bowls — 50 per location, first come first served.
How: scan the in-store QR code.
Consolation: 25% off all noodles for the rest of the day, plus three bonus loyalty stars for every participant.
What’s in the bowl?
The star of the show is slow-cooked for 12 hours and packs 38 grams of protein — a serious bowl of food, free or otherwise. The restaurant says its cooking blends Taiwanese culinary traditions with a hint of modern London flair, and it was founded by Noam Bar-Chang — a co-founder of Ottolenghi — alongside Chris Hsu, with the aim of building a Taiwanese noodle brand for the city’s food-curious.
National Noodle Day, celebrated on October 6, is the unofficial food holiday the giveaway is built around — expect other noodle spots to run their own deals, so it’s worth keeping an eye out if you’re a fan.
Why National Noodle Day matters to London
October 6 marks National Noodle Day, the unofficial celebration of one of the world’s most versatile foods — and London, with its hundreds of noodle bars spanning every regional Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and Taiwanese tradition, is arguably the best place in Britain to celebrate it.
Taiwanese beef noodle soup, Kung Fu Mama’s signature, is considered by many to be Taiwan’s national dish: rich beef broth, springy wheat noodles and tender slow-cooked brisket, often finished with pickled mustard greens and fresh herbs. The 12-hour version on offer here is the real deal — the kind of bowl that regulars cross the city for.
The giveaway also doubles as an introduction. Kung Fu Mama is still a young brand, and a free bowl is a confident move — it suggests the founders would rather let the food do the talking than spend the same money on adverts.
Worth the trip?
A free lunch in central London is rare enough to be worth planning around — but go in with a strategy. Fifty bowls per site will go fast, so aim to arrive well before 3pm; Covent Garden in particular draws heavy footfall on weekday afternoons. If you’re coming from further afield, remember the 25 per cent discount runs all day, so even a later arrival still bags a bargain. And if you’re out late rather than early, there’s more late-night food in London on the cards — McDonald’s in Welling is bidding for 2am licensing.
And with October evenings drawing in, a steaming bowl of 12-hour beef noodles might be exactly what the season calls for. For more details, visit kungfumama.co.uk or find them on Instagram at @kungfumama_uk.
