Foodology
Category

Noodles

Category
In Chinese

Old Xian’s Food: Now Open on Robson Street

Old Xian’s Food finally opened another location in Metro Vancouver. There are other locations in Richmond, Burnaby and Vancouver on Kingsway. Best known for their biang biang noodles that are soooo long and thick that you can’t help but take a photo of it. Besides that pork sandwiches and cold noodles are classic items.

I came here after work with M as it was only a few blocks away from his work and I was also craving noodles.

Interior

The space is a decent size and is best for groups of 4s. As it hasn’t been open for very long, the place wasn’t too busy around dinner time.

Menu

Xian Cold Noodle

The Xian cold noodles are a classic and one of the most popular dishes from that region. It is served cold with vinegar, chili oil, noodles, cucumbers and gluten. You give this dish a good mix so you get some of their delicious sauce coating the noodles. You can get this in a variety of spice levels, but I went with medium spiciness.

It wasn’t too spicy at all and barely registered any spiciness at all. There was a stronger vinegar taste to the sauce instead.

Brasied Beef with Biang Biang Noodles

Biang Biang Noodles are wide and very long. We went with braised beef and there was a good amount of beef and cabbage to the dish. It was delicious and a hearty meal.

Stewed Pork Burger

The stewed pork burger could have used some more work. It seems like when the added in the stewed pork, there was a lot of sauce, so half of the bun was soaked and hard to handle. There was pickled veggies missing too.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the noodles were the star of Old Xian’s Food. The spice level isn’t very spice, so you don’t have to sweat it. Most prices are $10 and under, which is nice for the area.

Address:
1517 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://oldxiansfood.ca/

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In Downtown

Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba: Japanese Noodles in Downtown Vancouver

Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba opened up in Downtown Vancouver right under BCIT Downtown Campus on Seymour Street. Japanese Chef Takuma Ishikawa created KOKORO mazesoba in Tokyo Japan in 2013 and soon expanded quickly around Japan. Ever since they opened in Vancouver, its sent the city in a frenzy over their mazesoba.

Mazesoba is literally translated as mixed noodle – a soupless ramen.

Interior

There are a good amount of seats, but I usually avoid the rush. If you want to get a seat around lunch, come at 12 or before then. For dinner, early is best around 5:30pm.

If you just want ice cream to go, you can order it at the counter and bypass the lineup. This would be great for the Summer.

Menu

Nika Mazesoba

This is their best seller mazesoba on the menu. It has slow-brased chashu, spicy minced park, raw egg yolk, minced garlic, green onion, seaweed flakes, saba fish, chives, and their multi-grain noodles which is made in house.

Zenbu Mazesoba

Zenbu Mazesoba is their chef’s special and it has a bit of everything. It has slow-braised pork chashu, spicy minced pork, raw egg yolk, seaweed, soft boiled egg, bamboo shoot, seaweed flakes, chives, green onion, minced garlic, saba fish, and their multi-grain noodles.

Don’t forget to get the free scoop of rice afterwards to soak up all the extra sauce.

Mentaiko Cream Mazesoba

There is mentaiko, slow-braised pork chashu, raw egg yolk, seaweed flakes, spinach, green onion, minced garlic, Japanese cream sauce, saba fish, and the multi-grain noodles. It was very delicious and there is plenty of sauce on the noodles and you’ll want the extra ball of rice to soak it all up.

Chicken Karaage

The pork gyozas are crisp and have a nice subtle ginger taste. A good side dish to go with your meal.

Pork Gyoza

The pork gyozas are crisp on the bottom. Very delicious and has a good mixture of pork and veggie.

Kokoro Yogurt Refresher

You can get this in passionfruit or peach flavours, but it is a very sweet drink.

Tokyo Iced Milk Tea

They also have milk tea which is brewed with 100% organic black tea.

Hokkaido Creme Cone

This sells in limited quantities as they can only make so many cones per day. It is made with organic milk soft serve ice cream made by their Japanese Nissei machine. It is delicious and the cookie cone is addictive. The only problem with it is that it melts fast and will start leaking out the bottom, so be careful when eating.

Fuji Cheese Cup Cake

The spoons are so cute as it’s shaped like a shovel. There is cheesecake, which is rich and delicious. On the bottom, there is a chocolate cookie crumb on the bottom to break up the taste.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the hype is real and their mazesoba is the start of the show. Drinks are mediocre, but the desserts and side dishes are good accompaniments. I didn’t have the ramen this time, but since Mazesoba is their specialty, you’ll want to go get that.

Address:
551 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://menyakokoro.com/

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In Noodles

Banh Mi Tres Bon: Vietnamese Cuisine in Richmond

Banh Mi Tres Bon is a new restaurant in Richmond by the Walmart Super Centre. I’ve heard lots about this place, so I decided to come here after work to grab some dinner with M before we went home. We don’t spend a lot of time in Richmond, but when we do, it’s for eating.

Interior

The space isn’t too large but can fit small to large groups if you come at non-peak hours. On a weekday, it did start getting busy later in the evening. There were other couples and families coming here.

Menu

Savoury Mini Crepes

This comes in a hot cast iron pan and has 7 pieces of mini crepes. This is one of their popular dishes. There is a jar of fish sauce that you pour into each slot and it starts steaming up due to the heat. As much as it looks great in a photo, I didn’t really like the taste of it as the fish sauce wasn’t the best pairing in my opinion.

Vietnamese Fresh Soy Milk

This soy milk is very unique and seems like it is infused with pandan, which was very nice and subtle.

Phở Très Bon

I got the beef tenderloin and meatball noodle soup. The broth was very clear and delicious with depths of flavour. There is even a piece of decadent bone marrow too. There were a lot of jalapeños but it wasn’t too spicy.

There is lime, bean sprouts, and basil on the side on this cute boat. You can add it to the pho to add more flavour to it.

Bánh Mì Jambon-house special

This has Vietnamese ham & braised pork belly. The bun is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Delicious flavours.

Butter Garlic Chicken Wings

We also ordered some crispy chicken wings. Nice and crispy. It comes super hot and right from the fryer, so you’ll want to wait for it to cool down.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with the food here and we’ll definitely be back for more pho and banh mi.

Address:
4720 Mcclelland Road #1840, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.banhmitresbon.ca/

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In Noodles

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen: Vietnamese Cuisine in Vancouver

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen serves up Vietnamese Cuisine that sets themselves apart from other Vietnamese restaurants. They have more than their regular beef pho and they are more known for their specialty pho. I saw a lot of other people coming here, so I thought I would give it a try to see why all the hype is about.

Just remember, they are cash only, so make sure you have some.

Interior

The space isn’t that large and it looks bigger due to the mirrors. I went at 4:30pm on a weekday and it was decently bust but no line up. If you come at peak dinner times, be ready for a little bit of a wait since they have gotten quite popular for their pho.

Menu

Spring Rolls (#1 Cha Giò)

We ordered their pork spring rolls and they came piping hot out of the fryer. It comes with a side of fish sauce too for dipping. These were packed full of meat and not too much fillers.

Special Crab Soup with Vermicelli (#23 Bún Riêu)

This is one of their popular dishes. It has vermicelli noodles, tofu puffs, Vietnamese pork ham, pork leg and shrimp in special crab soup. It was really good and not too overpowering with the crab. The crab is subtle but it works with the other ingredients very well.

Special Fish Cake & Vermicelli in Soup (#24 Bún Cha Ca Dac Biet)

Another popular dish too. It is loaded with dill and herbs, fish cake, tofu, garlic and tomatoes. At first we didn’t know if the dill would work so well, but it make sense in this dish.

Herbs, Bean Sprouts, Chili, and Lime

Herbs, bean sprouts, chili, and lime come complimentary if you choose to customize your pho a little bit more.

Rare Beef (Tái)

We ordered a side of rare beef for $3.50 extra, which is not too bad at all. The beef was bright red in colour. You would dunk this in your hot pho broth to begin cooking it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a good experience and all the dishes were reasonably priced. We were not disappointed with any of the dishes during this visit. The downside is that this place is cash only and closes very early.

Address:
5083 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC

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In Chinese

Hon’s Wonton House: Same Old Taste, Brand New Decor

Hon’s Wonton House is the rebirth of the Hon’s empire with their newest location on 2nd near Olympic Village. Hon’s has been around since 1972 and was a popular Chinese wonton house in the Lower Mainland. As our palates have evolved and the rise of other noodle shops has since given them stiff competition, they have seen better days.

With this new location, their look has been revamped to fit the neighbourhood. I was really curious how the food would compare this time.

Interior

All the seating are in tables of 4s and reminded us of seating in street markets back in Asia. You will see wooden panelling, black furniture, stone bricks and off white paint.

Their kitchen is in full view so you can see how they make your meal. No secrets and it’s all exposed, which is nice to see all the staff hard at work.

Menu

The menu is condensed and features customer favourites like potstickers, rice rolls, wonton soup, and beef brisket. The prices are affordable with fishes ranging from $5 to $11.

Pork Potstickers

For $5, you get 6 pieces of their classic pork potstickers paired with ginger and the potsticker vinegar. All the dumplings seemed like they were boiled or steamed. It would have been nice to have a pan fried version of theses to have more texture.

Wonton Noodle Soup

I got the wonton noodle soup with thin noodles and prawn wonton. There was a lot of noodles in each bowl, so you’ll definitely fill up on that. There were 6 pieces of wontons in this dish and tasted ok. They kept the standard the same and consistent  for all these years and I saw that they were using their prepackaged Hon’s wontons, which isn’t surprising.

One thing I didn’t like was the slightly sweet broth for the dish.

Beef Brisket Wonton Noodle Soup

The most expensive item on the menu is this beef brisket wonton noodle soup. It has the same broth as the wonton noodle soup, so it does have a sweet after taste. You get 3 shrimp wontons, lots of noodles, garlic chips, a scoop of the beef brisket, and veggies.

It looks great but the taste was lacklustre. The beef brisket was tough and chewy.

Final Thoughts

The new space is nice, but the food has definitely been stuck in the olden days. The broth was the most problematic for me as I personally prefer it to be saltier than sweeter.

The price range is great for the area and they are able to pump out bowls of food quite quickly, so they have a good rhythm going if they get busy. I really wanted to like the food, but it didn’t hit the mark. Felt like corners were cut so they can’t really create a good bowl of wonton noodle soup. There’s definitely better options around town, but if you like the nostalgia of Hon’s, you can give it a try.

Address:
25 E 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.honswontonhouse.com/

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In Downtown

Ramen Taka: Ramen Challenge in Vancouver

Ramen Taka aka Ramen Takanotsume is launching their Giga Ramen Challenge on June 1st and it’s not for the faint of heart. I came to watch my friend Maggie attempt this challenge and wow…it’s not easy. In 30 minutes, you must finish the whole bowl unassisted. There is the equivalent of 5 bowls of ramen in there. If you fail, you pay the price of 4 bowls. For example, if you got the Shoyu, that is $11.95 x 4, which is $47.80. If you are victorious, it’s free.

She loves a challenge, so she was drawn to it right away. Make sure you reserve ahead of time to ensure they have time to put it together.

Giga Ramen Challenge

The big bowl of ramen start off with their delicious broth that is topped with their delicious seasoned Hokkaido lard. You can choose shoyu, shio or miso as your broth. Their broth os made with a mixture of pork bones, veggies, and seafood simmered for many hours to be able to get a deep flavour in the broth.

Maggie went with the Dragon’s Dewdrop Shoyu Ramen for the challenge as it’s lightest of the flavours and she felt like she had a better chance of finishing it.

As they built the Giga Ramen, it kept getting bigger and bigger. It’s crazy how much goes into this.

Even the staff were curious about their first competitor and wondered if she could do it all.

Regular Sized Ramen

This is the regular size, so it’s a good portion for those who aren’t up for the challenge. I got the Dragon’s Dewdrop Shoyu Ramen too as it was recommended for first timers. The piece of chashu and seaweed were huge as it sits on the side of the bowl, and the egg, black fugus, green onions and bamboo shoots accompany the delicious noodles and broth. I was surprised by the broth and how good it tasted for a shoyu based broth. I do like my broths more fatty, so it’s definitely not for everyone. It is also piping hot as, so you need to wait a bit before digging in.

BEGIN THE GIGA RAMEN CHALLENGE

This in comparison to the regular bowl is colossal as it is 5 times larger. I won’t spoil the outcomes if Maggie finished it or not, but you can read her blog here. She also has a video, so you can watch every detail of sweat.

Are you ready for the Giga Ramen Challenge?

Faceboook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ramentaka.ca/

Address:
841 Bidwell St, Vancouver, BC

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In Kitsilano

Red Beef Noodle Kitchen: Taiwanese Beef Noodle in Vancouver

Red Beef Noodle Kitchen specializes in Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup and it recently opened up near Cypress and 4th. I was looking up new restaurants that opened up and this one popped up. It looked good, so we decided to stop by after work for dinner.

Interior

The space is large and there are tables on either side of the table. Best for groups of 2’s or 4’s.

Menu

Salt and Pepper Popcorn Chicken

The popcorn chicken comes with green beans and fried basil. It goes well with the Taiwanese Beef Noodles and I do like the little bit of green with the dish.

Signature Beef and Tendon Noodle Soup

This only comes in one size for $12.95. It’s a good price as the noodles are very soft and delicious. The broth is tasty too.

You get a few chunks of beef that are tender and not too chewy. There were 3 large chunks of tendon too. It was a solid bowl of Taiwanese Beef Noodle.

Premium Red Beef Noodle Soup

This dish is more expensive at $18.95 but you get beautiful slices of certified angus beef. You get a choice between clear or spicy broth. When the dish is ready to be served, they come table side and pour the hot steaming broth over the beef so it cooks. They also give you a bowl if to put the meat aside if you don’t want it to over cook.

When it’s cooked, it doesn’t look visual appealing, but it is delicious. The meat is fatty and tender. Also the broth had a nice sweet corn taste to it.

Final Thoughts

Both versions of the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup were good. We both left very full and the soup broth were deliciously comforting. The service was mediocre but usually thats the way it goes at Chinese restaurants. If you’re looking for some Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup in Vancouver, add this to your list.

We Rate Red Beef Noodle Kitchen: 

Address:
1947 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.redbeef.ca/

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In Dessert

Ciao Bella: Half Price Pasta on Monday and Tuesday

My coworkers love to eat, so I always have a good time visiting new restaurant and revisiting old ones. I haven’t been to Ciao Bella in years, so we went for some pasta and dessert. They have been on Denman Street in Vancouver for a long time just a few minutes away from Stanley Park and Robson Street.

They have weekly half price pasta on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Interior

The interior hasn’t changed a single bit after all these years. It seems to be stuck in time which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Even though it was past Christmas, there were still holiday decorations up.

Drinks

We started the night with some drinks. If there isn’t something you want on the menu, they can make it for you. One of my friends is picky, but they were able to make her a manhattan with margherita mix.

They can do caesars too and mocktails.

Menu

Complimentary Bread

Bread arrives at the table and you can dip it into some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Di Mari Pasta

This dish has baby shrimp, tomatoes, garlic, basil and button mushroom in a white wine sauce.

Carbonara

This has pancetta, egg yolk, garlic, parmesan cheese and cream. It’s a rich dish, but classic. So thats why I ordered it. It was cooked al dente and was good.

Linguini alla toni

In this pasta, you will find baby shrimp, calamari & capers in a white wine tomato basil cream sauce

Tiramisu

The tiramisu has layers of mascarpone, lady fingers, and coffee. It is topped with cocoa powder and drizzle of chocolate.

Final Thoughts

The food and service here is ok, but for 50% off pasta on Monday and Tuesday, it was worth it. On a regular night, its a bit expensive for what you get. There are lots of other Italian options in Vancouver

We Rate Ciao Bella: 

Address:
703 Denman St, Vancouver

Website: http://www.ciaobellavancouver.ca/

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In New Westminster

Shang Noodle House: Noodles and Dumplings in Metro Vancouver

Shang Noodle House has 2 locations, one in Richmond and another at Starlight Casino in New Westminster. It is a sister restaurant of Kirin and specializes in hand made noodles, dumplings, and classic Chinese dishes. We were invited to check out a few of their signature dishes and see how their food is made in the restaurant.

Interior

There are lots of seating inside for small to large groups. There is an open kitchen in the centre of the Starlight location, so you can see the chefs create your meal in front of you if you sit by the bar.

Behind the Scenes

Steamed Shanghai Pork Dumplings

These were made fresh, so its plenty hot. The skin was thin and the soup inside the dumpling was enjoyable.

Lobster bisque with spinach noodles

The broth is made with Atlantic lobsters and you can really taste it in the broth. They don’t take short cuts here. The depth of flavour is really good. The spinach in the noodles is what gives it the green colour, but I didn’t notice too much flavour, so it compliments the broth.

Roast Pork Belly

This long plate of pork belly is delicious. Crisp skin and layers of moist meat and yummy fat. I always have no willpower with this dish.

Pan Fried Pork and Veggie Dumplings

It comes 4 to an order and it is a big size. Inside it is filled with pork and aromatics.

Grilled Pork Jowl Meat

You can order this as a side dish. This particular portion was a bit on the lean side so the texture felt dry.

Squid Ink Pasta

The squid ink pasta is imported from Japan and the colour of the ink shows and give the noodles a dark grey colour. It is topped with bonito flakes and has shrimp, mussels, fish, tofu, broccoli and tomato on the sides.

Red Reishi Mushroom hand-pulled ramen

The broth is light but it has a lot of different mushrooms in the dish, 7 to be exact. If you are a mushroom lover, you’ll enjoy this dish. The noodles were well made with a good bite to them.

Mango Pudding

A classic Chinese dessert made of mango puree, mango chunks, gelatin and evaporated milk. It really brought me back to my childhood.

Durian Mochi

People usually have a love hate relationship with durian. Some say it stinks like rotting garbage and on the other spectrum they say it’s a fragrant ice cream. To me, I am indifferent to the taste. I personally think its like a sweet onion.

This is only available at the Richmond location. They serve this at Kirin at Starlight but it gets sold out very quickly.

Honey Green Tea pudding

Another good dessert. You really can’t go wrong with Chinese dessert as its always a good balance of taste and sweetness.

Brown sugar Milk Tea with pearls

To pair with the meal, you can have bubble tea. The brown sugar milk tea is one of things to order. It’s not too overly sweet.

Final Thoughts

If you’re craving something a little different, check out Shang Noodle House in Richmond or New Westminster. My favourite items were the roast pork belly, squid ink noodles, and durian mocha.

Website:
http://www.shangnoodlehouse.com/

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In Chinese

Chi Men 吃面: Lanzhou noodle soup in Vancouver

Chi Men 吃面 specializes in Lanzhou noodle soup on the West End in Downtown Vancouver.  What makes it Lanzhou noodles are the hand pulled noodles of various thicknesses. I wasn’t planning on coming here for dinner with friends but their decor caught our attention.

Interior

I really love the murals of noodle slurpers and it shows what the restaurant is all about. The space isn’t very large, but has enough spots for smaller group. Since it was a cold rainy night, it wasn’t very busy.

Menu

Charcoal BBQ Wings

Each order of chicken wings comes with 4 pieces. The taste of the charcoal penetrated deep into the chicken wings.

Traditional Beef Noodle Soup

The broth is clear and not super strong. You can add some chilli oil to add an extra kick of flavour. There are slices of beef, daikon, greens, and a lot of noodles. They didn’t have a lot of noodle options even though it was listed on the menu, so this is the 1.5mm noodles.

Soy Bean Paste Noodle

The soybean paste noodles has  noodles topped with soy bean paste, tomatoes, beef, egg, cucumber and green onions. This also has the 1.5mm noodles. My friend found this dish a bit bland and needed more flavour.

Chilli Sauce Noodle

This is a dry noodle dish and it has beef, chilli sauce, mustard greens and green onions. I got this with 1.5mm noodles as it was recommended by the staff. The chilli sauce did pack a little punch. This is one of their most popular items on the menu.   

Final Thoughts

The food was good but we wished there were more varieties on the menu for noodle thickness as there should have been 7. The top items to get here is the traditional beef noodle soup and chilli sauce noodle. The prices here are a little higher than what you expect, but given the area, its ok.

We Rate Chi Men: 

Address:
1120 Denman Street, Vancouver BC

Website:
http://chi-men.ca/menu

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In Chinese

Jasmine Club Restaurant: Korean-Chinese Cuisine in Coquitlam

Jasmine Club Chinese Restaurant in Coquitlam serves up Korean Chinese cuisine. Three popular dishes are Jajangmyeon – noodles with a thick sweet bean sauce, Jjamppong – spicy noodle soup, and Tangsuyuk – sweet and sour pork dish.

We came here for dinner since M really craved some jajangmyeon.

Interior

The space was pretty busy for a weekend evening and the tables filled up very quickly. For large groups, its best to have reservations.

Banchan – Complimentary Side Dishes

Banchan are small side dishes that come complimentary with the meal. There is pickled daikon and picked carrots and cabbage. It was good to nibble on throughout the meal.

Mandu – Fried Dumplings

There are about 8 pieces that come in an order. It’s so delicious and deep-fried till a golden brown on the outside. The inside is very savoury and yummy.

Tangsuyuk – Sweet Sour Crispy Pork

This is very different than the usual sweet and sour pork. The pork is covered in potato starch, thus the pale coating around it. There are a lot of veggies like wood ear mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, onions, peppers, and maraschino cherries.

Jjajang bokkeumbap – Fried Rice with Black Bean Sauce

This is what I ordered. I really like the fried rice with the black bean sauce. It was good, but I wished they gave a little bit more black bean sauce

Jajangmyeon

There is a lot of black bean sauce with the noodles. Mix it all together and slurp up all the noodles.

Final Thoughts

Jasmine Club Chinese restaurant has some pretty good Korean Chinese food, but it is pricey compared to what you would normally pay in Korea.

We Rate Jasmine Club Chinese Restaurant: 

Address:
1001B Austin Avenue, Coquitlam, BC

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In Malaysian

Rice and Noodle: Southeast Asian-inspired Dishes in Vancouver

Rice and Noodle serves up Southeast Asian inspired food in a convenient and affordable way on Robson Street right in the middle of Downtown Vancouver. All their dishes are MSG-free, made to order and highly customizable to your tastes. Their menu has rice dishes and noodle dishes where you can choose your own protein, spiciness level and any thing else extra you want in it.

You can also order online for pick up or you can get delivery through the different delivery services around town like Just Eat, Door Dash, UberEats, Foodora, Skip the Dishes, etc.

Interior

You order your meal at the counter in the back and then you can take a seat until they bring you over your order.

Laksa

The laksa soup is made with a coconut curry broth, rice noodle, broccoli, carrot, onion, tofu, zucchini, and then topped with bean sprouts, boiled egg, and cilantro. I really enjoyed this laksa as it had a good level of spice to the broth. I highly recommend this.

Tom Yum Soup

This has a lemongrass broth, prawns, rice noodle, cilantro mushroom, onion and tomato. It’s a little bit sour and a little bit spicy.

Panang Red Curry

This has red curry with basil, cauliflower and yam with rice. It has a hint of spice to it but not too much.

Creamy Peanut Stirfry

This has bean sprouts, carrot, onion, red pepper, spinach and then the rice.

Family Combo for 5

We got this combo for the rest of the dishes. It comes with all these 6 dishes for $50.

  • Pad Thai with Shrimp
  • Kung Pao Chicken
  • Mongolian Beef
  • Green Curry with Chicken
  • Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken
  • 5 Spring Rolls Thai

Pad Thai Shrimp

This dish has rice noodle, egg, tofu, bean sprouts, green onion, crushed peanuts, and prawns. Squeeze some lime on it and it’s ready to eat.

KungPao Chicken

On the plate is rice, chicken, green bean, onion, pineapple, red pepper, ginger, cashew, and spinach.

Mongolian Beef

This has beef, broccoli, bean sprouts, carrot, green bean, ginger, onion, red cabbage, water chestnut, and a mound of rice.

Green Curry with Chicken

Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken

I missed taking a picture of this, but I wasn’t a fan of this. It has fried rice, egg, carrot, green bean, onion, pineapple, red pepper and chicken.

Spring Rolls

One spring roll per person and it has a crisp and crunchy exterior.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I like how the dishes are highly customizable. You can switch up your protein options, spice level and add any extra items to it. For my own personal preferences, I love a little bit of spice instead of mild. I would choose 3 chili peppers next time.My favourite dish of the evening was the Laksa.

We Rate Rice and Noodle: 

Address:
1236 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://thericeandnoodle.com/

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In Burnaby Central

No 1 Beef Noodle House in Burnaby

It’s been a long time since coming to No 1 Beef Noodle House in Burnaby. The last time was about 10 years ago when I was in University. It’s a good, quick and affordable meal.
The only thing that bugs me is the lack of parking. As there are other businesses in the plaza, there are usually no spots at peak hours. I usually park in the residential areas a block away. Just make sure you be careful about the parking regulations.

Interior

The space has been updated, so it’s still modern. Lots of tables for small groups and large groups.

Crispy Salt and Peppery Chicken

A classic item to order here. Since we had a large group, we got this basket to share as an appetizer. You can also turn this into a combo with rice and some side dishes for a meal of your own.

Deep Fried Abalone Mushroom with basil

This was surprisingly very good as well. You have a good amount of the deep mushrooms and they were crispy.

Trio of Marinated Dishes

We got to choose 3 different marinated items for this dish, so we chose marinated eggs, marinated large intestines, and marinated beef tripe. I wasn’t a fan of this dish since I don’t really enjoy intestines but the other people sure did.

Sticky Rice Sui Mai

There are 7 pieces per order and each one if stuffed with sticky rice and then steamed.

House special fried sliced noodles

We got ours with beef and it was a really good item to order. Very tasty, the beef was tender, and I would definitely order this gain.

Classic Japanese Style Egg Fried Rice

A new item on this menu is this dish that is great for sharing or just for one if you’re up for it. It is topped with mayo, bonito flakes, seaweed and an egg.

House Special Mini Lamb Hot Pot

The lamb hot pot comes with rice and 2 sides of veggies. I wasn’t a fan of the hot pot since the lamb had bones in most of the pieces. I would have preferred slices of lamb.

Preserved Egg with Pork Congee

A good classic item if you’re not feeling well. It’s comforting and good.

Beef Noodle Soup

There are a few variations on their beef noodle soup, but we went with their special home style beef shank noodle soup and the tendon & beef noodle soup.

The noodle soup is delicious with depths of flavour in the broth.

If you come here, you definitely need to order this.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a good place for lunch or dinner, but you need to bring cash as they don’t accept debit or credit cards. The parking lot is atrocious, but if you can get past those 2 things, you’ll enjoy a solid meal at good prices.

We Rate No 1 Beef Noodle House: 

Address:
741 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://jynoodle.com/

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In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Dundas Eat and Drink: Vegan Vietnamese Dishes

Dundas Eat and Drink is best known for their Six o Pho 5lb pho challenge. They recently came out with a new vegan menu to cater to those with dietary restrictions. A few of us were invited to check out this menu and I was pleasantly surprised at these dishes since I love vegetables.

Vegan Bao Sliders

Between these bao buns are veggies, eggplant, king oyster mushroom, and lemongrass tofu.

Vegan Pad Thai

There are rice noodles, mushrooms, tofu, broccoli, carrot, chives, beansprouts and tamarind sauce. The tamarind gives it a good flavour and balance well with the ingredients in the dish.

Vegan Curry

This is a red curry with taro root, tofu, mushrooms, potato, carrot and eggplant. It comes with rice on the side.

Vegan Pho

This pho has veggies and tofu in the slow simmered broth that has lots of depth in flavour which I was really surprised. Very delicious.

Kale Salad

The salad has kale, jimaca, grape tomato, tofu and garlic vinaigrette. A healthy item to have on the side when you have a bowl of pho.

Vegan Wontons

Inside these vegan wontons are sweet yam, taro root, king oyster mushroom, shallot, and leek all in the vegan wonton wrapper. It’s crisp on the outside and then inside are all the veggies.

Final Thoughts

It’s great that they are able to offer these items to their customers so vegans and carnivores can eat together with no issues as there are lots of options on the menu.

Address:
2077 Dundas St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.eatdundas.com/

 

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In Chinese

Xi’an Famous Foods: Spicy Noodles in New York

Xi’an Famous Foods is a chain of fast casual restaurants based in New York City that serves authentic Northern Chinese dishes. When in New York, I had to try it since I love some good spicy noodles. We went to the location closest to MoMA and it’s literally across the street.

Interior

There is seating on either side of the walls, but no group tables at all. Those who are eating alone or with people don’t have to worry. It was busy in the evening, so we waiting a little bit till another group left.

Menu

Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles in Soup

The hand-ripped noodles, topped with sauteed spicy cumin lamb, in a lamb/beef broth. It was definitely spicy but so good if you are a spicy food lover. For those who aren’t into spicy food, you shouldn’t get this.

Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles

Their hand-ripped noodles mixed with sauteed spicy cumin lamb. It was so so so delicious and comforting, but it had a kick of heat to it. There are good chunks of lamb in it. The noodles were a bit chewy.

Final Thoughts

It was great to have something in New York that wasn’t burgers or pizza.

We Rate Xi’an Famous Foods: 

Address:
37 W 54th St, New York

Website:
http://xianfoods.com/

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In Chinese

Peaceful Restaurant: Northern Chinese Cuisine for Chinese New Year

Peaceful Restaurant rings in the Year of the Dog with auspicious and culinary dishes created by owner and Master Chef Charlie Huang. We were invited to check out Traditional Chinese New Year foods and dishes to ring in the new year. They currently have 7 locations across the Lower Mainland and you can get all these items on their regular menu.

Master Chef Charlie Huang

Owner-chef Charlie Huang’s culinary inspiration stems mainly from his upbringing in Xi’an, an ancient Silk-Road city in North-Western China. The cuisine in the city-region reflects the fusion of various cultures over the course of several thousand years, which Charlie has sought to bring to Vancouver and share with others. His cumulation of his various experiences and the desire to spread the experience and diversity of Chinese cuisine – he calls ‘homecooked comfort food’ – has led to the creation of Peaceful Restaurant.

He even did a dumpling demonstration to see how it’s all made by hand.

Sichuan Cucumbers 麻辣黃瓜

Woodear Mushroom Salad 涼拌木耳

Xi’an White Lamb Soup 羊肉泡饃

Sichuan Broth Braised Fish 水煮魚片

Xing-Jiang Cumin Lamb with Sesame Flatbread 孜然羊肉加燒餅

Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles 木須肉炒面

Chinese Rice Cakes 炒年糕

Sichuan Thousand Chilli Chicken 四川辣子雞

Sichuan String Beans 干煸四季豆

Dan-Dan Noodles 擔擔面

Sizzled Hot-Chilli Noodles 油潑辣子面

Xi’an Cold Steamed Noodles 陝西凉皮

Northern Pork Dumplings 北方水餃

Xiao-Long Bao Steamed Buns 小籠包

Peaceful Beef Rolls 牛肉卷餅

Pan-Fried Vegetable Dumplings 素菜鍋貼

Hand Pulled Noodles

I love hand pulled noodles especially when its freshly made. A piece of dough is repeatedly stretched and folded onto itself in order to align the glutens and warm up the dough for stretching. This dough is then pulled to about an arm span’s length. The puller then makes a loop with the dough, joining the two ends into one clump of dough, and inserts his fingers into the loop to keep the strand from sticking to itself. Doing this, the pull has doubled the length of the dough while fractioning its thickness. This process is repeated several times until the desired thickness and quantity is achieved.

Blade Sheared Noodles

With one hand holding the dough pointed downward at a 30º angle, and the other hand clutching a special sharp knife specifically made for this purpose, the noodles are shaved directly into a large pot of boiling water. It’s fast and has been described as an endless loop.

Final Thoughts

Traditional Chinese New Year foods and dishes include noodles, dumplings, fish and nian gao (glutinous rice cake). They symbolize happiness, longevity, an increase in wealth and prosperity.

A few of my favourite items of the night were:

  • Sichuan Thousand Chilli Chicken
  • Xi’an White Lamb Soup
  • Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles
  • Sichuan String Beans
  • Peaceful Beef Rolls

If you’re looking for a very casual restaurant for Northern Chinese cuisine, check out Peaceful Restaurant. There are many locations, but this particular one we went to is on West 4th Ave in Kitsilano.

Address:
2394 W 4th Ave, Vancouver

Website:
http://peacefulrestaurant.ca/

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In Colorado

Pho 95: Vietnamese Food in Denver

Pho 95 is a popular Vietnamese restaurant for locals in Denver Colorado to get their piping hot bowl of comforting pho. They currently have 2 locations – one in Littleton and Denver. When we were visiting Denver, we were all craving pho, so we went on Yelp and found this gem.

Pho consists of beef broth, thin slices of beef and rice noodles. Their pho soup comes in several variations; some contain soft tendon, flank, steak and brisket. People commonly like to add a hearty helping of fresh basil, beansprouts, jalapenos, lime juice, and sauces like Siracha or Hoisin sauce to their broth.

Interior

The space is pretty large and they were able to seat our large family right at the lunch time rush.

Menu

Tea

Dac Biet (Tai chim nam gau gan sach)

This has the rice noodle soup with a combination of a variety of meat – rare steak, brisket, flank, tendon and tripe. The broth was very delicious and had a depth of flavour to it. I got the small size, which is a good size for a regular person. A large is pretty large for my standards.

Don’t forget to add any of the extra herbs, limes, bean sprouts, jalapeno, or sauces to your pho.

Pho Bo Vien

This is their meatball pho, but we added in rare beef into it as well since they didn’t have that combination on the menu. The meatballs were nice and large.

Bun Ga Nuong

This bowl of vermicelli rice noodles is topped with marinated grilled chicken and served with cucumber, lettuce, beansprouts and chili lime sauce.

Bun Heo Nuong

Similar to the bowl above, it has grilled pork instead.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the pho here is good and the portions sizes were great too. Everything was flavourful to the right amount.

We Rate Pho 95: 

Address:
1401 S Federal Blvd, Denver

Website:
http://www.pho95noodlehouse.com/

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In Chinese

Shu Jiao Fu Zhou Cuisine Restaurant in New York

Shu Jiao Fu Zhou Cuisine Restaurant is a simple Chinese cafe specializing in soups, noodles, and dumplings by hand. This hole in the wall has some really cheap food. Everything is $3.50 or under. That is an amazing price for New York standards.

Interior

The inside of the restaurant isn’t anything special. A little old school but theres a bit of charm in that. You order at the counter first and then find any seat available.

Menu

Dumplings

We got the pork and chive dumpling and they came out so quickly. We started with the small size but little did we know that these were so good that we ordered a few more large sizes.

Beef Tripe with Thick Noodle Soup

The size of the noodle soup was pretty good. A good amount of noodles to go with the beef, tripe, and veggies.

Wheat Noodle with Peanut Butter Sauce

You mix these noodles with the sauce and enjoy.

Final Thought

The food here was great for the price. We ate so much and didn’t make a dent in our wallets. The dishes are very homey tasting and simple.

We Rate Shu Jiao Fu Zhou Cuisine Restaurant: 

Address:
118 Eldridge St, New York

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