MSG Soup Again: Sha Lin Noodle House

After an event at another restaurant, although I was quite full, Kevin convinced me to go try out Sha Lin Noodle House with him.  It was really the knife shaved noodles (or dao xiao mian) that convinced me to go, since I loved the ones from Lucky Gate last time.

Located a few stores down from the infamous Peaceful Restaurant, it was actually quite packed and we waited a while for a table.  Not sure if it was because of the excess people that couldn't wait in line for Peaceful though.  There was also a window where chefs were pulling noodles and shaving noodles. I was so excited for the shaved noodles!

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Dim Sum: Kirin Seafood Restaurant (Starlight Casino)

Originally I had intended to go for Starlight Casino's $6.99 pasta lunch with my family (since we were in the area), but since my grandfather refused to have something non-Asian, we ended up going to Kirin Seafood Restaurant for dim sum instead. It's been a long time since I've gone to Kirin because the wait-time at the Richmond Centre one is ridiculous.

I actually wasn't going to even bother writing a post since I didn't have my camera on hand, but this dim sum dish alone convinced me to: the fish paste and bean curd rice roll (~$4.98). This is probably one of the places that does this the best, though I recall Sea Harbour Restaurant having a fairly solid one as well. And Dragon View can't even compare. The fish paste here, which isn't filled with other stuff like water chestnut, is wrapped in bean curd sheet and fried before rewrapped in rice roll and steamed. Really good here and comparably cheap compared to the other dim sum dishes.

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Plates and Tulips: Accord Food House 一心麵典

After a failed attempt to try Xu's Wonton House in Crystal Mall, I headed across the street to try out another place that I've wanted to go to for a long time: Accord Food House.

Looking at the house numbers, I realize that I had arrived but I had to look around before I was sure.  Indeed, I was at the right place but the exterior seemed a bit iffy.  It wasn't going to open for another 15 minutes at 12pm, so I walked to the nearby Staples to loiter rather than hanging around outside.

Upon walking in, I realized it is actually really quaint and cozy inside! And I mean really cute. I can't think of another restaurant with a batch of tulips in a vase and porcelain and frames on the wall, something you would totally not expect from the exterior.  It also smells really delicious inside, probably from the beef noodle broths and shanks boiling!

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Since I already had the more standard Taiwanese beef noodle a week or so prior at Sunway, I ordered the a different variation: the tomato flavoured stewed beef noodle (蕃茄牛肉麵, $8.95).  Although when it came it smelled really strong of star anise, the soup was a bit weaker in comparison, but still quite delicious.  Combined with the tomato, the soup overall was quite good.

The highlight for me was the beef shank though! I think this was the only time that I've had Taiwanese beef noodle where I could taste a strong and rich flavour from the shank.  I can taste it in my mouth right now.  It kind of has a buttery savoury taste to it and it was not tough at all!

Rating: ★★★★
Compared to cha chaan tengs, this wasn't that cheap of a meal, but it was delicious and filling.  The tomato soup, although fragrant, was not as strong as that of Sunway's, but I definitely like the beef here a lot more.  


Accord Food House 一心麵典
4611 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC
(604) 435-5777

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How to Enjoy Ramen: G-Men / Ramen Izakaya @ NanChuu 南廚

After an unsuccessful attempt at going to Crawfish King (since it's only open at night), Kirby, Krispybites, and myself headed across the street to NanChuu.  It has been on my wishlist for a while, but since it's never open for lunch and Alexandra is sort of a pain, I never bothered trying it.  After G-Men closed and merged with NanChuu, they have started serving lunch as well.

Not really sure why there was some Tokyo Tower merchandise, but it was cute.

After the merger, they serve primarily only ramen during lunch.  There's a sign teaching "how to enjoy ramen", and I realize that it was pretty close to what I actually do because I usually taste a bit of the soup and noodles without seasoning before adding garlic.

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DD Mau

Before we headed to a restaurant opening in the area, Kevin and I hit up DD Mau, a fairly new banh mi specialty shop in Yaletown.

 

The shop itself isn't too small but it's really cute! The store is kind of like Subway where they build the sandwich right in front of you.  There were quite a few fruit flies floating around though, and that was a bit unappetizing.

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More Taiwanese Food: Sunway Restaurant and Super Wok

No, that's not a typo. Sunway Restaurant is a Taiwanese restaurant in Richmond's Empire Centre (that's the mall next to Parker Place).  In Chinese, it's called 三味食堂 which actually sounds like "Sunway" when spoken in Mandarin.

After several recommendations while on the hunt for Taiwanese beef noodle, I gave Sunway Restaurant a try.  Being a fairly tiny restaurant, the place was packed when I went in for lunch on a Sunday afternoon.  It wasn't until 20 minutes until the first dish arrived though, which we were disappointed in.

We ordered the deluxe beef noodle soup ($8.50) to share; originally we were going to go for the plain Taiwanese beef noodle, but this one was a recommended item! Instead of just the typical beef shank, this had some different parts too, like stomach and tendon.  The stomach and shank were alright, but I thought the tendon was quite soft.  The soup was quite flavourful with lots of star anise.  It did get a bit saltier as I ate though.

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Tai Hing Congee and Noodle House 大興粥麵之家

Ahhh... Tai Hing.  This congee and noodle house has been here since the beginning of time.  Coming back here brings back two awful memories: Sunday mornings here before math class next door and coming here when I was sick, since congee is supposed to be a magical healing food.

That day, everyone in the house woke up pretty late (#604lateriser much?) and we weren't feeling that hungry.   Even though they do serve noodles, most people there get "their special", combos that include a congee and a choice of noodle.

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