Legendary Noodle
Legendary Noodle opened a branch of their successful Main Street restaurant on Denman Street in 2007 and we have been huge fans ever since. From their start up with limited drink menu (water and tea) to being licensed and having an established clientele, they've never really disappointed us.
The Denman Street's location is a small, narrow room which used to host an Italian restaurant. Legendary Noodle's decor is an eclectic mix of kitchy Chinese decor atop Ciao-frosted mirrors and palm tree tiles. The music is just as eclectic - played on random is anything from Chinese opera to remixed tango music. Expect a crowded room, and a friendly but light service.
When: Tuesday, February 24 2009. (7:45pm)
We say: For such a small restaurant (tiny kitchen, 30 seats), the menu is quite diversified. The specialty here is truly the noodles, which are hand-made and are quite the delight.
We always like to start with an appetiser or side dish, and today we went for the Pork and Chive panfried dumplings ($7.75 for a dozen). The dumplings tasted fine, but not quite close to those in China and lacking somewhat in depth and texture. What disappointed us both was the dipping sauce, a traditional Chinese vinegar that we just could not get personalized to our liking no matter how much soy sauce and hot pepper oil we added.
T ordered the Legendary Noodle Soup ($8.25), a sour soup with tofu, carrots, mushrooms, morsels of pork and the noodle size of your choice - T choose the thin noodles. The soup was as advertised - sour, fragrant and tasty.
M ordered the Dao Xiao Mian ($8.99), a stir fry dish of hand-cut noodles, vegetables and the meat of your choice (M selected the Cumin Lamb Shank - "the usual"). The dish was delicious as always (this is the dish that won us over from the very start, on our first meal here), but a little heavy on the cumin today. The lamb was tender and moist, and as we were not sharing the dish today, there was no fighting as to who was getting the last tasty morsel of lamb.
In both dishes, the noodles were absolutely masterful. The hand-cut noodles are all of different sizes, making for variations of texture and a pleasant feel in mouth. The thin noodles were also of different sized, easy to slurp and perfectly cooked.
Our dishes were washed down with cold Tsing Tao ($4.75).
On previous visits, lovely Steamed Dumplings ($-) were had, along with crispy and tasty Green Onion Pancakes ($3.50). More forgettable items were the House Tea ($2.50) with dried fruit and chrysanthemum (hard to drink) , the Tibetan Lamb with Rice ($-) and the Vermicelli Spinach with Peanut and Mustard Sauce ($4.50), which was cold and unpalatable.
Pro: The food is always good and simple, and is a great value for your money. The Cumin Lamb Shank Dao Xiao Mian is worth the visit. In addition, watching the chef pull and twist the dough to make the noodles is always entertaining.
Con: Did we mention that the room was small and narrow? You'd better like the person your eating with, because the setup tighter than cozy and the table gets crowded very quickly with dishes. To add to this discomfort, the chairs have to be the most uncomfortable ones in all of Vancouver.
Verdict: T says yea, M says yea.
Legendary Noodle
1074 Denman St
Vancouver, BC
604-669-8551
The Denman Street's location is a small, narrow room which used to host an Italian restaurant. Legendary Noodle's decor is an eclectic mix of kitchy Chinese decor atop Ciao-frosted mirrors and palm tree tiles. The music is just as eclectic - played on random is anything from Chinese opera to remixed tango music. Expect a crowded room, and a friendly but light service.
When: Tuesday, February 24 2009. (7:45pm)
We say: For such a small restaurant (tiny kitchen, 30 seats), the menu is quite diversified. The specialty here is truly the noodles, which are hand-made and are quite the delight.
We always like to start with an appetiser or side dish, and today we went for the Pork and Chive panfried dumplings ($7.75 for a dozen). The dumplings tasted fine, but not quite close to those in China and lacking somewhat in depth and texture. What disappointed us both was the dipping sauce, a traditional Chinese vinegar that we just could not get personalized to our liking no matter how much soy sauce and hot pepper oil we added.
T ordered the Legendary Noodle Soup ($8.25), a sour soup with tofu, carrots, mushrooms, morsels of pork and the noodle size of your choice - T choose the thin noodles. The soup was as advertised - sour, fragrant and tasty.
M ordered the Dao Xiao Mian ($8.99), a stir fry dish of hand-cut noodles, vegetables and the meat of your choice (M selected the Cumin Lamb Shank - "the usual"). The dish was delicious as always (this is the dish that won us over from the very start, on our first meal here), but a little heavy on the cumin today. The lamb was tender and moist, and as we were not sharing the dish today, there was no fighting as to who was getting the last tasty morsel of lamb.
In both dishes, the noodles were absolutely masterful. The hand-cut noodles are all of different sizes, making for variations of texture and a pleasant feel in mouth. The thin noodles were also of different sized, easy to slurp and perfectly cooked.
Our dishes were washed down with cold Tsing Tao ($4.75).
On previous visits, lovely Steamed Dumplings ($-) were had, along with crispy and tasty Green Onion Pancakes ($3.50). More forgettable items were the House Tea ($2.50) with dried fruit and chrysanthemum (hard to drink) , the Tibetan Lamb with Rice ($-) and the Vermicelli Spinach with Peanut and Mustard Sauce ($4.50), which was cold and unpalatable.
Pro: The food is always good and simple, and is a great value for your money. The Cumin Lamb Shank Dao Xiao Mian is worth the visit. In addition, watching the chef pull and twist the dough to make the noodles is always entertaining.
Con: Did we mention that the room was small and narrow? You'd better like the person your eating with, because the setup tighter than cozy and the table gets crowded very quickly with dishes. To add to this discomfort, the chairs have to be the most uncomfortable ones in all of Vancouver.
Verdict: T says yea, M says yea.
Legendary Noodle
1074 Denman St
Vancouver, BC
604-669-8551
Labels: asian, chinese, noodles, restaurant, review
posted by Magalie at 8:55 PM
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