Another lazy day at the Piglet household and neither Mr or I want to cook, especially when just waking from one of those really bad good naps. You know those ones where you feel great from napping but it's screwed your night's sleep - great, now we're going to be up til 3 am. I'm tired of going to Richmond so Mr suggests Burnaby and I know there's a bubble tea place I've always wanted to try. It's closed today. Fail. Ok, we'll go to the next best thing then!
Lao Shan Dong is a place I've wanted to try for a while but am rarely in that area. We try to avoid the Metrotown neighbourhood like the plague but it's about 8 pm mid week so it shouldn't be too bad. It's a cold rainy day and we're in the mood for some handmade soup noodles. The Teddy's have just come back from an epic hour plus drive home and are too tired to cook as well - we pick them up and head off! Can't wait to get some food in my belly!
Boiled Pork and Vegetable Dumplings - $5 (10 pcs)
Strong ginger, onion and garlic flavoring of the meat. It's got a thicker skin but a nice, only slightly chewy, texture that makes it easy to eat. Mr Piglet said the dumplings were just ok - he thought the flavours were too strong for himself and not juicy enough. I think he went wrong by not having enough of the dipping sauce (soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil) - the sauce really gives it some extra moisture and balance of flavours. The Teddys also really enjoyed the dumplings.
Braised Beef Flank with Noodle in Soup (Spicy) - $6.95
I LOVE the beef in this dish and I NEVER like the beef in any beef noodle soup - I usually push it all into Mr's bowl but today, this night, I feel reluctant to give it up. The beef is super lean, very tender and there's little gristle to be found. I might just have to conveniently finish off the beef before Mr notices... The soup itself is very tasty as well - tremendous beef flavoring without being too salty, probably owing to the fact that they don't use MSG here. It could be a little spicier for a spicy option but I'm not too bothered by it. The noodles are a nice balance between chewy but soft and the mustard greens gives a nice hint of sour once in a while when you catch it between your teeth. This joins the top of our list for Taiwanese beef noodle soups for sure.
Braised Beef Flank Dry Noodle (Spicy) - $7.95
I thought at first the dish would be too soupy to be called dry noodles when it arrived at the table. Then the noodles absorbed all of the soup and then they looked too dry to by enjoyable but in the end, these noodles were actually pretty darn tasty. Without the soup, a bit of the sweetness of the noodles comes out and you can really taste the contrast in beef flavoring, mustard greens and noodles. A surprising hit for the Piglets but the Teddys already knew it was good. We have so much left to learn...
House Special in Soup without Meat - $6.25
Um, how is this special? In fact, it should be called the very plain and unspecial noodle soup since there was nothing out of the ordinary or great about it. It's just their noodle soup with noodles and no meat. LOL. Poor Mr. Piglet got duped. But I am nice enough to give him most of the beef from my bowl... this time. Next time he's on his own.
Oinks:
- Great soup base
- No MSG used!
- Free parking in the back of the building
- Not a lot of wait since a competitor moved in next door
- Cash only
- DO NOT get the House Special!
- Limited free parking - good luck finding a space during prime dining hours
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