Showing posts with label pan fried dumplings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pan fried dumplings. Show all posts

CLOSED: Beef Noodle Restaurant for Lunch 老李牛肉麵 (Toronto)


You visit Beef Noodle House for their beef noodles, or the stew beef with noodles in brown sauce ($14.95) to be exact. With a choice to order them neutral, a little spicy, or very spicy, the little spicy version adds a mild chili taste that is perfect. And after almost a decade, I’m happy to say the dish is just as stellar. The thick wheat noodles slightly al dante so they resist getting soggy, the broth rich and savoury, and the beef served as large tender chunks. If you want a deal, visit during lunch on Tuesday, and pay with cash to get 15% off.

It’s the same Tuesday discount you’re score on the pan-fried dumplings ($5.50), which are a great add-on with the noodles. At Beef Noodle House, they are so crispy you’d think they’re deep fried, if it weren’t for the uneven toasting that indicates they’re pan-fried.  I did find the filling too bland, but made use of the table-side sauces.

The restaurant offers a special weekday lunch menu with a selection of items ranging from $8.95 to $11.95 (a different lunch menu is available Tuesday). The stir-fried green beans with pork and water flour and vermicelli ($9.95; not available Tuesday) consists of a mixture of two types of noodles, tossed with chunks of lap cheung (Chinese preserved sausage), ground pork, and eggs. While it’s sauceless, the dish was still flavourful and reminded me of the stir-fried glutenous rice dish (sang chow loa miy fan) that’s found during dim sum. For the price, it’s a surprisingly large portion, but the green beans were too dry, adding colour, but not much flavour to the noodles.

The Shanghai style fried noodles ($10.95 on Tuesday; $9.95 the rest of the week) were better, using the same pasta as the beef noodles. There’s a nice wok hay essence but the dish is a tad scant on vegetables, including a decent amount of pork but only a handful of bean sprouts instead of the crunchier cabbage that’s usually paired in the recipe.

If you’re sharing noodles, a rice dish is a great second option to add on. The deep-fried chicken in Hunan style ($11.95 on Tuesday; $10.95 the rest of the week) was fantastic, the nuggets fried until crispy and tossed in an addicting sweet and savoury sauce. It’s garlicky and well balanced in sweetness so you can’t help but keep reaching for another piece. The dish is ideal for sharing as there’s tons of chicken to go around and it’s all protein with not a bell pepper or onion in sight.

A freshly prepared hot lunch doesn’t need to cost a lot when you visit Beef Noodle House. Bring a $20 bill and you’ll even have change to spare. 

In a nutshell... 
  • Must order: stew beef with noodles in brown sauce and deep-fried chicken in Hunan style
  • Just skip: pan-fried dumplings

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 4271 Sheppard Avenue East
 


Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System

  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:




Yummy Dumpling House (Toronto)


After finding Sushi Bong was closed, I stumbled onto their neighbor, Yummy Dumpling House, located at the same North York condo building base. Yummy’s cozy dining room only holds fifteen at capacity, but this doesn’t seem to be a problem as the restaurant wasn’t overly busy during our Sunday lunch. It did have a steady stream of a couple tables coming and going, which is good as the kitchen is a one-woman operation (another wraps dumplings while a gentlemen greets and serves).

We’re given small dishes, which I assumed were for holding a dipping sauce, but turns out is also the plate for eating. As the steaming Chinese cabbage and pork dumplings ($8.50 for 15) arrives, the first dumpling, slippery with water, was a bit difficult to maneuver without any real dishware or spoon. Nevertheless, I was eventually successful and took a bite of the scalding dough.


Personally, I prefer dumplings steamed (the wrapper is thinner and hence results in more juices and flavour), but for being boiled these were decent – the wrapper still on the thick side but the filling incorporated enough ginger and spices to stand out.

Eat the pan-fried pork dumplings ($7.98 for 8) while they’re hot, as the thin layer of crispy caramelization on the wrapper is delicious. After a while, with the condensation and being piled onto a small plate, they start to get soggy. Some of the wrappers did break so the juices (one of the best parts of the dumpling) escaped. But, the couple of intact ones I had were tasty - Yummy Dumpling House really gets the seasoning right.


If you like Peking duck, give their flavoured pork wrap ($5.98) a try. The wrapper is thicker but has that same chewiness as the Peking duck counterpart. Lightly toasted with crispy edges, it holds thin slices of roasted pork covered with sweet hoisin sauce and fresh scallions. In the end, it has a Peking duck essence but isn’t oily and much heartier.


The experience reminds me of the need to just get out and explore restaurants. I’m guilty of it: relying on reviews or Instagram pictures to decide on where to eat. However, this limits the opportunities of stumbling across little hole-in-the-wall places where you can support mom-and-pop establishments that can’t afford media events. So set a date and grab someone to just take a stroll; find a small place that you’ve never heard of and just walk in. It may not be perfect, but at least you’ve supported a budding local entrepreneur.

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 5 Northtown Way (Unit 16)

Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System

  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:


Yummy Dumpling House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato