Walking through the Yonge and Wellsley area, I marvel how it’s become the next Little Asia – a more densely packed Yonge and Sheppard. There are so many restaurants that serve bowls of soupy noodles that I’d miss GunGun Rice Noodle if I weren’t looking for the place.

Surprisingly, one of the best dishes of the meal wasn’t even the noodles. Their braised pork belly rice ($9.99) impressed with the diced pieces of flavourful meat incorporating just enough fatty pieces to melt into the rice to create a caramelized stickiness but not feel overly gluttonous. The slightly sweet soy flavours were evident but not too strong so you could easily get through a bowl. In fact, it’s more than enough for lunch.

I’m glad I refrained from ordering any of their spicy noodles as even the crispy pork tomato rice noodle ($16.99) contained a back note of the mala spice. It was by no means spicy, but the tomato broth had a bit of chili oil mixed in to give it a tingle.

Adding two fried soybean roll ($1.99) seems expensive given the noodles are under $20, but I love how they soaked in the flavourful broth, the crevices of the thin sheets creating a juicy bite. You’ll get a bit of that pop with the fried tofu puffs and gluten squares that come with the bowl, but these don’t have the silky finish.

The rice noodles (or lai fun) were a tad soft but at least resisted getting too soggy sitting in the broth. And there’s tons of the crispy pork slivers on top but didn’t add much to the experience. In hindsight, I’d prefer a vegetarian version of the noodles and add on more toppings. Quail eggs and vegetables round out the bowl for a filling meal.

Having had a lot of pork, we opted for the fried chicken bun ($6.99), which was surprisingly large for its low price… easily rivaling two McChickens. You’ll have to get over the hit of cumin which gives the fowl an almost shawarma taste.

Simply adorned with shredded lettuce and no sauce the handheld is a tad dry and would need a sauce if eaten solo. I ended up dipping the crispy flaky pastry into the tomato broth and it was a great combination. Not unlike crumbling a package of saltines into a creamy tomato soup.

The restaurant was empty at 11:30 on a weekday but filled up once it struck noon. Yet, with their speedy service, bowls hit the table within 5 minutes of ordering so you can easily get through the meal in under an hour. GunGun’s an ideal inexpensive meal option for those studying, working, or living in the area.