Imran Halal Beef Noodle

For an amazing Asian food metropolitan such as the GRVD, we don't have as many hand-pulled noodle spots as one would imagine.  Refining the category even more so, there aren't many Halal beef hand-pulled noodle restaurants to choose from either.  Have no fear since Imran Halal Beef Noodle checks all the boxes with their location on Robson near Nicola.  The place is spacious for a noodle joint and features counter service which is quick and efficient.  All of their noodles are made-to-order, so they are as fresh as can be.

Prior to our noodle experience, we tried some of their smaller places first.  We had a trio of appetizers/sides dishes including Cold Mixed Wood Ear with Onion, Spicy & Sour Shredded Potato and Spicy Cucumber.  I thought these were solid with crunchy wood ear with a mild sweetness and potato being tender but still retaining a bite.  I would've liked to see a bit more spice though.  Cucumbers were crunchy and fresh with plenty of garlickiness.  We also had the Tea Egg and it was more or less standard being a bit overdone (no way to avoid this).  It did have initial flavour but could've used more.

We got two small meat appetizers in the Five-Spice Beef and the Shredded Peppercorn Chicken.  If we had known the beef would be same found in the soup noodle and the cold noodle, were would've opted for the spicy beef instead.  This one was a bit plain and needed some chili oil and vinegar (found on the table) to wake it up.  On the other hand, the chicken was had some numbing spice to go with some mild sweet and salty notes.  Loved the gelatinized texture of the skin.

There were 3 BBQ dishes available and we got all of them.  They were all well-seasoned with the usual spice mix including a good amount of cumin and a touch of spice.  We got the BBQ Beef Skewers in mild and they were pretty tasty.  The meat was tender with a good amount of spice but it wasn't spicy.  For the BBQ Lamb Skewers, we got it in spicy and there was just a bit more heat, but not significantly.  Meat was also tender and not really all that gamy.  The Roast Chicken Wing Skewers were almost juicy with somewhat rendered skin.  Flavours were similar to the beef.

We had a collection of hand-pulled noodle items and of course we had to get the Lanzhou Halal Beef Noodle.  It came out steaming hot with a broth that was daikon-forward with the unmistakable sweetness of the root vegetable.  It was on the saltier side, but combined with the noodles and the addition of chili oil, there was balance.  The slices of five-spice beef was no different than the one we got as an appie.  It varied between tender and fatty to a bit dry (with those slices with less fat).

Onto something without soup, we had the Lanzhou Cold Noodles.  This came on a large plate with a considerable amount of hand-pulled noodles.  They were chewy and since they were cold, the chew was more robust.  They were tossed with only a mild amount of seasoning and moisture.  Hence, they did get a bit clumpy if not manipulated right away.  There was some Taiwanese cauliflower and also broccoli for some veggie content.  They were crunchy and vibrant.  Not sure of the five spice beef could've been better off mixed in rather than sitting on top?

For our fried noodle, we got both the Noodles with Stir-Fried Cumin Beef as well as the Noodles with Stir-Fried Cumin Lamb.  Once again, the freshly hand-pulled noodles had a remarkable chew to them and that in itself was pleasing.  Theere was some wok hei with caramalized flavours and pepperiness.  Of course the cumin really came through with both plates of noodles.  Overall, the food at Imran was delicious, freshly-made and served in generous portions.  The place was pretty full while we were there on a weeknight and it further reinforces it as a solid place for hand-pulled noodles in Downtown Vancouver.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Texturally on point hand-pulled noodles (made to order)

- Large portions

- Great for people who are on a Halal diet

The Bad:

- Since they hand-pull the noodles to order, you must be patient (but worth it)

- Some pieces of the five-spice beef were dry

Sha Lin Noodle House

*Closed due to fire*

I remember visiting Sha Lin when it first opened its doors in 1996. It was quite a novelty since you could watch your noodles being made. When I say being made, I mean hand-made noodles where the chef is pulling, twisting and stretching the dough. Not many places went through all the trouble back then. In fact, the only other place that I knew of was the Unicorn in Richmond (which is long gone). The neatness factor was elevated with the long spout tea pots where they "squirted" the tea into your cup. So, 14 years later, I have returned to try it again. Why so long? Well, there are so many good noodle houses in the GVRD, it takes awhile to redo places. With Taiwanese beef noodle, Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho, the noodle landscape gets a bit crowded.

Since both of my kids like noodles, we brought the whole family out this time around. As expected, there was the usual lineup during a weekend lunch hour. Good thing that noodles are usually consumed pretty quickly; therefore, tables opened up regularly. Finally seated, we had to decide on a bowl of noodles. Alright, you might think that's an easy thing to do. Well, if you got 2 whole pages of choice, it takes awhile. There is no mistaking what their specialty is here! For me, I went for an ol' favourite, Ja Jeun Mein, which is essentially blanched noodles (cutting noodles in this case) with a fried meat sauce on top with julienned cucumbers. As expected, the noodles were al dente with a nice "bite" to them. However, the sauce was extremely disappointing. Not only was it bland, it was very greasy. Moreover, the pork was stringy and tough to chew. If it weren't for the perfect noodles, I would've not liked this dish at all.

Something I was not expecting, the Pork Dumplings were pretty darn good. When they arrived, they looked like any other boiled Chinese dumpling; but the filling was super tasty. The meat was moist and well seasoned. Dipped into a bit of vinegar, these rocked. It goes without saying, the dumpling skin was just as good as the noodles. For her order, Viv went for the Pushing Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables. It all sounded quite plain to me and in some sense it was. Yet, for a plain bowl of noodles, the chicken broth was quite flavourful. Enough so that it was enough to give the noodles some taste as well. Mind you, for some others, it could still be too plain (soy sauce anyone?). Of course, the noodles were good, chewy and soft all at the same time. However, much like the meat in my noodles, the chicken pretty tough. Strangely, there was the occasional soft piece mixed in with the chewy ones. Inexplicably, we ordered nearly the same bowl of noodles for the kiddies as well. The only difference was the noodles. Instead of pushing noodles, they got dragging noodles.

For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, there are 4 types of noodles here at Sha Lin. Pushing, Pulling, Dragging and Cutting. They merely describe the methods used to make the noodles from the same dough. Pushing are thicker noodles, Pulling and Dragging are thinner, while cutting are wider noodles "cut" directly from the dough into boiling water. These noodles are the star of the show (they make it right in front of your eyes) and the star of the menu. The rest of the food is below average. Service is hurried and basic, as with the decor. However, the food is cheap and plentiful. It's worth a visit just to see for yourself.

The Good:
- Outstanding noodles (texture and execution)
- It's cheap
- Good portions (for the price)

The Bad:
- Other components of the food are mediocre at best
- If you want refinement in your food, look elsewhere (it's pretty much like home-cooking)