Long's Noodle House

Long’s Noodle House is a tiny hole in the wall Shanghai restaurant in South Vancouver’s Main street neighbourhood.

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This place is really small and crowded.  Max seating is about 40 people if you don’t mind cozy.  We got our own table as there were 5 of us for dinner tonight. It also helped that we reserved a table a few days ahead. If you are going in with a small party, expect to share your table.

We were able to sample quite a few dishes.  We started with a loaf of fried Shanghai roll.  Unlike Shanghai River, you have to request for the condensed milk if you want a dip.  This was quite soft on the inside.

 

The drunken wine chicken came in 2 cute little bowls filled with the chicken and wine brine.  I believe drunk chicken is usually served cold.  This one was warm I think because of the hot wine soup that was used in the bowl.

Next is an order of xiao long baos.  The skin was quite soft and did not break easily.  You still have to be careful when picking these up though.  These tasted quite good as long as you are careful not to accidently burn the soup in your mouth.

We ordered this giant chicken/wonton soup.  There was a whole chicken inside.  This was so good, not too salty at all. You can tell the flavour is not from MSG.  There were about 10 wontons and when it arrived it was still boiling.

Next is the fried vermicelli.  The owner asked how spicy we would like it and we told her less spicy.  The vermicelli was quite chewy which is our preference.  It was cooked with some ground pork.  It got a bit too saucy on the bottom though but flavor-wise, it was done right and mildly spicy as we requested.

The waitress recommended this special of the day, which is a pork “wuxi” dish.  It was bone-in and quite lean.  The flavour was new to us.  It was kind of like a slightly sweet bean sauce.  It had the right amount of sauce as it was not drenched.

The next is a vegetarian dish with made with bean curd tripe. It was a lot better than the one we had at Shanghai River.  This was not drenched in water.  It was drier and tasted more like a fried noodle dish rather than a soup noodle dish.

For dessert, we shared these glutinous rice flour balls, in a clear wine infused broth.  This was a neat little dish as it also had rice in it.

The restaurant is quite small with just 2 waitresses, one of which is the owner.  The owner was very friendly and talkative even though it was busy that night.  She took time to explain the dishes and specials and I saw her chat up with the other customers too.  She was quite well at speaking Mandarin, Shanghainese, Cantonese and English. 

The service was definitely very fast even for a fully packed restaurant.  We did not have to wait long for our dishes to arrive.  They came within 3 or 4 minutes between each other. If you are going with a big party, be sure to make a reservation ahead of time.  If you are going with a party of 1 or 2, prepare to share a table as that seemed to be the norm.

SFDD Gives 4.5 out of 5 Delights

Shanghai River–Richmond, BC

Shanghai River is located in the heart of Richmond, conveniently across the Richmond Centre mall.  This post will be relatively longer since we were invited to a family get together so we had a chance to sample lots of dishes.

 

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You may notice this place is quite busy day and night, no matter which day of the week.  Shanghai River was one of the pioneer Shanghai cuisines that started up here several years ago and has been quite successful. 

They are also one of the few who started the open kitchen concept where you can see the chefs making the Xiao Long Baos.  We didn’t sit close enough to get shots though.

We had a late reservation so the place was not too full. The first round of dinner guests were already finishing up and paying their bills by the time we arrived. 

Ok here comes the food:

We ordered 2 loafs of fried plain Shanghai rolls.  They came with a small serving of condensed milk.  Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  You can get them just straight of the steamer non-fried if you prefer the healthy option.

Xiao long baos are definitely a must order item when visiting a Shanghai restaurant.  The wrap had a nice bouncy texture, not too thick.  Be careful when biting in or else the soup will explode into your mouth and burn your mouth.  To eat these, bite a tiny hole on the side and suck out the soup slowly before eating the rest.

Next comes the stir-fried rice cakes with pork and preserved veggies.  This was a bit oily but is normal for this type of dish.  The rice cakes were quite chewy and fresh.  Nice flavouring came from the chopped greens and pork.

Next was preserved vegetables with bean curd tripe.  Not too exciting because the bean curds were undercooked so it was too difficult to chew.  Furthermore the flavour was bland.

This is a scrambled egg white with seafood on broccoli.  This is one of the more popular dishes for Shanghai cuisine.  Overall it was quite flavourful with a generous amount of egg white covering over the broccoli.

This is another tofu dish with a shrimp flavoured sauce.  Too much sauce overwhelmed the tofu though.

The following dish is fried prawn with walnuts.  This was really good as the prawns were covered with a sweet cream/mayo sauce.  Be sure to eat it with the walnut at the same time.  Portion wise, this was small for a big table.  I’d say this dish fits a table of 4-5.

Next is the eel in stone bowl.  This was still sizzling when it arrived.  It looked really nice but you have to eat it with rice because the sauce is quite salty. 

This is the fried vegetable roll which is like a giant spring roll.  It is was wrapped around mushrooms with Lea & Perrins on the side.  It was quite crispy when it first came but got soggy after about 15 minutes and was no longer attractive, so eat it right away!

We also ordered the Szechuan small duck .  Not too salty and the rest of the guests also enjoyed it.  It came with some cute plain buns on the side.

Finally for dessert we had these fried donuts with red been sauce inside.  It was sprinkled with  pink sugar. These also need to be eaten right away or else it will flatten out.

The prices were very reasonable for this quality of food.  The service was quick and friendly as well.  Servers have no issues communicating in English.  Parking may be difficult during busy times as there are limited spaces in the shared underground lot.

SFDD gives 4.25 out of 5 Delights