“We are noodle folk. Broth runs through our veins.”
—Mr. Ping

Enter to win 2 tickets to the advanced screening of Kung Fu Panda 2!

Ticket details (valid one night only):

Date: Tuesday May 24
Time: 7pm
Theater: SilveryCity Metropolis (Metrotown Mall)

How to enter:

1. Send the following tweet: “I entered to win Kung Fu Panda 2 tickets on @followmefoodie‘s contest! What’s your favourite Asian Noodle? http://goo.gl/TKYPt“
2. Comment on this post with your favourite noodle dish in Vancouver.

Contest ends Sunday May 22 at midnight. Thank you and good luck!

And remember to visit Follow Me Foodie Facebook Page!

The Noodle Series – 20 Asian Noodle Dishes

In celebration of Kung Fu Panda 2 I’m featuring Mr. Ping’s favourite food! NOODLES! Here are some delicious noodles that come to mind for me. They’re not all necessarily my favourite or the “best”, but it showcases a variety. This is only within the Asian noodle category too. There are so many more choices and these 20 noodle dishes just touch the surface! Now how big of a noodle fan are YOU?!

The Vietnamese Noodle

Pho Tam – House Special Beef – Combination of Beef and Rice Noodle in Soup

The Beijing Noodle

Beijing Cuisine – Tossed Mung Clear Noodles in Sauce, Sesame Paste & Shredded Meat

The Chinese Noodles

Michigan Noodle Shop – Traditional Wonton Noodle Soup

Michigan Noodle Shop – Lo-Mein with Shredded Pork in spicy Brown Sauce

Rainflower – Hometown Style Pan Fried Silver Needle Noodle

Rainflower – Scrambled Egg & Scallop Fried Rice Noodle

The Thai Noodle

Khunnai Chang Madame Elephant Thai Cuisine – Pad Thai

The Japanese Noodles

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka -  Toroniku Shio Ramen

Miku Restaurant – Soba Pepperoncino

Aki Japanese Restaurant – Nabeyaki Udon

The Taiwanese Noodle

Wang’s Beef Noodle House – Beef Brisket Noodle

The Shanghainese Noodles

Northern Delicacy – “Dan Dan” or “Tan Tan” Noodles in Black Sesame Soup

Northern Delicacy – Shredded Chicken with Glass Noodle

The Malaysian Noodle

Seri Malaysia – Mee Goreng Mamak

The Singaporean (Malaysian) Noodle

Bo Laksa King – Laksa

The Korean Noodles

Jang Mo Jib – Jab Che or Jap Chee  (Potato Noodles)

In Korea (but available in Vancouver) – Stir Fried Korean Rice Cake Noodles with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki)

Celadon Fine Korean (whistler, BC) – Chilled Pink Angel Hair Noodles

The Szechuan Noodle

Sichuan Da Ping Guo Restaurant – Sichuan Glass Noodle with Soy Nuts

The Persian Noodle (Dessert)

The Apron – Faloodeh

Restaurant: Burma Superstar
Cuisine: Burmese/Asian/Laos/South East Asian/Fusion
Last visited: November 5, 2010
Location: San Francisco/Bay Area, California (Richmond)
Address: 309 Clement Street
Price Range: $10-20USD

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5 (based on what I tried)
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 2 (hole in the wall)
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Since 1992
• Family owned
• Few locations in SF
• Sister to B Star Bar
• Specializes in traditional Burmese food
• South East Asian cuisine(s)
• Hole in the wall
• Featured on Food Network
• Local favourite
• Line ups at peak hours
• Vegetarian friendly
• M-F: 11:30am-3:30pm lunch specials
• No reservations

Hours:

• Mon-Sun 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
• Mon-Thu, Sun 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• Fri-Sat 5 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

**Recommendations: Tea Leaf Salad, Samusa, and Nan Pai Dok. The Garlic Lamb/Chili Lamb is supposed to be great as well, but I didn’t try it.

I was in San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival (yes, they do exist) and I was equally as excited for my own dining adventures outside of the festival. My friend living in San Francisco brought me to Burma Superstar, and seriously it was one of the foodie highlights of my trip.

So what is Burmese food? Burmese food is pretty much a combination of flavours from South East Asian cuisine such as Laos, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian and parts of China. It actually reminded me of Indian-Malay/Thai-Chinese food, and it’s all very aromatic, nutty and at times spicy. The dishes are also more curry based than they are soy sauce based. The menu online is a bit different than the actual menu from the restaurant and the stared (*) items are the authentic Burmese dishes.

Burma Superstar is a hole in the wall with a few locations in San Francisco. It is family owned and it’s a very popular local favourite with line-ups throughout the day. It was pretty much the Phnom Penh (Vancouver, BC) of San Francisco except they serve Burmese food instead of Cambodian/Vietnamese food. It was definitely just as popular and generated the same “love it” reactions from locals. The portions are a bit smaller compared to most Asian places, but the food is fresh and homemade and the prices are not cheap, but not expensive either. I would highly recommend it to any local or tourists.

It was my first time dining at Burma Superstar and the closest thing I’ve had to authentic Burmese food is at Bo Laksa King in Vancouver, BC. It doesn’t really count either because that’s a little more on the Burmese-Singaporean/Malaysian side of things. I don’t really have anything to compare to in terms of  authentic Burmese food, since I’ve never been to Burma; but all I know is that I would 110% come back to Burma Superstar the next time I’m visiting San Francisco. It could be “the best” based on lack of competition, but then again I’m basing everything on the few dishes I tried. Nonetheless the menu seems promising and I can’t wait to make a bigger dent in it.

**Samusas – 4.5/6

Basil Curry Chicken – 4/6

Restaurant: Tamarind Hill
Cuisine: Siamese/Burmese/Thai/Fusion
Last visited: April 22, 2010
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Address:
19, Jalan Sultan Ismail
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (opposite Equatorial Hotel)
Tel: +603-2148-3200
Price Range: $30-50CAD (RM 70-150+)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5
Service: 4
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Contemporary Siamese & Burmese cuisine
• 10+ years
• Popular for tourists
• Award winning restaurant
• Beautiful presentation
• Gorgeous atmosphere
• Indoor/Outdoors seating
• Fine dining
• Gourmet
• Luxurious dining
• Extensive wine list
• Creative cocktails
• Creative desserts
• English menu
• Reservations recommended
  

**Recommendations: Stuffed Mandarin Oranges (in appetizer platter), Sea Bass, Deep Fried Shrimp, Kaffir Lime Rice, Siamese Banana Fritters, Sweet Black Sticky Rice

Tamarind Hill is part of the Tamarind Restaurant Group, a contemporary and luxurious fine dining restaurant group in Malaysia. Besides Tamarind Hill their restaurants also include Neo (global tapas), Tamarind Spring (traditional Indochinese), Il Tempio (Modern Italian), and Mandi-Mandi (Fine Thai Malay).

The Tamarind Restaurant Group believes in dining experiences that take you away from the city. From the location, design, interior and overall ambiance they ensure this philosophy in all their restaurants.

Literally “walking up to your appetite”, Tamarind Hill is located on a hilltop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The hilltop is about 30-50 steps – easy… even in heels. This is fine dining so it’s “friendly-nature” and a “friendly-hike”. I mean how “real nature” does that picture look…?

It has been a luxurious dining spot for over 10 years with modern Asian decor, fine tribal influences, and an extravagant outdoor wine room surrounded by ponds and nature (man-made of course). I had to take ‘sneaky’ pictures because unless I wasn’t IN the photos, pictures are not allowed.

This is the Tamarind Hill outdoor wine room… perhaps the nicest and best dining patio/wine room I’ve seen to date. I wish the photo wasn’t so dark, but that whole black part you see is ALL pond.

This picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s seriously gorgeous although you will probably get eaten alive my mosquitos if you dine out here. You’re just surrounded by gorgeous ponds and it’s the best atmosphere you could ask for in Malaysia.

The atmosphere at Tamarind Hill is definitely tranquil. It’s like you’re in an organic earthy hut in a private resort or a fancy jungle in some remote country. They definitely go all out when it comes to giving you luxurious ambiance and atmosphere in Malaysia.

All for me! No, I shared…sort of – mind you this was 2.5 hours after a giant meal at Vansh Restaurant AND chocolate banana cake at West 57th Street Cafe so I wasn’t even hungry – how can you say “no” to this though?!

The food is not authentic so don’t expect to look for traditional Thai/Burmese dishes. The food is contemporary Thai cuisine with Burmese and Siamese influence. It’s fusion dishes with modern twists that are unique to Tamarind Hill so one must appreciate it for just that.

Tamarind Hill claims to be innovative but pay respect to traditional – almost like Terracotta Modern Chinese or Bao Bei Chinese Bistro in Vancouver, BC.

On the table:

**Appetizer Platter – 5/6

• Salmon sashimi, stuffed mandarin oranges, calamari & shrimp cakes.
• A perfect way to start the meal and a great assorted sampler plate.

• These were the best 2 appetizers on the plate.
• Salmon sashimi – 5/6 lightly seared and crusted with lemongrass and what I think was fresh basil and lime leaves. It was fresh and delicious! The cutting technique for the sashimi wasn’t exactly right though.
• **Peanut Stuffed Mandarin Oranges – 6/6 I really wish you could order these separately but it only comes on the appetizer platter. They’re AMAZING! The best appetizer. So creative.
• It’s mandarin oranges stuffed with peanuts, walnuts and palm sugar.
• It tastes like soft caramel coated peanuts and walnuts. Together with the mandarin it was almost like a nutty apricot jam with a hint of fresh herbs. It was tangy and sweet, juicy and so flavourful.  The nuts are soft and not crunchy which made for a better texture in this case.

• Calamari - 3/6 It was grilled squid and it was tender but nothing impressive. It was a bit soggy and there was a salt seasoning with a very slight spice on it.
• Shrimp Cake – 2/6 I wasn’t too impressed with these. It tasted quite filler-ish. They were a bit tough and spongy. It was almost like course fish balls and it was too salty. There was a pickled daikon relish on top and it was just a bit boring, but edible.

The sea bass is the plate in the front (closer picture below).

**Sea Bass - 6/6

• Deep fried or steamed sea bass with eggplant. (I don’t have the menu description and it’s not online yet) I think it was about RM 84 – $28CAD
• The menu says “deep fried” but the server recommended that I order it steamed - so that’s what I did! Request it steamed. So good!
• The fish was perfectly cooked and tender with the skin on but no bones.
• The sauce tastes like a Vietnamese salad dressing sauce with lots of herbs like cilantro and mint, chilies, fish sauce and lime juice.
• It was also served with a citrus and tangy sauce with lots of freshly chopped herbs on the side.
• It was sweet, savoury, and slightly spicy – the sauce was perfect.
• There was no eggplant though and the menu said there was.

**Shrimp – 5/6

**Kaffir Lime – 4.5/6

There’s always room. I actually got a picture of the dessert menu, so I have the actual descriptions of the food.

**Siamese Banana Fritters - 6/6

A Photo of the NEO kitchen – another restaurant/lounge/night club from the Tamarind Restaurant Group located right next door to Tamarind Hill. Neo serves Global Tapas and is “the new zen” – very luxurious dining in Las Vegas. You must stop by just to see it even if you don’t eat there. It’s just as gorgeous.

Restaurant: Bo Laksa King
Cuisine: Malaysian/Burmese/Singapore/Thai
Last visited: February 16, 2010
Area: Joyce-Collingwood, Vancouver, BC
Address: 4910 Joyce St
Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 1.5
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

Additional comments:

• Major hole-in the wall
• Located inside Malaysian grocery store
• Specializes in Malaysian/Burmese food
• Famous for laksa and wraps
• Husband and wife operation
• Good for quick lunches – Malaysian wraps
• Fresh, homemade, made upon order
• Half menu made on site, half from main off site kitchen
• Popular to neighborhood/locals in area
• Seats 2-4
• Cheap eatery – not dirt cheap, but reasonable
• Lunch and dinner service
• Full dinner menu only available online from 6pm – pick-up/delivery only
• Dinner – Pick-up before 8pm
• Delivery charges apply
• Open late
• Catering available

Recommendation: Roti Canai, Laksa, Malaysian style wraps (but I haven’t tried)…also haven’t tried but the Lahpet Thoke (Fermented tea leaf salad) is authentic Burmese food not available anywhere else.

I would have never heard of Bo Laksa king and would have never discovered it on my own. Thanks to Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food) I was able to try this major hole in the wall located in a Malaysian/Asian grocery store. I’m also never in that area so I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to wander around. It’s a total word-of-mouth place and their business depends on this type of advertising.

It’s a husband and wife operation and they’re really nice people. She’s Chinese and he’s Burmese. The recipes are actually very authentic but they also offer a mixture of South East Asian cuisine from Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai and the rare…Burmese! They even have a couple Chinese dishes in there. It’s popular for quick lunches and their full dinner menu is only available online for delivery or pick-up before 8pm. They operate out of the small kitchen in the back of the grocery store and also a main kitchen that is a few blocks away on Victoria. Keep this in mind because the menu is limited if you’re going for dinner and eating in.

Okay so being a major hole in the wall, I have to lower my expectations a bit, however not by much because the food was really good. It’s a hole in the wall with fresh, authentic, homemade, made upon order meals for a good price…what more can you ask for? Overall I was pleasantly surprised. I would go back because I think there’s better then what I had, and I want to try a wrap.

On the table

Burmese Tea – 4/6

• $1.50
• It’s similar to Thai tea but not as strong or sweet. It’s frothy, milky, creamy and a smooth tea.
• It’s still quite sweet though because it’s mixed and shaken with condensed milk.
• The tea is authentic Burmese tea that is steeped and it’s stronger than Chinese tea, but milder than Thai tea.
• It’s made upon order and a pretty large cup for only $1.50

Roti Canai – 5.5/6

• The small is served with beef curry $3.99 Large is served with chicken curry $5.99
• The roti is very hot, fresh and made upon order on a griddle. It’s super fluffy, flakey, soft, stretchy and chewy…but it was a tad oily. We devoured it in seconds though so it didn’t matter. You can watch her toss it and cook it on the spot – it’s almost like watching a pizza dough show.

• The curry is their beef curry sauce. It’s very flavourful and slightly spicy. There are little bits of beef brisket throughout and the sauce has a very strong beef broth flavour. They use lots of spices and herbs in there so it’s very flavourful.
• It’s quite oily too though so you really have to scoop up the sauce or you’re just dipping into oil. It’s good though!

Satay Skewers – 3.5/6

• Choice from marinated chicken, beef, or lamb served with sticky rice, cucumber & spicy peanut sauce. (3 skewers) $3.50
• The satay skewers are made on a griddle rather than a grill…which I’ll let go because they’re working with limited resources being in a grocery store.
• You wouldn’t miss out by not ordering it, but it’s a pretty decent sized appetizer for a $3.50 bargain!
• This chicken is marinated in a curry spice, but I couldn’t really taste it. It was tender and the pieces are big, it wasn’t necessarily anything to rave about.

• The sticky rice is almost like a dessert. The rice is a bit sweet and almost like a giant mochi ball sprinkled with dried coconut flakes.
• The peanut sauce is that authentic creamy Thai peanut butter sauce rather than the chunky Malaysian sauce. I prefer the Malaysian version. Bo Laksa King’s is okay but the fish sauce mixed into the peanut sauce was a bit too tangy for me and I didn’t really like the brand they were using – a bit too rancid in taste.

Laksa – 6/6

• Prawn, chicken, fish ball, tofu puff, egg, sweet bell peppers and bean sprouts. Choose from vermicelli or yellow wheat noodle $7.50
• The authentic way is to have it with vermicelli – so that’s what we ordered it with.

• We got it to go, so the fancy bowl is not how it’s served.
• It’s loaded with tons on topping and that surprised me.

• There are lots of fresh herbs and spices in the broth and it’s really obvious. It had that slow cooked, on the stove all day homecooked flavour. It tasted very authentic with exotic herbs and spices that I’ve never really experienced in laksa before.
• It wasn’t very spicy for me, but just very aromatic! It’s very rich and creamy with the sweetened taste of coconut milk.
• The noodles are al dente! They’re harder then expected, which I like! They were blanched in the soup and packaged in a separate container to ensure they’re not overcooked.

Pad Thai – 3/6

• Thai rice noodle, eggs, shrimps, extra firm tofu, Chinese chives, dried chili peppers, banana flower, bean sprouts, preserved turnip, stir fry in house made traditional tamarind sauce $8.75
• This is a traditional version of Pad Thai and not the Western version where they make it with Ketchup.
• This one is made with Tamarind – just like the one at Tangthai Cuisine of Thailand Restaurant.
  It’s one of their popular items, but I wasn’t crazy about it.

• Overall it was still good with lots of shrimp (6 of them); however I really didn’t like the whole peanuts. I usually love peanuts too, but I want them ground up when I’m having it with Pad Thai.
• It was served with a house made fish sauce…which I didn’t like. By home made I mean adding chilies, jalapeños and some additional spices to a bought fish sauce. It was too tangy and rancid…which is expected…but it was almost overly rancid and off. I love fish sauce too! Maybe it was just the fish sauce brand they’re using?
• It was a tangy and spicy Pad Thai with jalapeño peppers. I thought it need more flavour though…I was relying on the lime and the fish sauce (which wasn’t that good)…and also the peanuts (which weren’t ground up)….so everything was there…but also not there for me…
  I prefer the ground peanuts and fish sauce at Thai Basil.