Beefy Beef Noodle
4063 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
Earlier this year, in summer, when I went to No 1 Beef Noodle House, I noticed they had a sign they were opening a new location near King Edwards. Months have passed and after my visit to Queen Elizabeth Park, I was hungry and needed some food. Well, since it is not that far, I might as well go there!
Located in the same spot previously occupied by Rekados, somehow I have the odd feeling they did not have to spend too much in furniture. They were basically the same! At most they changed the layout and had the whole restaurant open (in my visit to Rekados, only half of the restaurant was open). Anyway, despite it was quite busy, I was quickly seated and given the menu. What to drink? How about some ice water?
I know it is really stupid/pointless to take a picture of a glass of water; however, there was a reason why I did that. Notice the size of the glass – It was under 6 ounces! Oh, come on, it is ice water! Sure, you won’t charge me for it but why not bring a 12 ounce glass??? Or was that a hint I should be buying one of their bubble-teas? Hmmmmmm…
On my visit to No 1, I ordered the chicken wings. I was *this* close to order the same item for comparison purposes, I decided to go for the deep fried chicken leg instead. I will have to admit, on its own, it was quite good. Lightly crispy, still juicy. Yummmmmmmm…. One thing I did not taste was some ginger, garlic or pepper. Had it had one (or more?) of these, it would have been better. But, putting it into perspective, I think I should have order one of their so called specialty: crispy salty peppery chicken. Hey, they proudly put it under the name! Oh, well…
For my “main”, I ordered the beef brisket noodle in spicy soup – the same dish I ordered in No 1. For the most part, it was exactly the same but, visually, this one looked slightly larger. The noodles was slightly past the al-dente texture but nothing major. The same spiciness “issue” I ran into in No 1 also happened here: After a couple of slurps of the broth, I started to sweat profusely. It wasn’t a nice view, as I did not bring a towel and they only provided a single napkin.
Can I say deja vu? The same problem encountered in No 1 also occured here: this is not brisket but shank. C’mon guys, does shank sound that unappetizing that you can’t put it in the menu “as is”? But, an issue I ran into this time was that, compared to No 1, the ones here were a lot chewier. Either the meat wasn’t cooked as long as they wanted or this was a fluke (unfortunately, I am more inclined to the first case). If that was the case, does that translate into “should only be ordered after 6:00 p.m.”?
In the end, it is the same restaurant as No 1 – except it has a different name (I guess No. 2 does not sound that good). If you don’t like No 1, there is little that will change your mind here. If you like it, well, you will get almost an exact copy of what you would have gotten in their Burnaby location. In fact they even run into the same parking problem (as parking spots in front of the restaurant is really limited)! But, in the end, I liked No 1 and, given this is an almost exact copy…
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
For those that live in Vancouver, I’m not sure its worth the trip out to Burnaby just for No.1, but good to know there is another copy of it in town now to try if the need arises. I’d have to say this spot probably does get a slight edge in parking availability as there is the street nearby, where as the Burnaby location is just that horrible little lot.
Hi Kim, looks like we share the same opinion. Much of the same as #1 Beef Noodle House. Yes, it was strange, the shank was indeed chewier at Beefy Beef. And why do they use that? Brisket anyone??? But whatever, it’s decent and the place was clean. Yes, what’s up with the parking???
shokutsu, at least they did not fiddle with the menu and adjust it to the more “varied” customers in the area. The parking in front is a pain regardless. The day I went there looked like a carbon copy of parking in Richmond, i.e., fancy cards parked on top of the dividing line, almost double parking, et al. However, given the other restaurants and shops in the area, unless you were around after 9:00 p.m., to a certain extent you might run into similar parking issues as in Burnaby. At least, you can still drive a couple of blocks down…
Sherman, we have to start making different opinions or we might start freaking people around with our similar opinions!
wow.. at this point, it seem like everyone has been to Beefy Beef, but from what I see/hear/read, it’s exactly the same as #1 Beef Noodle, which I find just average.
Anyways, during the weekend that just passed, I had a REALLY good bowl of Spicy Beef Noodle soup from Bubble World. This is at the Surrey location that is, just have to clarify, since it seems chain restaurant sometime can’t keep their food quality consistent.
You know what Jenny, I heard the same thing from “I Love Food Blog” about the Surrey Bubble World… I guess I must try. Surprising to hear that though.
Jenny, it is an effect similar to that of Japadog – eventually, everybody will have visited it and blogged about it. However, since several of us have already mentioned, it is a carbon copy of No 1 Beef Noodle so, if you don’t like one, you can as well skip it. As for Bubble World, does that mean I have to go these now? Hmmmmm….
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