I took a trip at the start of the year, which led to a very pleasant couple of days in Vancouver with the Brunette of my Acquaintance. We had a nice couple of nights on English Bay, staying in the Sylvia Hotel. The Sylvia is a 1912 block that once dominated over the beaches, big square, with rows of square windows, brick cladding and a creeping vine all over one side. It imposes itself on the front, even if now dwarfed on all sides by apartment buildings.
English Bay is lovely to watch the sun set over, with the calm edge of the Georgia Strait in the foreground and the ridge of the University endowment land across the Bay. And just out to sea there's always a half dozen big ships floating high up, waiting to be filled with whatever commodities Canada is sending over seas. The red hulls stand out against the blue of the oceans, and the white super structures sitting like cheap apartment blocks against the sky.
The other good thing about the area is a whole abundance of good, cheap food from a variety of ethnicities. More on some of the other in the future... (Victoria, In Person maybe a little mainland based for a bit), but we stepped into Legendary Noodles on a whim one night... and super happy we did.
Legendary Noodles is small, seating maybe 30 people throughout. The back corner is taken up with the kitchen, and one wall has two person tables, with a little shelf above for drinks... as the table is just big enough for the plates of food. The kitchen is all open concept, and there you can see the chef hand stretching and prepping the fresh noodles.
I ordered the Szechuan Chicken noodles, first checking that they wouldn't be too spicy. The server smiled and said they had made them less spicy than real authentic Szechuan food, to suit the tastes of Vancouver. The Brunette ordered the Lemon Garlic Noodles with Prawns.
It seemed in the blink of an eye our food arrived. Two steamy bowls of noodles, with a good, sized portion of food. The white noodles on the chicken were streaked with little pieces of chilli and thick but clear brown sauce. The sauce had some kick, such that I was glad they'd toned down the spice levels a bit. I like a fair bit of heat sometimes, but tonight this was just the right level for me. The tangy of the spicy sauce coated the noodles, which had this beautiful silk like texture ate them, but were not a slick mess. Instead they carried the sauce up to be savoured with the al dente bite of fresh noodle.
I tried the garlic lemon noodles as well. These ha d a very mild spice to them, with a mix of flavours that had some complexity: the citrus tang of the lemon cut into the garlic and spice, and mingled with the green onions as well to create something more savoury than the sum of it's parts. And again, the fresh dough of the hand-pulled noodles was a joy to eat.
At just a shade over $20 (plus tips) for two excellent bowls of fresh cooked food, this was a great meal, in a nice location. The Brunette was impressed enough to get two 'to-go' orders to take back to the family in Victoria... who also enjoyed them, even after a four hour journey by bus, coach, ferry and car.
http://www.legendarynoodle.ca/ - 1074 Denman St, Vancouver,
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