Chef Hung's Champion Noodles

Every Asian girl loves her noodles. That being said the animated noodle statue at the front door of Chef Hung's Taiwanese Beef Noodle really caught my eye. Also, it was Chinese New Year and Mandi and I were trying to escape the throngs of people in the Aberdeen Centre in Richmond. 

Chef Hung was named the champion of the prestigious Taipai International Beef Noodle Festival for three consecutive years and in 2012 it was awarded "Best Noodle House" by the Vancouver Restaurant Awards. Clearly, we had to have it - two Champion Beef Shank with Noodle soups, please. 

This soup was really, really, really good!! The broth was super flavourful and a little bit spicy and the beef was very tender. We liked it so much we've already been back once and this time we had to bring Dan. I also really enjoyed the Shredded Dried Pork & Egg Wrapped in Crispy Pancake that we got as an appetizer last time. 

I've spent two weeks with Mandi now and it brings so much joy to my heart seeing her, little white girl from Oakbank, Manitoba, become so Asian. She gets cravings for this noodle soup, I caught her stocking up on coconut buns at the T&T bakery the other day, and when she found out she was going to be staying over the weekend she asked if we were going for Dim Sum on Saturday. I couldn't be more proud. 

DG

Bibimbap at Yaohan Centre

A few months ago when I found out I'd be spending a few weeks in Vancouver on a business trip the first thing I thought was, naturally, where am I going to eat?? And when I realized we'd be staying in Richmond, I knew the answer to this question was going to be easy: EVERYWHERE. Richmond is not just a glorified Chinatown - it's more like AsiaWORLD! Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Korean...Richmond has it all. The hotel we're staying at is right next to this mall, the Yaohan Centre, and everyone knows the great thing about malls are their food courts. We checked it out for dinner tonight and I ordered the Bibimbap from Seoul Express. Bibimbap is a Korean dish that literally means "mixed rice" with the "mix" being sauteed vegetables, sliced meat (typically beef), chili paste and egg. It's served in a very hot stone bowl so that the egg cooks as you mix all the ingredients together and the rice on the bottom gets a little crispy. 

Korean dishes are usually served with an assortment of small side dishes (banchan). I chose the glazed potatoes (gamja jorim), marinated bean sprouts and a staple of Korean cuisine - kimchi!

If that bowl wasn't still burning hot I probably would have licked it clean. Oh Richmond, you and I are going to be friends. 

DG