Yunshang Rice Noodle: Chinese noodle restaurant in Burnaby
Yunshang Rice Noodle is a Chinese noodle restaurant located in Burnaby’s Crystal Mall. Their menu mostly consists of different variations of their rice noodles and side dishes.
Side dishes
Deep fried squid tentacles ($7)
You know me – I can’t pass on the deep fried squid. Deep fried squid can never really taste bad to me, but it is unfortunate that most of the batter is falling off the squid. Probably means they didn’t fry it that well.
Shredded cucumber in garlic sauce ($6)
I usually like to order this dish at Taiwanese restaurants and Chinese BBQ skewer places. It is a refreshing dish because it is cold cucumbers in a savoury garlic sauce.
The garlic sauce at Yunshang may be a bit too garlicy for my liking but it is still refreshing. I notice that they also serve cucumber water so if you are wondering why the water tastes kind of funny, this is why. Maybe they just shred a bunch for this dish and throw the rest into the jars of water lol.
Potato slices with chili and garlic sauce ($5)
I originally think this is a papaya salad when it arrives, but it is actually a potato dish! They slice it super thin so that it resembles the structure of a Thai papaya salad.
It is also spicy with a tangy sauce – interesting side dish that I have not tried before.
Main
Oriental rice noodle with curry coconut sauce ($10)
Not sure why my boyfriend chooses curry coconut rice noodles lol.
The rice noodles all come in this clay pot, which is very heavy and very hot. This is what is supposed to make them authentic. They have the noodles separated so you put them into the pot yourself.
The noodles are chewy with a good texture but I am not a fan of the soup base. Maybe the coconut curry is just a bad choice, but in general I am not a big noodle soup fan.
The noodle soups also come with 10 toppings.
A part of me thinks this set-up is only for presentation/aesthetic purposes because it doesn’t really seem to have too many functional benefits. Upon first glance it looks awesome because it looks like you have many toppings. But upon closer inspection, you’ll see that one plate has a little quail egg, and 1 dish has some finely minced vegetable sauce or a fish tofu.
If, eventually, you just dump these toppings into your clay pot anyways, then this whole set-up is just a deconstructed bowl of noodles. You have to put your noodles in the pot and all your toppings… why not just put everything in there to begin with? Takes a lot of room on the table.
Yang’s braised boneless chicken rice ($12)
I order the chicken rice, which also comes in a (giant) clay pot and a (giant) bowl of rice. The portion is size can easily feed 2 men.
The non-boneless chicken is $2 cheaper, but you know me I have no teeth (as my mother says), so I always prefer boneless. The chicken meat is tender and I do like the sauce, even though I choose regular instead of authentic or spicy. I’m just a mild kinda girl.
This dish is an all-around homey dish. I think it is a good choice on a rainy day.
Final thoughts
Sadly, I am not a big (Chinese) noodle soup type of gal. I just find fish noodle soups sub-par when I compare it to ramen.
This place has 2 novelties – the clay pots and the rice noodles. The clay pots are big so it’s nice to receive bigger portions, but they also remain hot for a long time. I was slightly nervous watching our servers bring everything over as they are heavy and hot.
The rice noodles taste lovely, but I am not a good enough expert to say these are exceptional rice noodles. For the price point, it seems very reasonable. The toppings can do with a little more emphasis on quality instead of presentation.
I do like their digital/ipad waiting service where they notify you when your table is ready. Perhaps because we came when they first opened, I felt as if their staff and servers are a bit wasteful. For example, when we ask for more water or more tea, they give us all new cups of water instead of just giving us a jug of water to refill the cups. By the end of our meal, we had 2-3x more cups and the table was already quite cluttered with the trays of toppings.
Sincerely, Loewe