Rating / 4 out of 5 stars

Huaxi is a noodle shop located in the food court at Crystal Mall specializing in Szechuan style beef noodle soups. They call themselves the Noodle Specialist and I have to agree with that claim. Normally, we avoid Crystal Mall like the plague, but as long as Huaxi Noodle Specialist is still there, we will keep coming back.

Asian food fairs are usually a good source of cheap, tasty food. You have to scope them out to see where all the people flock. Tre and I came upon the Huaxi Noodle Specialist by chance — their bright red sign claiming to be noodle specialists calling us. Anyone who claims to be a specialist had better back it up and bring it on. Which they did.

Tre ordered a beef brisket soup with homemade noodles. I order beef brisket with noodles, but with rice noodles instead. The lady asked how spicy we wanted our soup and we said, “very spicy please.” We knew from the smirk on her face that we were going to get what we asked for.

(Top to bottom: 1. Fiery beef broth. 2. Also a fiery beef broth.)

The soup was awesome: fiery, well seasoned beef broth with very tender, falling-apart, pieces of beef brisket. It was extremely spicy and made Tre sweat like a melting ice cube. Even though I didn’t end up sweating, I had to eat slowly as my tongue felt like it might fall off from the heat. The noodles were good. Tre’s homemade noodles were nice and firm, not doughy or squishy.

Our meals were excellent and we’ve been back many times. Huaxi Noodle Specialist also offers rice dishes with chicken that are also tasty. I would avoid their version of Kung Pao chicken, however. I’m not sure if the cook tried to experiment with my dish, but it was just wrong. I would stick to the other dishes, particularly the noodles. Our meals, including a can of coke, came to just $12. Cheap is always good, especially when the food is good as well.

Perfect for: Getting your sweat on.

The Details

Crystal Mall Food Court
#2126 — 4500 Kingsway, Burnaby
604.438.8620
thecrystalmall.ca

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars :

If you have the craving for barbeque chicken and are (a) too lazy to barbeque or (b) inundated with enough frost to prevent you from being outside for more than 60 seconds at a time without losing an appendage, might I recommend Nando’s. It’s fast food that doesn’t suck. Nando’s serves Portuguese-style flame-grilled chicken marinated in lemons and herbs — and for those that want a kick in the pants: the infamous Peri Peri sauce, which comes in varying levels of hotness.

The food at Nando’s is simple. You take a dozen chicken wings; baste them; skewer them; and throw them onto an open flame to grill. Serve it up with a side of competently prepared fries and you have yourself a decent meal to go. One Nando’s menu item you won’t likely find at your typical chicken joint, however, is chicken livers. It’s simmered in a wonderfully seasoned stew and served with a Portuguese Bun to sop up all that garlicky goodness. Beats a bucket-full-of-poultry any day.

The Details

4334 Kingsway, Burnaby
604.434.6220
nandoscanada.com

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars

I love pasta. I just can’t eat of enough it, which is probably a dietitian’s worst nightmare. They say you should only eat a portion the size of the palm of your hand — that won’t be happening if you eat at Cipriano’s. You’re going to get enough leftovers to keep you busy for a few days. Diners almost always leave with doggy bags. But don’t mistaken Cipriano’s for one of those places that only serve quantity over quality. In fact, the opposite is true — and it’s why we keep coming back. I never understood why people flock to places that serve huge portions at cheap prices because they think they’re getting a good deal — even though the food sucks. You are what you eat, so eat something good.

A dish that Tre and I always get at Cipriano’s is their famous garlic bread by the basket. Its the bomb! They cut pieces of a whole baguette and slather it with garlic, butter, fresh parmesan cheese and bake it, then plop the whole glorious mess into a basket. Don’t expect perfectly cut pieces — that’s not the point. This is not a fake garlic butter spread on a piece of toast that some try to pass off as garlic bread — this is the real thing.

The pasta here is awesome. We like the Puttanesca: spicy tomato sauce, olives, anchovies, capers, garlic, and chilies on linguine. I usually ask them to swap it with penne. Tre likes the Michaelangelo: very spicy alfredo sauce with black forest ham on linguine. This is good as well, just a bit on the heavier side. There’s also the Papa Lasagna: very cheesy and tasty — but I felt there was more cheese than lasagna. The pasta here is always cooked el dente — not mushy.

Finally, there’s the dessert — the ice cream. I can’t recall what it’s called but it has some liqueur and it was so delicious! We can see why the server recommended it highly.

The atmosphere here is cozy. It feels like an old school Italian diner with red and green colors accents throughout. The owners of the restaurant can come off a bit cocky and stand-offish, but they’re okay people. Oh, and a word of caution — if you’re going to do take out, you probably only need one entree. One entree is two night’s worth of leftovers for us — it’s crazy. And I would highly recommend reservations on the weekends, otherwise you could be waiting for hours.

The Details

3995 Main Street Vancouver
604.879.0020

Rating / 5 out of 5 stars

Vancouver is well known for both its Chinese and its Indian food thanks in part to our large immigrant communities. Less well known, however, is Chinese-Indian cuisine. India, in particular Calcutta, has a significant immigrant Chinese population. As with most immigrant populations, the Chinese in India cook their familiar homeland dishes, but adapted the dishes using local ingredients.

Don’t confuse this with fusion food. It isn’t some chef’s pretentious attempt to marry two styles of cooking that they’re unfamiliar with in some lame attempt to invent some nouveau cuisine. This is honest, home cooked meals made by industrious immigrants using cooking techniques from their homeland with ingredients native to their adopted country. The result is wonderfully tasty flavours that are both familiar and new.

Tre and I first got a sampling from the Chili Pepper House at a friend’s house, which the restaurant partially catered. Instantly, the flavours became noticeable and addictive: familiar Chinese dishes cooked with fragrant Indian spices.

Tre and I have tried a number of dishes and they’re all delicious, but we have our favourites. Vegetables Pakoras with Chutney are a must try; Masala Fried Rice, which is a mixture of spices, chicken, shrimp and rice; Garlic Fish, sweet and spicy; Chili Pepper House Okra and Cauliflower, which are deep fried with spices; deep fried Phoenix Prawns; Indian Style Hakka Chow Mein; sweet Singapore style vermicelli with chicken and shrimp and the list goes on and on.

We like our plates really spicy, so the proprietors give our dishes an extra kick. A word of warning, many of the dishes — including vegetable dishes — are deep fried and smothered in rich sauces which some may find heavy. However, the highly addictive sauces and spices keep us wanting more. The atmosphere isn’t anything special, kind of boring really, but Tre and I often do take out anyway. The extra 15% off for takeout is a bonus.

The Details

1 3003 Kingsway, Vancouver
604.431.8633

12790 96 Ave, Surrey
604.583.9987