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