Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodle House in Burnaby

As strange as it may seem but Lao Shan Dong is one of my fav eating spots but had never ever gotten to blogging about it. This is despite also the fact that it is located within a 3 minutes walk from my office.

Lao Shan Dong is located at the busy intersection of Kingsway and Nelson in Burnaby. The location is less than desired, I reckon. You see, the restaurant is snucked into a recessed area of a principally an office building.

The looks of this place is just like any ordinary Taiwanese noodle house. It is small with tables all packed that makes it sometimes impossible to navigate through. But despite that Lao Shan Dong is steeped in history. Apparently this Lao Shan Dong is a branch of the legendary Taipei restaurant which dates all the way back 60 years. The original Lao Shan Dong was opened in 1949.

I finally brought the whole family to eat here. It is a long drive from Richmond which we do not normally do anymore. OK, I work around here but driving that distance to work and driving to eat is a different thing altogether.

This restaurant is always busy but I had never had to wait for long even at the busiest of times. They turn the tables very fast. Frankly, this place seems very much like a fast food joint. People come in, order, eat and go.

For starters, we had the House Special Cold Meat Combination. They have it in two servings … large for $8.95 and small for $6.95. We had the large one. It consists mainly of Pig Ear and Beef (?) slices. It was good except that we find the sauce a little too thick and salty. If they had diluted it a bit, it would be just perfect.

Their star dish is the one above … called the Braised Beef Flank with Noodle in Soup/Spicy (Small $6.95 and Large $8.75). Be forewarned, even their small is more than enough for a large person.

They have perfected this dish. The meat is simply tender and the soup utterly delicious. I think they specially hand make the noodles too because it sure does not taste like mass produced ones.

I had the same as the Beef Flank Noodle Soup but opted for the version with Beef Tendons instead. Instead of getting a small one ($7.95), I ordered the large one ($10.25).

The dish is ridiculously large. It has more than enough food for two people.

Look at the above for size!

All of these looked the same right? The one above is Beef Flank with Bean Thread. Bean Thread is not a good idea because it has a tendency to soak up most of the soup rendering it almost like dry noodles very quickly.