Today I was out with Joyce of @monkeyeatsworld, and as per our tradition we were on the hunt for noodles. A new noodle restaurant opened in downtown Vancouver, so we decided to give it a try. This was Imran Noodles, a fully Halal Chinese restaurant specializing in authentic, hand-pulled Lanzhou-style beef noodle.
There sandwich sign outside that promised no lines and no wait, which proven to be true due to their newness. So new that they were still using the last restaurant’s walk-in mat. Reading “Grand-joy hot pot”.
You place your order at the counter. There you pay, are given a table side, and are able to choose any available table to dine in at. There, hot tea is brought to you and you can help yourself to any of the sauces stationed at said table.
Naturally we had to get their signature beef noodle. We were given the option to pick the type of noodles we wanted, so went for our preference of extra wide and flat for optimum surface area and chew. The bowl was a sea of green onions and cilantro hiding grey slices of meet, all topped with a generous splash of chilli oil. Despite the latter the bowl is was still on the bland side, especially compared to our second noodle dish. The texture of the noodles was good, but the meat was tough, and broth didn’t have enough depth to flavour it all. Disappointing. The side of vinegar did help in bringing in some acid for brightness. In retrospect, perhaps this was on the cleaner side as I do recall there being minimal oil slicked over top.
Seeing as we got a wet bowl of noodles, for our second bowl we went with dry ones. Like the bowl before we thought we could choose the type of noodles we wanted with our Stir-Fried Cumin Lamb. We requested the Buckwheat Diamond for its unique shape, but were told by the clerk that this would be too thick and to choose a thinner noodle. We did as we were, told only to wonder why that had to be so when we were presented with our order. Here, the noodles were simply wok fried with crispy vegetable and tough meat. Like the dish before, despite the differing colours and look of fresh vegetables, you could tell this was all seasoned on the cautious side. This was missing the neon of yellow cumin and it told the same story with its mild flavour. However, between the two, this was the tastiest, not being watered down by broth. Once again the vinegar played an important role in balance here too.
The tea was my favourite part, as I had the most of and it helped to cleanse.
Truthfully, I normally won’t write about a place after only trying two dishes, I feel a third is minimum to get a better scope. However, after this taste I don’t think I will be back. I have had more flavourful noodles, from such similar places, and this one was not as memorable. I do however appreciate that it serves the community looking for halal option.
IMRAN Halal Beef Noodle 伊穆兰·兰州牛肉面
1509 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6G 3L4
(236) 427-3889
imranbeefnoodlehalal.zomi.menu
