It has been a while since I visited Red Beef. My first visit was with Joyce of @monkeyseatworld, and seeing as we were in the Chinatown area looking for something solid to eat after an event, we decided to dine in tonight for dinner.
The restaurant decor is nothing to write about. After this many years it looks and feels worn. There is no upkeep, and instead of the premium noodle experience it was once known for, it is now more seen as a quick grab and go meal option.
Our group of four food enthusiasts would share the following.
Cucumber with minced garlic, served chilled this was fragrant and garlicky, bordering acrid and bitter. This was our vegetable side to help balance out the rest of the meal and add some freshness. We originally wanted the fried green beans but they were out of beans at 6pm in the evening.
The Popcorn chicken is a staple, crispy and crunchy, it was exactly as expected as nuggets of chicken that is easy to pop into your mouth. I appreciated having the extra bits of crispy leaves and green beans as variation in between bites.
We also ordered the Steamed xiao long bao and made a game of how fragile the doughy skin is to pick up. It checked off meaty filling with plenty of soup, we were not disappointed.
The Pork pot stickers were less memorable with its crispy skin and soften filling mash. This was nothing unique to have me ordering this again or coming back just for this.
I did like the Signature beef brisket stew rice. A childhood classic for me. A comforting stew of softened meat and carrot, eaten over rice. As for the critiques, this could have been saltier, and there was too much rice for only five chunks of fatty beef. Basically it was one piece of meat per person, with plenty of white rice left behind.
And we had to get their Premium red beef noodle soup as their signature noodle dish, that they are known for. The bowl is presented as slices of red raw meat, green baby bok choy and yellow sweet corn kernels laid out over the noodles.
The broth is poured over quite theatrically from a hot kettle, table side. Within a few minutes the meat turns brown and everything is ready to be mixed up and eaten. The dish eats lean with a refined deep broth flavour. Tasty but a little under seasoned compared to everything else. I honestly feel you have to order this for the show.
In conclusion, this is a nice option for when you are craving beef noodle, not my first go to but an experience for sure.
RedBeef Noodle Kitchen (Chinatown)
550 Main St, Vancouver, BC V6A 2T9, Canada
604-423-5500
redbeef.ca
