At Denman Street’s Legendary Noodle, the specialty is handmade on-site, fresh and tasty
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Brock Lee entertains while making noodles at Legendary Noodle on Denman Street. Photograph by : Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun
His dad opened the first Legendary Noodle on Main Street in 1996 and three years ago, his family opened another in Richmond. And now, ta-r-ram! Brock Lee, the son, is slowly taking over the family business.
He recently opened the third Legendary Noodle, only this one not only serves hand-crafted noodles, it’s high in theatrics.
When I walked through the beaded curtains on Denman Street, I expected to see actress Gong Li sitting down to a bowl of noodles. It feels like a slice of China with some of its history in the simple wooden antique tools and devices like water and spinning wheels that Lee imported.
“The water wheel on the wall was used for transporting water in the rice fields,” says Lee, of the antique. “It’s all about labour. The theme is tied to this restaurant. Here, everything is done by hand.”
Lee was recently featured in a segment of Glutton For Punishment on the Food Network. In it, he was trying to teach celebrity chef Bob Blumer how to be a noodle master. And that’s what he is — like his father and grandfather — he can drag, stretch and cut noodles in the blink of an eye. If prodded, he can even skip rope with the noodles he makes without the noodles touching ground.
At his Denman Street noodle spot, you’ll see the New York Times piece lauding the noodles at the Main Street location. Well, you’ll find the same menu — the same simple food — at all locations but on Denman, there are a couple of new dishes: Noodles Perfumed with Olive Oil, Lemon, Garlic and Green Onions and Dumplings in Hot Sour Soup with Mushrooms and Bamboo.
I tried the former and slurped away, while doing a Jim Carrey, stretching my neck around my partner to see the master stretching and forming noodles. The starters, pan-fried dumplings (also made by hand, a la minute), were delicious as were the fried pea shoots with garlic. There are a handful of rice-based dishes on the menu too but I wasn’t enthralled with the rice with lamb shank and green beans. The meat was way too salty.
The noodles can’t taste any fresher because they are made in-house with techniques Lee started to hone from the age of 13.
“It takes at least half a year to understand the dough — the temperature, the hardness, the taste. You boil it for 20 seconds and it’s done; fresh,” he says. Pastry flour is the best for elasticity, he adds. It’s just flour, salt, a little oil and water.
Oh, and another thing. Most noodle dishes are $6.50 to $6.99. Starters are $2.50 to $4.50. How antique is that!
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LEGENDARY NOODLE
1074 Denman St., 604-669-8551. Open daily, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Also at: Empire Centre, 1300 — 4540 No. 3 Rd., Richmond, 604-207-9226 and 4191 Main St., 604-879-8758.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007