I always love trying out new cuisines, flavours, and food! I find it so fun and feels like a mini adventure to see how other cultures prepare food (and to taste it of course!). A small part of me always feels like I’m taking a little trip overseas when I try anything new. This is why I was so excited when I got invited to taste a few dishes from Yunshang Rice Noodle, opening tomorrow (March 15) in North York!
A bit of backstory – they are the largest Chinese rice noodle chain in North America, serving up Yunnan cuisine (which I have never tried before). They do have a few locations in Toronto, but this is their first North York location. When I spoke to the manager, he mentioned that they make it a point to source fresh and natural ingredients. They use a lot of bones as well to make the broth really tasty – like pork, ham, chicken, and beef. And guess what, the bones are boiled for more than twelve hours, and made everyday with no MSG or other artificial flavours! This made me so excited to try the dishes, and they didn’t disappoint!
Up first was a jaw dropping, Instagram worthy dish – their exclusive “Yunshang Bridge Rice Noodle”, made specifically for this location and only available for two weeks. There is so much served here, from Canadian Atlantic lobster tail, oyster, sea scallop, beef slices, and sooo much more. At first glance you may be overwhelmed with so much food, but it’s really simple! The idea / cooking technique for this and the other rice noodle soups is that boiling soup will be served to you in a super hot stone bowl, and then you would drop these ingredients in, basically cooking them. Here, I tried the tomato sauce, which had more of a sweet and slightly tart taste.
Here’s some more deets on what this comes with: Canadian Atlantic lobster tail, fresh French Kiss oyster (sourced from Diana’s Seafood), sea scallop, shrimps and crab sticks. It also comes with other ingredients like beef slices, fish cakes, ham, enokitake, Chinese lettuce, and egg tofu.
Hot deal: For their grand opening tomorrow (March 15) to March 16, the first 100 people will get this bridge for free, starting 6pm each day! No purchase required, first come first serve, and the giveaway is only available at the North York location.
I was also able to try two yummy sides, fried Chicken Wings and Popcorn Chicken (yes I love everything fried) – both so delicious, flavourful and juicy. You really can’t go wrong with these. I loved the spices that were used to flavor both dishes, although if you had to ask me I preferred the Chicken Wings more. It was just so juicy!
I also got to try their Oriental Rice Noodle with Curry Coconut Sauce. I really enjoyed this broth over the Tomato sauce version. To me, this reminded me more of a Malaysian Laksa and I liked how the meat tasted with this type of flavour profile over the tomato broth. It also came with ten little sides that you would drop into the soup to cook as well.
Definitely give them a try for a unique and delicious experience.
One last tip: they give free refills for the rice noodles!
Yunshang Rice Noodle
Unit 5 – 5285 Yonge St.
North York
http://www.yunshang.ca
