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Yup, it was 'adequate'. For the lack of better description, this quaint little Shanghainese resto only meets but doesn't exceed my expectations. I went for lunch so didn't sample huge selection of dishes, but the two that I consider the litmus test for northern chinese food proves to me that the other foods can't be that more different.
Food: ordered the noodles in peanut sauce. Sauce was good but the noodles were boring. It definitely lacked oomph, perhaps because it was missing peanut bits. Second dish was the siu long bao (steamed juicy pork dumplings). The juice was non-existent and they made the error of making the filling with lean ground pork, which probably explains the lack of juice and flavour. The sizing could have been larger but at least it seemed prepared on the spot and freshly steamed.
Service: friendly little old lady was the server and two kitchen staff in the back. Tea was promptly served and dishes cleared away.
Value: pricier than what I expected for SoMa. $6.50 for 8 siu long bao's and noodles were about $8. The portion size was about average. Compared to other smaller Shanghainese resto's, pricing is definitely about the median. If the food was superb, then it would've met the value mark.
Ambiance: simple, clean decor. I really enjoyed the cozy, quaint feel that they were able to recreate with relatively few furniture pieces and knick-knacks. Dark wooden tables and banquette chairs covered with red cushions for seating. Rice paper lined Chinese lanterns hung above each table. Tastefully hung art from China. Reminded me of casual mom n'pop eateries in Shanghai..that's why I gave it higher than average marks. On a busy evening, the vibe would be awesome.
Strictly for food, I probably would bypass this place. However, if you're looking for a quaint spot for friends and a casual meal, then it's not a bad choice.
This is the very first time we asked to see the chef. Why? We ordered a large meat noodle soup, and we saw only a few tiny cubes of meat, and most of them were fatty. We refused to be treated like idiots so we talked to the waitress who did not know a thing about customer service. Then we had to ask to see the manager/chef. They saw our dish and apologized, saying they had mistakenly thought we ordered a small bowl. Fine. We also ordered another dish, beef fried noodle, and we only saw ONE piece of small beef. The rest was greasy noodles, a little veggie, and lots of soy sauce. Their hand-made noodles are good, but that's the only thing that's acceptable about this small dirty place.
Had not been the LN for a couple of years. They have tried to update the decor a bit since then it seems. Anyway, as for the food, it was the same as ever. (Last time I recall my dish was also swimming in oil).
Stir-fry with pork in hot garlic sauce looked good until you noticed it was swimming in a liter of 10w30. I could make stir-fry with more care than this.... That said, the noodles were good for what I ate of them. My wife mistakenly ordered a noodle dish, more like a soup, a peanut soup with beef. Not that appealing to her though I didn't mind a little of it. Also ordered dumplings in peanut sauce, as a starter, which appeared to have been microwaved and, for my tastes, just didn't mesh with the peanut sauce/soup. This arrived after both mains.
Service was alright, not really friendly per se but efficient enough.
So, I think I'm done with this one for the foreseeable future. Would not recommend.
Based on our experience, I would advise all those seeking yummy fresh noodles to go elsewhere unless prepared for extraordinarily poor service.
A group of five, with reservations, went to Legendary Noodle expecting a reasonable, neighbourly experience. A server slouched to the table, prior to bringing a menu, and asked for our order. On request, the server brought menus, slapped them down, and disappeared to chat with the other server for 15 minutes. On returning to our table, the server offered no greeting, no offer of drinks or tea, no expression or eye contact except to point at people to take orders. A request for tea took another 10 minutes to fill, and the request for two of the rather small teapots was met with a short NO. Various appetizers were ordered to share-dumplings, pea shoots (that appeared sometime after the main dishes); a request for small plates was met with astonishment. Eventually, little white bowls were brought. We ran out of tea (one pot filled five cups once with repeats for two cups). No refills of hot water appeared until one of the party rose to request it. The servers were not busy, simply chatting, animatedly ignoring the few customers, and even neglecting to bring food that was clearly ready for delivery to the tables. Consequently, several dishes that may have been good were fairly awful-lukewarm noodles with peanut sauce was one. A lamb dish with bread was another-not so tasty cool.
No napkins, no tea, no smiles. On clearing the table, the server who decided we were finished on a final foray, dumped napkins into a full dish of noodles that one member was asking to take home (for reheating), and rather than apologize glared at her and picked at the napkins, I think the poor service overwhelms what might be good solid food.
We came here on a Tuesday evening and tried one beef noodle and one with preserved veggies and beef. Solid noodles, good meat and soup, but it didn't WOW me. The decor is kind of grubby and dark but it's probably a good local joint since it's not a very large place. Price wasn't too bad but my overall experience there wasn't memorable. =(
Stopped into Legendary Noodle House on Main Street tonight with a friend after not having been there for about a year and a half. A co-worker was raving about the joint a few days ago and I was in the neighbourhood so thought I'd give it another shot as I seemed to recall the last time I'd stopped in to be quite dissapointing flavour-wise. I should've trusted that memory....
My friend ordered the Beef Brisket Hit Me w/ Dao Xiao Mian (Finely Sliced Noodle from a Flour Dough) which had Stir Fried Greens, Red Pepper, Celery, Bean Sprouts, and Black Bean and Soy Sauce.
I ordered the Gan-Ban-Mian Ground Pork & Black Bean Sauce w/ Minced Mushroom.
I also ordered the Gan-Ban-Mian Creamy Peanut Sauce with chicken added for an extra $2 for my wife which I had them put in a to go container to bring to her later.
My friend's dish came a full 4 minutes before mine. "Why the f--- not bring them both together?" we pondered. I tried some of her Hit Me w/ Dao Xiao Mian and it was admittedly delicious, but she didn't finish it because she discovered a few generous peices of gristle.
I got my dish and tried it. Bland. No condiments on table except a little jar of spicy oil. I added it. Now the dish was merely spicy bland. I can only describe it as bland noodles with little chunks of bland mushroom and bland pork all covered in a creamy bland sauce. I ate most but didn't finish.
Finally, I brought my wife's dish home. She gave me a bit to try and we discovered that I had payed and extra $2.00 for chicken that they didn't include. I have my bill and will take it back over there as soon as I finish typing this review. I'll also keep you posted on the outcome, gentle reader. I'd just like that money back out of principle. Also times are tight and it's Christmas on top of that. Merry Christmas by the way, but I digress...
My wife's chickenless dish was --- surprise! --- bland. "How can you get a dish with peanut sauce wrong?" we marvelled. After several additions of what we could find in the fridge - hoi san sauce, soy sauce, and sriracha sauce - it was workable, but still mediocre. Before these additions, we would describe it as bland noodles with about three slivers of bland steamed spinach covered in a bland sauce with a very subtle hint or inference of bland peanut flavour.
All in all, the bill was $26.80 including the tax. Considering the very poor quality of the food and the fact that I paid for non-existent chicken, I gave this place a "poor" rating in the value department. I basically paid to taste air.
I also rated the ambience as mediocre due to the uncomfortable little seat I had to sit on, and the really bad music blaring over the speakers. Having to listen to an acoustic singer-songwrecker's remake of The Police is what kills the vibe of any place. The rest of the too-loud music sucked hard too.
I retain a small sliver of satisfaction (a sliver akin to the size of spinach in my wife's dish, perhaps) seeing so many other bad reviews about this place here. I strongly regret going here today.
Let's work together to keep spreading the word and to warn others about this joke of a restaurant.
Went here for dinner with a friend, heard they had good noodles... Walked into a small (and VERY warm stuffy) room with a few staff occupying a booth at the back who stared at us, no greeting just stares. Looks like its family owned. We thought they were closed! We sat ourselves down at a table that had only one menu so I had to grab another one off a table. We felt a bit awkward as it was extremely quiet in there and we were the only patrons at the restaurant when we walked in and then we heard an older male staff SNORING at one of the booths in the back! An older lady walked up to our table and leaned over us to snatch the salt and pepper shaker holder at the end of our table, uh ok then... A few minutes go by and a lady unwillingly came up to our table and asked if we were ready to order yet. (I don't know why we stayed, we were both hungry though and heard the food was good..ok fine). We ordered a couple noodle soups- lamb and wontons. I looked back to watch the chef through the glass as he stretched out the noodles and was making it by hand it was kind of cool, but only got more stares from the rest of the staff like why I am looking back there. The food arrived shortly but I had to wait a while longer while my friend was eating his. The noodles were good, nice and firm and chewy. The broth was pretty simple but not too much taste. The server didn't come up to us the entire time except when to hand us the bill while we were still eating which was so rude. My friend finished first and she cleared his bowl and huffed away while I wasn't done eating yet and never refilled our tea the entire time. We had to call out to them a couple times to come and give us change. The bill came out to about $15~ for both of us with two noodle soups. Not one smile from any of the staff the entire time we were there, made us feel not welcome and like we were interrupting their conversations. The noodles weren't THAT special...anyways I wouldn't ever go back again with that service and I am honestly really surprised that they are still in business!!
I came expecting a real dirty hole in the wall, but to our surprise, they seemed to have cleaned up stuff and redecorated. It's quite nice and gives a good impression a tiny noodle ship in Asia.
Only 1 waitress that night and despite a near full-house, between her and the kitchen, they easily handled everything. We got our orders quite quickly, and nothing missed.
Food? Haven't had good Chinese noodles in a long time and it was a great reunion! Had their beef noodle and also lamb noodle. The noodles are handmade fresh in the shop there and the taste and texture was absolutely spot on. Great stuff. The broth was light yet tasty. The lamb noodle was noticeably different from the beef one. The meat pieces were simple.
This style of cooking is quite clean and simple and epitomizes the clean taste of the individual ingredients. If they used MSG, I didn't notice it. We polished off both bowls of soup (yes, it was good) and we're still feelin' fine. Know what you're getting here. This isn't the super-strong Taiwanese beef noodles or the extra rich 'n fatty ramen type. If that's what you've a craving for, don't head here.
Inexpensive and hits the spot. you can get various types of noodle soup, not just pulled noodles, but also cut noodles. Beef, lamb, pork. Wet or dry, even vegetarian. Thumbs up on this one. Worth at least a couple of trips back. Nice change from pho or ramen.
I had seen an episode featuring this restaurant on the Food Network with my partner, Hargow. He surprised me by taking me there one evening. From watching the show I was most intrigued to go there. I expected the food to be something very special. I was disappointed as it was only okay.
Place is a little hole in the wall which is fine. Reminded me of some restaurants I had been to in Taipei. Noodles were very tasty but the soup just didn't cut it and that was disappointing. The pea sprouts were very good as was the dumplings.
Service was tough as it was an older lady run right off her feet. Although the place is really small, only about 8 tables or so, she could have used a bit of help.
Also had chinese onion pancake which was very tasty but came out of order as it must have been forgotten when we ordered. We went on a weeknight around 8ish and they were still busy. Food is really cheap and that might be part of their success, I don't know. Still really cool to see the noodles being hand made and they were definitely tasty.
Will try another hand made noodle place in future as the soup is important. It is like having spaghetti cooked to perfection with mediocre sauce.
Preamble: have been customer intermittently for probably over 10 years
Food: Amazing just to watch handmade noodles; one variation includes cutting them by knife with precision into boiling. However, the quality of the broth--increasingly laden by MSG over the years--and meat has trended in the wrong direction the last few years.
Service: owners are a wife and husband combination I believe and she usually is the sole server. Does not matter really in the context of such a small place
Value: the price for a bowl of soup noodles is comparable to other places. Would be higher except for the aforementioned points about the food quality.
Ambiance: underwent some renovations a few years ago and looks more presentable now. Big fan a nice touch in a place without A/C.
Simply put, I love Legendary Noodle. It's one of those places I can go and will always be satisfied. The restaurant isn't particularly stunning in design or layout, but is kept clean, and service is acceptable. The food is king here and I am particularly fond of anything that incorporates their dumplings. The soups and noodles are also top notch and don't forget to get an order of gai-lan on the side - always cooked to perfection Food comes out hot and fast and the value is as good as you'll find anywhere in the city.
A friend of mine raves about this place, so I finally had a chance to experience what it was about yesterday for lunch.
For something to be handmade these days, it's saying a lot. Sure some of the noodles were a bit on the hard side because they were thicker than the rest, but I would much rather have that than something that they took out of a package to boil.
As I'm not huge on meat, we shared the hot and sour soup with noodles and pan fried dumplings. We saw the noodles being made, and came out within 5 minutes of ordering. Dumplings followed about 5 minutes later.
I would say that overall, the food isn't outstanding, but solid and very good value for the money. Service was par, we ordered, got our order, and we paid for it. Nothing special, nothing horrible.
For me the selling point is the noodles being made on the spot.
There probably aren't too many cities in the Western world where you can watch handmade noodles being prepared for you, and then paying around $7 to eat them.
The noodles are bold and delicious tasting, and go perfectly with the rich broth, loads of meat, and fresh vegetables.
A great hole-in-the wall establishment and an exceptional value!
If you want quick cheap eats before you go shopping, you should hit this place. The service was quick and prompt. Us party of 3 ordered the peashoots, marinated beef, dumplings, green pancakes, and each ordered a noodle dish. Even though the peashoots were simply stirfried with minced garlic it tasted great. I enjoyed my noodles because it was light and not heavy on the msg. The pancakes were too deep fried for my liking. THe only off putting this is that the washroom is way back in one corner where you have to walk around the kitchen to go to it.
For a 'hood noodle house, this one is a definite choice. I mean, this is not your 'pho' house, though. There are many choices of how you can have your noodles-thin, fat, thick, etc. I had the beef noodle soup with cilantro, and it was good, tasty, filling, and arrived piping hot. I've been here twice, and they've undergone renos since my first visit. Simplistic decor and very clean. I noticed on the wall, they had a write-up from the Sun back in '04. The waitress told me this establishment has been around for 12 years. It says something about the food here, located in SoMa. Every time I peek in the window, it's usually full. I'll be a returning customer.
Went to Long's Noodle house for the first time. Our friends recommended this place for Shanghainese/Mandarin food. I asked for a take out menu and the hostess grimaced at me and passed me the menu. After looking at it for a few minutes I went to the back of the restaurant to order the items from her. She was very unpleasant and not friendly at all. When I asked her if how big was the large noodle dish, she said “What?!” so I repeated myself and asked her was the noodle dish big enough to serve 2 people. She said “no”. I ended up ordering a small and another fried noodle dish and the pan fried dumplings. I paid for my order and waited for 10 minutes(not long at all). The food was tasty but I have had better Shanghainse food on Broadway. The size of the pan fried dumplings are small and looked like they were purchased frozen from a Asian market. It didn’t look nor taste like they were hand made in house as other Shanghainse restaurants(Broadway or the one in Richmond). For $7.50 it is not worth the value. The noodle soup was very delicious but a bit spicy which wasn’t indicated on the menu. I would haven give this place another try but the unfriendly service left a bad taste in my mouth. There are two better Shanhainse restaurants with much better service on Broadway. I I won’t come here again nor will I recommend this place to anyone.
I went to lunch with my friend, and got my usual order of the lamb shanks noodle soup with thick noodle. My friend got the beef noodle soup with thin noodle. When our orders came, both our noodles were the same. Hers was correct, while mine was not. When I pointed this out to the waitress she said she thought I said thin, but I clearly didn't since I heard her repeat my order back to me. She brought it back to the kitchen and I saw her explaining what happened. A bit later, the chef brings back my unchanged order. When I questioned my waitress about this, she got another waitress over, and she told me to just eat it pretty much, albeit for free. By this point, the noodles were lukewarm and I had lost my appetite. I ate some, and it was delicious as always, but the terrible service was enough for me to leave the majority untouched.
This has happened to me at the Denman location as well.
I agree with the majority of ratings. Food was only just okay, not anything special. I really love noodles and pasta and this was very disappointing. The fried dumplings were quite good. This is not a place I would have chosen, and had it not been for the newspaper reviews I would not have even ventured in. We tried the Main & 25th location. I will not return here.
We finally visited the Denman Street location of this restaurant after reading several favorable reviews. We were sadly disappointed. The best thing about this restaurant was watching the noodles being made. I had the Tibetan lamb noodles. The lamb was a boiled, tasteless and unappetizing looking hunk of meat sitting next to overchewy noodles, some of which were not quite cooked through. My partner had the chicken and vegetable noodles in peanut sauce with not quite warm slices of precooked chicken and colorless vegetables. We would not go back, nor recommend this place to anyone.
I like Legendary, and go here for a change of pace. A few of the noodle dishes didn't seem terribly interesting, but the hot-and-sour dumpling soup with bamboo shoots and mushrooms is outstanding. It's thick, with big juicy fresh dumplings. A bowl is very filling. The onion cakes are nice, too. There is some care put into this food.
| 1. | Denman (5.3 km) |  |
| 1. | Spice Up Indian Cuisine (0 m) |  |
| 2. | Yutaka Japanese Cuisine (17 m) |  |
| 3. | Sweet Revenge Patisserie (17 m) |  |
| 4. | Good View Seafood Restaurant (21 m) | |
| 5. | Reef, The (23 m) | |
| 6. | Cambie Vietnamese Restaurant (32 m) | |
| 7. | Locus, The (38 m) | |
| 8. | Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. (43 m) | |
| 9. | Grind & Gallery Coffee Bar, The (44 m) | |
| 10. | Hawker's Delight (47 m) | |
