Like many other big countries, depending on the region you visit or hail from, you could get an entirely different type of cuisine than the opposite side of the country. China is a great example of this – using what’s in season and what is available (for example, you’ll find more seafood in the regions closer to the ocean and more beef/pork/mutton in more rural areas) in that region. Sip Bowl La Mian represents Chinese Islamic cuisine – “La Mian” is handmade noodles accompanied with either beef or mutton broth.
Other popular dishes in Chinese Islamic cuisine include beef noodle soup, lamb kebabs and pickled Chinese cabbage.
There are a handful of Chinese Islamic restaurants in Vancouver and Richmond, but it’s nice to have a new one open up so close to home.
At Sip Bowl La Mian, you can choose different types of noodle bowls with combos, appetizers and some drinks. The menu is straight forward and simple – but you can choose 7 types of noodles from thin (1mm) all the way up to Supreme (25mm).
When we visited we tried the Beef & Sauerkraut, Braised Beef, Sip Bowl Potato, Seaweed Salad and soy eggs.
The Beef and Sauerkraut ($13.99) is a big bowl of tender beef slices and pickled veggies. I chose the Supreme noodles. The noodles were perfectly cooked with still a bit of snap to it. The broth is lighter in taste and not too salty, letting the pickled veggies and beef shine. The beef is tender and not dried at all.
The Braised Beef ($13.99) has good, bite sized braised beef chunks that are tender and flavourful. The broth is also on the lighter side which made it enjoyable.
We ordered some appetizers as well the Sip Bowl Potato ($3.99) and Seaweed Salad ($2.99). There is a lot more than what we were expecting.
The seaweed salad was a good, crunchy and cool compliment to our bowl of noodles.
The Sip Bowl Potato had a nice sweet, spicy and garlicky kick to it that we were obsessed with.
The soy eggs were a good addition to our bowls, not too salty and the yolk itself had a nice gelly consistency.
I’d definitely come here again to try some different items as well (like the Cold Noodle).
Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5
Value: 4
Ambiance: 4
OVERALL: 4
