Favorite Beef Noodle Soup- Alishan Restaurant (阿里山品味餐廳)

Alishan is a fairly new addition to Crystal Mall. With its 50 person capacity (they have sign clearly stating this), during the busy times it's no surprise to have a 30 minute line up, out the door. The best times to go are either right at opening or after 1.

The food here makes me miss Taiwan, well maybe except for their scorching weather right now...

My parents are attempting to try every restaurant in Crystal Mall and I (happily) get to come along and be their "garbage can." :)

Knowing there would be a line up, we arrived just after 1, right after the lunch rush and were seated right away.

Having come back from a trip to Alishan not too long ago, I don't recall eating any specific Alishan specialties, I just remember having trying tea, mochis, and delicious pork hock there. When I think of Railroad Carts, my memories think of the lunch boxes sold on Railroads Carts in Taiwan!

All orders (mains) come with a drink or soup but there is an option to opt for a bubble tea/slush/ special drink with a $1 discount. I really liked this idea.

Their teas are not the typical leaf teas. Instead, it is black/red(?) tea sweetened with honey. The honey is very fragrant, and  delicious.

The soup is very light but flavorful. There is an assortment of vegetables sweetening the soup. Simple but good. If you are used to having soup before meals, this is pairs well. It is not heavy and too filling to drink before a meal.

I would just prefer the drink whereas my dad likes the soup.

Satay pork with fish paste soup? (Rou geng tang)

I finally found a place with good rou geng tang. Rou geng tang usually consists of pork slices with white fish paste on the outside  and the soup is peppery with plenty of "contents" such as a variety of vegetables, and mushrooms. 

The pork is very tender and the soup was tasty. Satay, with black and white pepper and plenty of crunchy vegetables, it satisfied me.

There is an option of either noodle or vermicilli and we went with the noodle. 

Chicken Steak Combo

Initially, my dad wanted to order the Taiwanese Fried Chicken Nuggets but accidentally ordered this instead. It took a very long time for this to get to our table. Nothing special about it really, but the chicken was tender. That's pretty much it.

* Recommend* Beef Noodle with Soup with Tomato base (Hong Shau Niu Rou Mien 紅燒牛肉麵)

My favorite beef noodle soup. Seriously, I like this one better than Lao Shan Dong, Tony's,No.1's/Beefy Beef, Huang's, etc etc. Although each place has a different style and can't quite compare each one because of this, if I were given an option as to which was my favorite, this would be it.

The soup is tomato -beef based and very fragrant. I thought the beef flavor stronger here and fattier beef cuts vs Lao Shan Dong. I am not a big fan of LSD's beef, too lean for me yet their beef noodle is still good.

There is plenty of chunks of daikon and carrots, which were tender but not mushy.

Noodles are either thin or sliced, I prefer the thick. Not sure if they are made in house (IMO shouldn't matter, as long as they taste good) but they are decent; similar to the noodles at Tony's. 

On the menu, it states the Beef Noodle is limited quantity, and is a popular dish.

With the many Taiwanese restaurants all around Vancouver and Richmond, Alishan is likely my favorite. I have visited quite a few times since my first visit and food consistency is very good.