Noodle Express

Noodle Express
107 – 180 King St
Dynasty Building
Tel: (204) 943-9760
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March, 2011


Compared to other North American cities where Chinatowns grow like China itself, Winnipeg’s Chinatown has remained relatively stagnant over the past few decades. A recent spike in immigration boosts ethnic numbers but urban sprawl takes those immigrants away from Winnipeg’s core. Thus, Winnipeg’s Chinatown limits to a few buildings over a decaying city block. Although the area looks rundown, don’t mistake it to be unsafe—the streets bustle with people during business hours and despite the desolated appearance at night, there isn’t an abundance of criminal elements in the area.

The Dynasty Building sits among the smattering of urban outcroppings. One of the grandest structures in the area, Dynasty stands as a pagoda in the heart of Chinatown, complete with an Oriental garden and courtyard. Chinese festivals and special events center here during the outdoor months.

For years, Wings sat on the main floor of the Dynasty Building and acted as a hub for quick and popular “Chinese” food. The City Hall crowd populated Wings and the phrase “I’ll have the special” echoed through the lobby. While the daily special gave you little more than the usual Canadianised slop, the menu/whiteboard offered genuine, authentic Chinese options—including lo mein and congee. During the lunch rush, they only prepared the special and if you wanted something else, you had to wait at least an hour!

Wings shut its wings in 2008 and the present occupant, Noodle Express, takes a completely opposing approach. You can order anything off the extensive menu and they’ll get you out the door in plenty of time to return to the office. If you have any doubt about the authenticity of the foods, have a look at the dim sum and the regular menus.

In addition, they have a special board where three of the four offerings include chicken feet, duck and eel.

On a more common note, the keep-warm counter has vegetarian fried noodles (chow mein), fried rice, spring rolls, a vegetable combo (broccoli and cauliflower), chicken balls and barbecued chicken. Even though they want to promote the authentic, I guess they still have to recognise their bread and butter. A four-item combo from the vegetarian options goes for only $4.99 and the inclusion of meat brings it to $6.99 – an unbeatable deal. You leave immediately with the counter items while they bring the menu items to your table in short order.

The fried noodles don’t offer much out of the ordinary but you should avoid the fried rice. The entire complement of my rice portion consisted of a blend of dried rice and crusty rice. Two possible factors contribute to crusty rice: too much time under a heat lamp or bottom-of-the-pan burning. Since the hectic business here precludes a lot of time under the lamps, I safely assume that this rice has been scraped off the bottom of the pan (which I normally reserve for the garburator). The thin springrolls taste a little greasy but otherwise, entirely palatable.

Off the dim sum menu, the beef balls come pre-sliced in little wedges. Normally, beef balls taste sharp and slightly tart from either vinegar or Chinese rice wine. These taste a little bland but not unpleasant. The shark’s fin dumpling is a pan-fried wrapping of usually pork with some vegetable (like chives). The Express includes black fungus, of which I’m not a huge fan (but that’s a matter of personal taste). The staple shrimp dumplings (har gow) come with whole shrimps, steamed just to doneness. With the growing popularity of shrimp dumplings, this dish is quickly becoming a ubiquitous item but that means that you also find a lot of bad shrimp dumplings. The Express serves good—really good shrimp dumplings.

As I almost always do, I recommend that you stay away from the counter foods and go straight for the dim sum menu. Happy hour starts at 2 pm if you want a break, and Noodle Express opens to 8 pm to accommodate an early dinner. The cramped and austere dining room doesn’t do a lot for extravagance and the seating area is small, so if you’re a noon nosher, you better get in the doors early before they fill up.

**** /5

(for the dim sum)

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