Restaurant Review: Dagu Rice Noodle
DAGU RICE NOODLE 10408 Jasper Avenue | daguyeg.ca Instagram: @daguyeg | Twitter: @DaguRice Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew
Dagu Rice Noodle is a noodle soup restaurant chain that was founded in 2010 in Shanghai, China. Today they have locations all over China, in the USA, and in Canada. One of these locations can be found right here in Downtown Edmonton. In all honestly, the concept of this restaurant was a little bit over my head. I'm very familiar with noodle soups such as ramen and pho but this rice noodle soup was a whole new experience for me. I credit the Edmonton Food Faves We Crave 2022 list for naming Dagu as their Favourite Soup, which put this new-to-me restaurant experience on my radar. I visited on a Saturday evening and I had made a reservation in advance because I wasn't sure how busy they tend to get. It turned out that the reservation probably wasn't necessary, however the restaurant was consistently bustling with customers. The location itself is right on Jasper Ave, right in the heart of the city. From the outside the restaurant doesn't look like much but once inside, you are met with a large open space and towering ceilings. The room is bright and airy and I especially loved the unique mural artwork on the walls. Light planks of wood encase really cool drawings of the noodle making process and on another wall you'll see huge full-colour images of the soups that they serve. The dining room feels fresh and modern, yet approachable. Our server was friendly and happy to answer any of our questions (of which I thought I had many, but the experience turned out to be less scary than I thought). There is an entire menu page (two sides) dedicated to the drinks alone, most of them being bubble tea. And there are dozens of choices; from fruit tea, milk tea, cheese drinks, coconut drinks, yogurt drinks, panna cotta drinks, something called Yakult, fresh milk drinks, smoothies & frappes, Oreo drinks, mochi drinks, coffee, plus alcoholic beverages. It's A LOT. I liked the use of emojis on the menu to help with some guidance. I tried to stay close to what I already enjoy and decided to look within the Milk Tea section. The Hokkaido Milk Tea ($6.99) seemed like a solid option and I also added Tapioca ($0.99). There are plenty of other add-ons that you can do but I felt that having the tapioca was the most important component.
At first the server said that they were all out of tapioca. But then she said that they were making more and that it would take 10-20 minutes. I was happy to wait. It didn't seem to take too long and soon enough I had a bubble tea in hand. I enjoyed the drink a lot - what's not to like? The milk tea reminded me of the stuff that you get in cans from vending machines on the streets of Japan and the tapioca (worth the wait!) was sweet and delicious. At this point there are tons of bubble tea shops in the city and I wouldn't say that this one stood out above the rest. However, I did enjoy that it was a part of our overall dining experience. Bubble tea is just fun. The appetizer section of the menu is also very extensive and I could certainly imagine the social aspect of ordering a whole bunch of different dishes and sharing with a group. I had heard good things about the Salty Crispy Chicken ($8.99 for regular) and looked forward to trying it.
Many of the appetizers come in regular or large sizes, which is useful if you are scaling up or down depending on the size of your group. The morsels of extra crispy chicken were easy to eat and addictively salty. My only issue is that the pieces were very small. There was no point where I had a nice juicy bite of chicken, only crunchy small bits. The flavour was good but I would have been happier with a bit more substance. I would probably try the spicy quail eggs next time! The main event is the rice noodle soups. Served very hot, with unlimited noodle refills, and made with no MSG, I was ready to try a whole new thing! My first thought was about vermicelli noodles, which are also made from rice. However, the noodles at Dagu are not the same at all. Vermicelli are often flat and are usually very thin. These rice noodles are a lot thicker, more like a Shanghai noodle, which makes sense because that's where this restaurant is from. In a soup however, this noodle becomes pretty soft and slippery, kind of like the noodles in a classic bowl of chicken noodle soup. There are lots of choices and I had to go for the Crossing Bridge Rice Noodle Soup because I'd heard the most about it. A style of soup from Yunnan province, this dish is named for its deconstructed nature. I picked the Sour & Spicy with Beef Slices ($14.99) and I added Shrimp ($2.99). The first part to arrive was all of the toppings plus a bowl of noodles.
The "deconstructed" concept felt like a lot of fun and turned the meal into a whole activity. I liked the idea of being able to customize your dish to your exact preferences. The beef slices, bright red in colour with some nice marbling, looked very appetizing to me. Everything seemed very fresh. Shortly after, a steaming, bubbling stone bowl of pork bone broth arrived with three whole shrimp floating within. Surveying the scene, it didn't take me too long to realize that I wanted to add all of the toppings and that I had no intention of leaving anything out. I set about emptying each little dish into my soup, allowing each component to cook in the rolling broth.
Once everything was added it was a thing of beauty. However, I did consider that if I was going to go ahead and add everything, that maybe I shouldn't have ordered the deconstructed Crossing Bridge Soup? I clearly did not require the ability to customize. Maybe I should have opted for one of the many pre-constructed versions? On the other hand, I did appreciate that this option gave me more of an experience and something new to try. This soup was spicy!! I'm a fan of spice but I will admit that the first few bites took me off guard. Although, as I kept eating I got used to the heat and it became very flavourful and full of deep, robust notes of pork and spice. As with any noodle soup, the broth is the absolute key and this one was special. The beef cooked in the hot broth and the tender thin slices tasted great. The quail egg also cooked in the broth and was a great addition. I loved all of the toppings and I loved rediscovering each one as they appeared in various bites. Putting lettuce into a hot soup seemed questionable to me at first but I didn't mind it at all! The only issue that I had was with the shrimp. I liked the idea of whole shrimp (heads on), however I was only armed with chopsticks and a spoon. These shrimp had the shells on. Maybe I'm lacking in chopstick skills but the only way that I could think of to remove the shells was to use my hands. But the shrimp were in extra hot broth (and wet) and then I had to pick them up with my hands. It was messy. Maybe I did it completely wrong but I could think of no other way. The other problem was that one of my shrimp was not deveined at all and that put me off somewhat. Overall, the soup was a very filling delight that was full of flavour but I would likely not add the shrimp again. I am very intrigued by the tomato broth soups that Dagu also serves. Tomato is not an ingredient that I would naturally associate with Chinese cuisine and I feel very curious to find out what it's like! I absolutely loved the opportunity to try something completely new to me and the bold flavours combined with fresh ingredients were a welcome discovery. Just when I thought that I'd tried all of the different types of noodle soup, Dagu Rice Noodle comes along! If you're someone who enjoys pho and ramen, you have to add this restaurant to your must-try list.
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