A girlfriend wanted comfort food and who could really deny someone that pleasure? Her ultimate comfort is derived from Bibimbap at Noodle Express on Thurlow so we ordered one of those. We also ordered Ja Jiang Mein (炸醬麵) and a “Spicy Beef in Sesame Sauce with Soup Noodles” (麻辣牛肉麵). An amazing feature of this downtown restaurant is how most of the dishes are priced under $8.00 and complete meals including entree, salad, soup, and dessert, could be had for under $10.00.

The dish with the ultra-cute name (bibimbap) is aethestically laid out with pickled radish, some marinated fungus, sliced zucchini, minced meat, sauteed bean sprouts, and a fried egg each occupying their own section atop pearly Japanese rice. Usually you would think of comfort food as piping hot (macaroni & cheese, chicken noodle soup…) but this lukewarm dish had the gentle flavours of the marinated vegetables that complemented the fragrant rice.

The ja jiang mein/ja ja man arrived at the same time - minced meat, cubed zucchini and potatoes, and julienned cucumber in a thick brown (salty) sauce atop “Japanese” noodles. The sauce was slightly sweet but mostly salty - would have prefered more minced meat and something that cuts through the heavy sauce (my mother uses tomatoes, as far as I know).

It took much longer for the “Spicy beef in sesame sauce…”/Ma La Niu Rou Mian to arrive due to an error on the part of the staff. It was extremely spicy! Japanese noodles were served in a spicy sesame-chili broth and sesame seeds were liberally sprinkled over the dish. The broth was pleasingly loaded with chili - other places shy away from making such a spicy Chinese broth, leaving it for Korean fare - it was good.

Friday night was my second excursion to this Chinese/Japanese/Korean joint and definitely stays on my list for no-muss, satisfying dining.

Noodle Express ————————————————
747 Thurlow Street
Vancouver, BC