Decent Noodles at Lion City

Lion City
Location
: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.lioncityrestaurant.ca/

It’s odd — Singapore’s cuisine is incredibly delicious, and yet there’s maybe like half a dozen Singaporean restaurants in the entire GTA?  If that?  I feel like there should be one in every neighbourhood, but at least we’ve got a few of them.

One of those few restaurants is Lion City in Mississauga, which serves a diverse menu of Singaporean classics that, alas, were mostly unavailable when I visited.  I guess they were having kitchen issues?

Lion City

The laksa was one of the few dishes that was available, and hey, I’m never going to be mad about having to order laksa.

The style of laksa they serve here features a really tasty, curry-and-seafood-infused broth that’s made luxuriously creamy thanks to coconut milk, and that comes with a generous amount of thick rice noodles.

Lion City

It was far from the best laksa I’ve ever had, with a flavour that was a bit too muted, and with slightly overcooked noodles, but it was still tasty.  The various toppings — shrimp, fish cakes, chicken, tofu — were all well prepared and complemented the soup quite well.

This is going to make me sound like a maniac, but there’s a type of instant laksa you can find at Asian supermarkets from a Singaporean company called Prima Taste, and… I honestly think it’s a little bit better than the version they’re serving here, with a more vibrant flavour and a better texture on the noodles.

Lion City

I know that recommending instant noodles, of all things, over a restaurant dish sounds like a food crime, but trust me: try those noodles.  They’re so much better than any other instant noodles you’ve ever had.

Tasty Noodle Soup at Ikkousha Chicken Ramen

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen
Location
: 249 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.ikkousha.ca/ikkousharamenchicken

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen shocked me.  It’s a spin-off of Ikkousha Ramen, which specializes in porky tonkotsu ramen.  I like that place a lot, but I find the flavour of the soup to be a bit one-note porky.  It’s delicious, but not exactly my favourite ramen in the city.

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen, as you’d probably expect, serves a similar style of ramen, but made with chicken instead of pork.

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen

I ordered the tori paitan ramen with an egg added on (a must).  They have lighter choices on the menu, but the tori paitan is basically the chicken version of the signature tonkotsu at the original restaurant.

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen

It’s very, very good.  It has really delightful roast chicken flavour; it’s like a soup version of a great roast chicken, with such a rounded chicken flavour that it never feels one-note like the ramen at the original location.

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen

The slices of ultra-tender chicken on top are great, and the egg was perfectly cooked, with a great flavour and a perfectly jammy yolk.  The noodles were maybe a touch too soft, but that’s a minor complaint for what is otherwise one of the best bowls of ramen I’ve had in a while.

Delicious Noodle Soup at Wonton Express

Wonton Express
Location
: 4040 Creditview Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/wonton_express/

I tried this place a few years ago when it was called Wonton Chai Noodle and liked it a lot.  But they’ve got a new name, and I was curious to see if anything had changed.  Back when I went, they were serving up some of the best wonton noodle soup in the GTA, and I wondered if that was still the case.

Wonton Express

Spoiler alert: yes, it is absolutely still the case.  It’s so good.

Those wontons are magical.  They’re just as delicious as they were last time, with perfectly cooked shrimp and a flavour that keeps you coming back for more.

Wonton Express

On this visit I ordered the bowl that also comes with beef brisket, and while the brisket was perfectly tender and tasty, the wontons are so good that it kind of feels like a waste of time.  Just give me more of those wontons.  Give me a million of those wontons.  Let me drown in a swimming pool filled with those wontons.

Wonton Express

I’m not sure if it’s because I ordered the brisket, but the soup was beefy instead of the usual chicken broth you’re expecting.  But it was really tasty, so I can’t complain.

And the same fiery chili oil from my first visit is still on the table.  This stuff is great; one spoonful is more than enough to give the bowl a serious kick.

Wonton Express

Bonus: while it’s a bit pricier than it was when I visited in 2018 (seven bucks for a bowl back then, nine now, and ten for the version with brisket), it’s still delightfully affordable.

This place is kind of out there in Mississauga, but it’s totally worth the drive.  It’s really, really good.

Decent Noodle Soup at Beefing With 7

Beefing With 7
Location
: 1177 Central Parkway West, Unit 9, Mississauga
Website: https://www.facebook.com/BeefingWith7.Mississauga/

Beefing with 7 is a Hong Kong-style restaurant with a few locations throughout the GTA (and an absolutely baffling name — there’s no indication on the menu or the restaurant’s website about what “7” refers to).

Beefing With 7

I had the signature beef brisket noodle soup, and it’s perfectly tasty, though it’s nothing you need to jump in your car and go out of your way for.

Beefing With 7

Still, I don’t have any complaints — the broth has a clean beefy flavour, the simply-spiced brisket is tender, and the firm noodles are satisfying.  There are also several optional add-ons, which might not be a bad idea; the bowl is tasty, but could probably use some jazzing up.

Beefing With 7

There is, however, a bowl of tasty chili oil on the table, which is a must.  It adds a nice kick and a bit more depth of flavour to the very straightforward bowl of noodle soup.

Cheap Eats at Tsui Xiang Tsuen

Tsui Xiang Tsuen
Location
: 888 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: None

The Mississauga Chinese Centre is a definite hidden gem if you’re looking for cheap eats in Mississauga.  You wouldn’t know it from the outside (it basically just looks like a strip mall) but it has a small food court with several vendors serving up a whole bunch of dishes.

Tsui Xiang Tsuen

There’s a sushi place, a Filipino place, and a few Chinese restaurants with typically enormous food court menus.  Tsui Xiang Tsuen falls into the enormous menu category; I was craving wonton noodle soup, so that’s what I ordered.

Tsui Xiang Tsuen

Was it the best wonton noodle soup I’ve ever had?  No, absolutely not.  In particular, the wontons were basically complete mush, and the filling wasn’t quite what you’re expecting.  Instead of the usual pork/shrimp combo, I think it was all pork, and it had a mildly gamy flavour that I wasn’t crazy about.  They were easily the weak point of the dish.

Tsui Xiang Tsuen

On the other hand, the generous amount of noodles were perfectly cooked with a good amount of texture, and the broth had a nice clean flavour.

Tsui Xiang Tsuen

Plus, I think I’m burying the lede here, because this thing was a pretty hearty lunch, and the price?  Six bucks.  You can’t go wrong there.