316027 Tue Aug 08 22:38:43 -0700 2006 2 57 Western Canada Archive 0 1795766 i'm a chowhound from nyc...and i know chow! i'm a big believer in the original chowhound ethic...to find amazing food that isn't nec. top-of-the-line in price. believe it or not, in nyc, most of the great mom-and-pop places have been found! well, i found one in victoria that i'm sharing. we visit here yearly and have rarely find decent chinese food. (i lived in s.e. asia for years and my dh and i eat chinese or malaysian or japanese or thai at least 3x a week.) we went to a small mom-and-pop joint called 'shanghai noodles'. i'll put the info at the bottom but for those familiar with victoria, it's across from the crystal pool. it's run by the chef-owner, peter. his daughter waited on us (there's 4 tables). charming couldn't begin to describe her. anyway, charming or not we were completely floored by the food. was it the best chinese food i've ever eaten? not by a long shot. but for victoria..it was GREAT! and even on it's own it was pretty darn good. peter came out and talked to us (he knows my father-in-law who is a steady customer) and told us that he trained in england in cantonese and szechuan cuisines. we were 3 adults and 1 kid and we ordered: dry squid with chili and lemon grass (he acknowledged that he sometimes makes up some dishes ...that the lemon grass leans toward thai). fabulous. great taste to the squid and perfect amount of chilis. pan fried dumplings - these were just ok...but my daughter orders them where ever she goes. singapore mai fun - rice noodles. fabulous. perfect balance and not dry and pasty. some of the best i've had in a long time. fragrant duck..a dry roasted duck section that they shredded up for us with hoisin and pancakes, cukes and lettuce. great flavor t othe duck and i love non-greasy duck. (my husband loves very greasy duck but really enjoyed this.) dry prawns with garlic, chili and lemon grass. these were transcendent. great flavor. no gloppy sauces anywhere. we're headed back this week to try other things including the ma po tofu, some of their hong kong crispy noodles and i'm getting more of that squid! they don't use msg either. peter told us that he was hiring a shanghai chef so he could add more selections to his menu. i think this place is such a great find. i hope some of you try it and tell me what you think. here's the info: shanghai noodle, 2224 quadra st. victoria (across from crystal pool.) enjoy! ...redgirl from brooklyn Tue Aug 08 22:38:43 -0700 2006 13571 redgirl 1 1798585 thanks redgirl! i am headed to victoria next weekend and my companions will be siked to hear about a great chinese find. a few q's: do they do dim sum? lunch and/or dinner? how were they on the vegetarian options? thanks much for sharing, lesles Thu Aug 10 01:52:59 -0700 2006 1795766 24734 lesles 2 1798924 there are some vegetarian choices but not a whole lot and, no, not dim sum. i hope you enjoy it. we're going back tomorrow. Thu Aug 10 06:19:02 -0700 2006 1798585 13571 redgirl