Who has the best salty peppery chicken?

[queueueuq]

I need to pick up some salty peppery chicken for a friend (take-out) but it's not something I eat so I have no clue. Who, within the city of Vancouver proper, has the best? (To be clear, I mean the Taiwanese dish.)

[LotusRapper]

Funny you ask. I ate it FOUR separate times during these past two weeks alone, at four different places:

1) Sasaya (Royal Oak, Burnaby)
2) Wang's Beef Noodle House (Granville/68 Av)
3) Beefy Beef Noodle House (Main/King Edward)
4) Tony's Beef Noodle (Cambie/41 Av)

I guess a mini-addiction can be attributed. Of the four, I'd say Beefy Beef and Sasaya were the best, very tender, moist and succulent chicken nuggets, with a light yet crunchy batter. Sasaya's was less "done" and slightly more pale in appearance, while Beefy Beef's was definitely more golden and with slight more crunch, which you'd want if it's to be eaten with a bowl of soupy noodles (I like to dunk 'em a bit). Neither's were overly-salty, and which also had a "sweet" aftertaste which I love but still don't know what attributes it in the spicing mix.

Mind you there are plenty of other places that can offer up the dish, I just listed those I ate from in the past couple weeks, Good luck !

[queueueuq]

Excellent, thanks! Beefy Beef is most convenient so I may go there. (After my laughing at their name many times, I guess they win in the end!)

[LotusRapper]

Check out Food For Buddha's site and use search term "peppery" while you're in there, they often review Taiwanese restos and critique SP chicken, a bit harshly sometimes IMHO.

Another fave place of mine (for SP chicken and similar Taiwanese fare) is The One on Kingsway near Buller Av (sister resto to Lao Shan Dong). But they're outside Vanc city limits.

There's also Cabin 5555 on Arbutus @ 39 Av, but it's been a LONG time since I've been there so I can't comment really.

[_js_]

Cabin 5555 has closed down, as of 2 or 3 weeks ago.

[grayelf]

A board denizen mentioned to me recently the s&p chix at Cabin 23 which sounds like it might also be convenient for the OP. I had it once last summer and thought it was better than Beefy Beef's which I sampled around the same time. Neither were stellar and I don't recall them having the deep fried basil that to me makes this dish.

I also have a recco for the chicken nuggets from Well Tea on Seymour from another trusted CHer but I haven't had a chance to sample personally yet. I was there yesterday for bubble tea and saw in the picture that they add green onion instead of basil, dang it.

Not in Van proper but I recall the s&p chix at Zephyr in Richmond being rather nice and served with basil, but it's been a couple of summers.

[queueueuq]

Thanks for all the extra tips, everyone!

[LotusRapper]

Emailed a buddy last night who's way more into the Taiwanese resto/BBT scene than I am. He recommends Flo Tea Room (Granville/64 Av) and Corner 23 (Cambie/24 Av). I've not had SPchx from neither so it's good to round out my list too.

PS: btw, Beefy Beef's did have fried basil on top, but not a ton of it. Tony's had a bit too.

Another place I've not had SPChx but imagine would be quite good is Kalvin's Szechuan Restaurant on Victoria Dr/36 Ave. They are Taiwanese owned/operated and known for their quality. One of their star dishes is deep fried pork cutlet in red fermented bean paste which I've had ..... very good ! And Pearl Castle (another recommendation from my friend) in Richmond also has excellent regular SPChx and the red fermented bean paste version, he says they're both better than Kalvin's, but I've never been to Pearl Castle, so I'll take his words for it.

[queueueuq]

Thanks again -- I may consider Corner 23. I just love that there are so many options.

[LotusRapper]

I'm guessing you're in the Mt. Pleasant, Riley Park area ?

Sherman seems to have covered many Taiwanese restos and their SPChx :-)

http://www.shermansfoodadventures.com...

.

[queueueuq]

I'm close to there, but technically in Fairview.

I was just checking out both Beefy Beef and Corner 23 on Chow TImes. They had the chicken at BB only, so I couldn't compare (but both reviews were from 2009, anyway). Does look good at BB, though.

[grayelf]

Just found a note on one of my (many) restaurant lists that at Well Tea you can add seaweed, kimchi, spicy, wasabi, black pepper, or fried basil for 25 cents. So now I am content!

[twinkienic]

Corner 23's version has fried basil

[LotusRapper]

All this talk got S&PChx stuck on my mind. So yesterday I went to Kalvin's on Victoria for lunch. S&PChx on rice for only $6.50. Wasn't bad, definitely enough white pepper, not too salty, and notable 5-spice powder. but no basil. The meat was tender but the crust was meh. Still, a good value. Compared to Beefy Beef or Sasaya, those two's are better IMO.

[grayelf]

Yeah, we had the s&p chix once at Kalvin's and it was just okay. Prolly about the same as Beefy Beef's for me, but I really wasn't a fan of theirs (tried it twice). Corner 23 is better and does indeed have basil yay! but still not tiptop for me.