Lao Cai Chinese Cuisine 老蔡食府

A late night dinner with the family on the patio at Lao Cai Chinese Cuisine. Featured here:

Stewed Pork Burger
Stewed Beef Noodle Soup
Fern Root Noodle with Dark Vinegar Sauce
Vegetarian Dumplings

My husband said the beef in his Stewed Beef Noodle Soup was succulent and the broth was very tasty. Stewed Pork Burger was just OK. It was apparently lacking in flavor somewhat.

As a Pescatarian, finding food for myself at this restaurant was challenging. I did manage to find some food which fit with my needs in the end but the food was just OK. It's not a place I'd recommend to anyone who's a non meat eater. Vegetarian Dumplings were "meh". I had hoped that my Fern Root Noodle would be a hot noodle dish but it turned out to be a cold noodle. As I tend to like tangy dishes, I did enjoy the flavor of this noodle but really wished that it would have been a hot noodle dish. There really isn't much else besides salad on the menu for people who don't eat meat.

Other members of my family have come here repeatedly. They seem to enjoy the soup, noodles and hotpot dishes. It's a good spot on the North Shore to come for some hot, belly warming food if you're a meat eater. Can't see myself coming back to this restaurant again though.

Service: Could have been better
Parking: Free parking on the street
Location: #130 - 1425 Marine Dr, West Vancouver

Must order their spicy hot oil noodles and the duck soup. Amazing place and pricing is reasonable. Just remember to book a table on the weekend they do get busy we waited for 30mins for a table today.

Food taste very good. We wanted to have Pho around the corner of Marine Drive, but ended up entered this restaurant. It’s amazing!

Fantastic restaurant! The food was extremely delicious! Highly recommend the Spicy Lamb Cumin noodles, sweet & sour pork and shrimp, chive and pork dumplings!

I love that they have a small menu and some of the popular dishes come pictures so it was easier to pick. Foods were amazing, service was super friendly. Would come back and bring friends.

They serve the most authentic southern Chinese cuisines in Vancouver. It is not localized like other restaurants. If you are Chinese the food will definitely bring back your old memories. And if you are not this place will give you the perfect Chinese food that you have never had.

This was very delicious fresh home made authentic chinese cuisine with daily specials. We pondered the menu as there were many unique dishes to our experiences from the US east coast & NYC. We had pork burger, lamb & carrot dumplings sesame spinach pickled radish & duck soup broth these seemingly simple dishes were quite exceptional as was the very professional service. We are going back for their specialty hand pulled noodles & can't wait!

The employees are open-minded and kind
The dumplings, appetizers, and noodles, they are all perfect which makes this my favourite restaurant ever

Amazing service and hospitality with delicious food. Tried the Liang-Pi hand stretched noodles which happen to be naturally plant based.

The XiAn lamb soup used to be tasty with strong aromatic flavours. However, the soup I just ordered through DoorDash was a disappointment- flavourless, three pieces of lamb and that’s it.
The pork burger is Ok, but not as good as I expected.

The food taste good.
We ordered a beef noodle, chicken rice and dumplings
All of them are good!

Fantastic food and great service. Prices are very reasonable too. One of my favorite restaurants on the North Shore.

Tasty lamb hot pot and stewed pork burger, was gonna try cold noodles but sold out, would be an again and highly recommended!
Also was there in Sunday night with no reservation, took 15 mins wait to sit down. Full house with only two servers, but they’re efficient and

Best noodles ever. The bite is just right. The duck soup is to die for. Their little side dishes are perfectly seasoned. The only minus is the harsh lemon cleaning spray they use on the tables. I don't think they know there are unscented cleaning products that do the job just as well.

Amazing Dumplings and Noodles! Great small restaurant with great service. I enjoy every time I go!

Very good food and very good service especially. I left my sunglasses and left after meal. The waiter ran out half block and returned it to me.

This place is among the best Northwestern Chinese restaurants. I’ll visit whenever I bike past this area.

We had dumplings, you po noodles and lamb naan bread soup.
Both dumplings and noodles are very delicious and authentic!
Lamb naan bread soup is not rich enough, but about average.

Ordered on DoorDash. Really like the flavours of the lamb soup. Tastes just like the dish in XiAn. Will definitely have lunch there next time.

Definitely exceeded our expectations. Everything we order were delicious and perfectly balanced. Not your typical MSG Chinese food and not overly salty. We can tell they put a lot of work into every dish. Highly recommended.

Everything was delicious and with the perfect amount of spice. I would highly recommend the cold sesame noodles and lotus salad, both very refreshing for a hot day. The shrimp, chive and pork dumplings were also very tasty pan fried.

Xi'an style food. Wow, the restaurant exceeded our expectations so much, I had to leave a review.

Every.
Single.
Dish.
We ordered.
. Was delicious.

I highly recommend their cold noodles, cold stewed beef (perfect during a heatwave), and their dumplings and Lamb Pao-Mo Soup (羊肉泡馍).

When we visited, it was clear that the staff were near the end of a very busy rush, with several customers waiting, and the phone ringing off the hook. Despite this fervour, and a few patrons who were rude to the staff, our service was friendly, and efficient, tho it took a few minutes to be attended to intially. As mentioned, it was very busy.

10/10
Delicious, delicious, delicious.

We seldom patronize Chinese restaurants in the North Shore, but after our long walk at the Ambleside, we decided to try this Shanxi cuisine. I had the Sweet & Sour Rib Rice Bowl and my wife had a lamb noodle. Both were very good, though the ribs were a little bit too sweet. Server’s English was limited; she didn’t understand what I asked for when I said “beer”, but we got our order all correct. Will be back next time in the neighborhood.

Super authentic and delicious Northern Chinese food. Service is friendly. I stopped here once to wait out some traffic and it's now one of my favourite restaurants!

Everything tasted fresh and well seasoned (ours was take out). The Chinese Cucumber Salad was a highlight as was the Liang-Pi in Sesame Sauce. The Xi’an Stewed Pork Burger was also tasty. I’ll definitely order again and try a few other menu items.

At the invitation of a good friend, my experience at the Lao Cai Chinese Cuisine exceeded the 5 star glowing reviews. Every menu item we ordered was absolutely delectable. The rustic open interior decor with tasteful art pieces adds to a truly authentic Xi'an cuisine dining experience. This is complimented by the outstanding service of owner Ryan and his amazing staff.

Food wise? For appys, we savoured the Steamed Cold Noodle, Sweet-and-Sour Pork Ribs & Cold Cut Braised Beef- the combination of the three was delicious!
For the main, at the recommendation of a staff member, I had Spicy Hot Oil Hand-Ripped Noodles the taste was super flavourful with a touch of the hot spicy oil.

We sampled a smorgasbord of the following items
* Red Oil Shredded Potato
*Fried Peanuts
* Xian Stewed Pork Burger
ALL, scrumptious.

For the full hearty experience, closed out with a cold TsingTao beer. Perfection!

I highly recommend this restaurant, rocking the new pandemic normal with proper covid safe protocols, well-trained staff, and thoughtful touches like self-pack leftovers and social distanced tables.

Trust me, it's worth the 15 mins drive from downtown Vancouver.

Will be back, often.

Absolutely delicious! Unique flavours.
Favourites were the cold noodle (appetizers), the sour pork (different marinade than the ones you get in other Chinese restaurants) and spicy-oil noodle (recommended by the waiter and wasn't spicy at all but had a very interesting flavour).

The pancake (appetizer page) was very different - you wrap it yourself with Chinese sourkraut. The lamb cumin noodle was good too.

A pass would be the beef wrap (on the appetizer page) - it was good but I didn't love the taste.

We would definitely return. Even though there was only one waiter, he was efficient and quick to help all the tables. He was also good at recommending options and steered me away from something I had wanted to order which he didn't think was that special/delicious. We appreciated his honesty!

The restaurant is bright with warm lights. And the tea served was also diff from the usual Chinese teas.

I've visited with a few friends of mine and had beef noodle soup.

Food:
Noodle was absolutely amazing. I could tell that the noodle was made right after order. Broth was good, but would have been better if it had more flavour to it. Since the broth was a bit oily, a slice of tomato was such a pleasure to have. I personally add a teaspoon of chili to the noodle.

Ambience:
Quite place with clean environment. As the place offers authentic Asian food, the interior as well as the vibe matched with it.

Service:
Server was very polite and respectful. It would have been better if she was a bit more energetic, but i do understand that everyone has bad day sometimes. Nothing to complain about service.

It is a nice restaurant to drop by on a rainy day perhaps after snowboarding at Cypress. There were many customers dropping by after snowboarding/skiing. I definitely recommend visiting this place if you are in West Vancouver.

The food is not like usual chinese cuisine in vancouver. Its nothern China and I was pleasantly surprised. Very good! Went twice and will go back again. The ambiance of the place is a little rustic and not charming but very clean. That's why 4 not 5 stars.

This was an interesting experience for lunch. The food was good, but I didn’t think it was anything special. Authentic Chinese cuisine eatery from Northern China. I was very impressed when a cook came to the table next to us to prepare (literally) fresh hand pulled noodles for the guests hot pot! Ambience was friendly, local, and traditional. Service was decent - they were short on hands when we first arrived but cleaned it up real quick. Price was decent for having fresh noodles and the like. I would maybe go back if in a pinch as there are limited eateries like this in West Van - but I would save a Chinese eating experience for elsewhere.

Family business, simple little place, hand made noodle is the best, another special is their duck soup hot pot, worth it to have a try

Authentic northern China style noodle house, the soup is well crafted and all dishes are delicious. The price is higher than most other noodles houses, but is reasonable.

Looks like a traditional family Chinese restaurant. Customer service wasn't bad, the food was pretty good, but there is not too much options on the menu.

Skiers/snowboarders: Come here. Get the lamb noodle soup. Ask for the spicy sauce on the side. Put it in your bowl. Mix it up and put it in your face. You're welcome.