Luda

If you dig this joint, come back before Luda permanently rolls out on twenties, with the the top back… so much money, you can’t stop that.
«Roll out! Roll out! Roll out! Roll out!»
Was told by the waitress that Luda would be closing by the end of the month. Despite being busy on weekends and nights, apparently there’s not enough business on weekdays.
Shame — I guess they should have raised their soup noodle combo by more than just $ 0.25.
Pretty bummed — one of my favourite lunch spots for their Chinese soup noodle combos and my friends love coming here for crab dinner. Even if service does suck when they get slammed.
I implore you Luda… don’t moooove bitch… I want you to stay. I want you to stay bitch, want you to stay!
Don’t be my runaway love.

Good soup! Visited on the weekend for a big bowl of beef brisket, pork meatball, and instant noodles. Yum.
They offer more common hong kong café food (curries, etc.) but they also offer a soup menu where you pick the soup base, meats, and noodles.
Price is reasonable — staff are friendly and quick.

Luda is a Hong Kong style café that doesn’t serve the Asian inspired hamburgers, spaghetti, and lasagna.
The Kung Po chicken was so good — hot and spicy Sichuan style. It had roasted peanuts and veggies which made it crunchy yummy.
The curry beef brisket was a perfect curry dish with lean beef and large chunks of potatoes. It has a massive amount of curry sauce. Served with rice, it was so delicious.
Their hot pots were sizzling. When the waitress opened the fish and tofu hot pot dish, oil and grease was popping out of the dish and onto the table, shirt, and my pants. Tip: if you’re going to order their hot pot dishes, sit in a large round table. It’ll save you from going to the dry cleaner.

i’ve been here 3 times.
1^st trip: off the recommendations of 2 friends, checked this place out one morning when i was sick. in search of a hearty bowl of beef noodle, i frowned when i realized there was no beef noodle… only brisket noodle. virtually the same thing — just that one’s taiwanese (beef) and one’s cantonese/​hk (brisket) style, so different soup base.
the brisket was too chewy — could’ve been better, noodles were standard, but the soup — marvelous!
one happy sick patient right there.
2^nd trip: got the noodle combo this time with brisket slices, beef ball, and enoki (gotta love mushrooms!). these ppl skimp on the noodles compared to places like cattle /​deer garden. at least the tom yum soup was good. i enjoyed this bowl too.
the problem? they gave me my free drink when i went up to pay. there were only 3 – 4 tables there during my 15minute stay…
3^rd trip: got my drink a little faster this time but it sucks watching the drink lady (cashier) sit there doing nothing while u munch on the first half of your food. i know a lotta hk cafes that do this ~ it’s not fun since these guys go TRIGGER HAPPY WITH THE MSG holy crap!
don’t get me wrong, i got the laksa soup noodle combo and it was alright but luda baby, you can’t MSG an asian like me.

Ever since I came back from Toronto, I’ve been seeking a beef noodle soup that rivals House of Gourmet’s. After 1.5 years I think I found it. A close second, but definitely number 1 so far in Vancouver. I’m open to suggestions and debate for Vancouver :).
Pretty new joint. Looks Asian modern (no duct taped booths, dirty menus, or pest running around. Didn’t find hair in my food. Keep in mind that this place does close early if they don’t have customers. Last time I was here with my gf they closed an hour early cause we were the only customers they had in there.
We ordered beef noodle soup, curry beef brisket in noodle soup, and tofu w/​bok choy and shiitake. Beef noodle soup: awesome soup base, tender and flavourful beef brisket, good portion, and decently price. I’ll definitely frequent here just for the beef noodle soup! Curry beef noodle: same beef and noodles, but with a coconut curry broth. It wasn’t bad I thought, but I’ll choose the other beef noodle of this. The tofu I found quite bland and unexciting. It felt more like a means to and end. If I didn’t order the tofu dish I probably would have given this place a perfect 5.
«Luda, keep the beef noodle soup hot, I’ll be back for it!»

I usually don’t go to Vancouver East for dinner coz the restaurants provide quantity of food NOT quality of food.
One of my husband’s friend told us that Luda’s beef ball noodle soup was very good and also other dishes. That’s why I gave it a try.
We went there on Sun night around 7pm and didn’t make any reservation. They were so busy and we had to wait for 15 mins before we got seated.
The waitress were very friendly but very hard sales for their signature dishes. We took one of her recommendation of house special crab, we told her to get us a small crab when we’re ordering. However, she gave us 3LBS live crab for 2 of us. We were sure that no way we could finish it.
Besides, we ordered beef ball & brisket noodle soup and stir-​fried pork cheek meat with rice noodle.
Honestly, all of the items we ordered taste ok, not surprise us at all.

I was quite disappointed especially after reading all the rave reviews. It’s really nothing special, in fact its kinda blah.
Décor was nice, relatively good service, (mind you we were there at 5pm and were the only table). The waitress was annoyingly «selling» us on the menu items and we felt a little pressured to order. For almost $ 8 for 2 toppings, I felt a little ripped off. I had the pork bone and pepper soup base and my girlfriend had the fish broth, both was unexciting and definitely not at par with the other noodle soup establishments.
Luda takes cash only, and unfortunately for them my girlfriend only had a $ 100 bill. I can hear the waitress muttering, «Where am I gonna get you enough change». If you’re gonna complain, at least be discreet and if you’re gonna ask for cash only, well you better be prepared.
I wouldn’t bother with this place again, unless I’m with a big group and plan to order the main dishes.

* Pick one from column A *
I had been meaning to try this spot for a while now, and finally got around to popping in for lunch.
Kind of an unfortunate location right between to a big sign that reads «Toilet» and a non-​attractive fence:
But I digress.
The menu was fairly typical for a HK style café, along with the make your own soup option which has been popping up all around town at places like Bowl of Stars (
).
The make your own soup followed the usual «Pick one from Column A» format where you pick a soup base, type of noodle, two toppings, and a drink all for $ 7.25 (or $ 7.75 if you want the drink cold).
I selected the Spicy Szechuan soup base, flat rice noodles, beef brisket and enoki mushrooms. Photo:
The soup base had a nice amount of Szechuan peppercorns so it created that nice tingling sensation on the tongue and lips. It wasn’t overly spicy, they used a nice balance of chili and peppercorns to make it flavourful without being overpowering. Nice broth!
Even though you order only 2 toppings, there are many additional things in the soup including bok choy, yuba, white mushrooms, green onions, and cilantro. The brisket was incredibly tender and extremely flavourful. My kind of brisket! The bok choy retained its crunch nicely while being properly cooked. The yuba was a nice quality which came in a very large sheet which had been rolled up. The enoki mushrooms were just starting to wilt from the heat of the soup, and captured the soup flavour nicely. My only complaint is that the flat rice noodles were a bit overcooked and started to fall apart a bit. They could have made them a little more al dente and let them finish cooking with the hot broth to avoid them breaking down so much.
The HK milk tea which I got was nice and strong and accompanied the spicy broth nicely.
Overall I’ll definitely be returning to try some more of their menu items (perhaps for dinner)!

I had the chance to come to the new Chinese restaurant in my neck of the woods. Interesting name to a Chinese restaurant was my first take, but then I looked at the Chinese name and it’s almost a direct sounding of what it would be. Located right in the plaza with the Laughing Bean coffee house, and right in the corner, this place just opened over a month ago. I was intrigued by the side name «Beef Ball King», so I had to go in.
I ventured in with my girlfriend for an early dinner, and due to my ‘Yelping’ I could not find a review to this place, so I was definitely going in blind, but after eating here I will come back. So you ask, what is up with the claim of «Beef Ball King», well according to the waitress in here, they personally make all the balls (beef, pork, fish, cuttlefish etc.) here. I ordered a bowl of beef ball noodle soup. The price of the bowls are about $ 6.50, so not the cheapest of the bunch. Most of the items are a little higher than other places, but I was here for a mission, to eat! My girlfriend ordered a cream of mushroom spaghetti dish, and a cup of HK milk tea.
The interior of this place is actually pretty nice, they have a couple of booths aligned on the side of the restaurant, and the tables are spread nicely apart. And I will say, the washrooms of this place are clean, let us hope this last, as this is one of those things Chinese restaurants, especially small ones do not excel in. The service here was friendly, as they asked us if we just came from the fair (PNE), and also offered us a nice bowl of house soup. The house soup tasted home made, with just enough flavor. The dishes that we ordered also came quite quickly.
The wonton noodles that came with my dish were cooked just right, nice, thin, stringy and with just enough elasticity. The beef balls were good too, and there was five of them in the bowl. The other dish looked real good, the taste however was a little bland, probably cause my girlfriend wanted ‘Zero’ onions with it, and they definitely listened.
It was a good experience, and I am looking forward to coming in again, and trying more on the menu. Nice seating, and good Chinese food for the area of Hastings and Renfrew.