Ali Shan Restaurant

Ali Shan has been a long time favorite of mine, not only for the cheap and yummy food, but also because of its convenient location by Metrotown. This visit was my first time in months due to the restaurant's relocation from one side of Crystal Mall to the other. The newly renovated restaurant is much larger than its former hole-in-the-wall-sized location. In previous visits to the old Ali Shan restaurant, they would always be packed and despite their relocation now, it was still the same during this visit.

My bf ordered the Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets with Rice, otherwise known as salt and pepper chicken. The meal comes with rice topped off with a sunny side up fried egg, as well as two side dishes of the day.

I ordered the Bibimbap, my absolute favorite at Ali Shan, because it is seriously a bang for your buck! The meal is so large that I can never finish it but the leftovers still taste just as delicious the following day. A warning for those who cannot handle spicy food because the hot sauce coupled with the actual heat of the food due to the stone bowl will definitely have you reaching for your ice tea (or soup).

The huge bowl of rice consists of hot sauce, kimchi, beef, cucumbers, bean sprout, shredded carrots, cabbage, and a raw egg, which will cook from the piping hot stone bowl as you mix everything together.

All meals are also served with your choice of sweetened red ice tea or their Asian soup of the day (served in Japanese miso soup bowls).

Our meal came out to about $17 for the both of us, tip included.

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Revisited on 02/17/12

During this visit, I decided to try something new and ordered the Spicy Beef Noodle in Soup with Thin Noodles. The spiciness of the soup lingers at the back of your throat after each sip, which differs from the usual burning on your tongue. I was not pleased with the noodles as they seemed overcooked and mushy like spaghetti in soup. The bowl of noodles also came with a few pieces of choy and a good amount of beef that wasn't too dry. I would order this again for the soup but the noodles just aren't very good.

My boyfriend ordered his usual Chicken Nuggets Set Meal. This time, he was met with disappointment because there weren't as many nuggets and they were not very meaty. The cabbage side dish also tasted different and had a strange taste compared to previous visits. The tofu side dish was decent however. After the meal, my boyfriend declared that he much preferred the chicken nuggets from The One (review here).

Rather than being one of my favorite restaurants as a whole, now I would say that Ali Shan is my favorite place specifically for its bibimbap (albeit the inauthenticity).