Calan Noodle – a small gem on Centre Street

Address: Cailan Beef Noodle 2219 Centre St N, Calgary, AB T2E 2T4

I have a Chinese friend and for the longest time ever, she has always complained about how Japanese ramen (which everyone, except for her, loves) is no match for Chinese hand-pulled noodles. To say that she “complained” is an understatement lol. Yesterday we went to this small shop on Centre Street and we were pleasantly surprised.

This shop serves freshly pulled wheat noodles, usually in a soup or sauces. It was definitely not as dramatic as what I saw on TV: a guy stretching a piece of dough and repeatly slamming it on the counter to thin our the dough and make it more chewy. Here the person was taking his time, gently kneading and stretching it out slowly. I didn’t see much other than the noodles and someone scooping the hot broth into the bowl. The final product of that labourous process look and smell great though.

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Pros: The noodles were definitely the focus here. They tasted extremely fresh, chewy and flavorful, as they had been sitting in the simmered broth for a few minutes. It felt like they really went well with the soup. You know what I mean right? There have been times when I feel like the noodles are just there hanging idly in the soup, it doesn’t matter if they are there, or if I have added a different kind of noddles. It was different this time. It feels right, like how you would expect the round thin spaghetti in tomatoes minced beef sauce. As for the soup, it tasted warm, with a hint of unfamiliar but comforting Chinese spices. I don’t have a lot of experience with Chinese soup so umm there is nothing I can really compare it to. It’s less robust and rich than Vietnamese pho but with a few dollop of hot oil and black vinegar (yes, that’s a thing!) I had no qualm finishing the broth.

Cons: Umm it was more expensive than expected. It came out to be ~$16 per person with the combo (comes with a tea egg and beef shank). Also since it’s still hot in the summer, I would prefer to drop by here more often during the winter. *Finger crossed* I hope this place do not get more popular, or have it price increased. We already saw a lot of Chinese-speaking people come here on a sluggish hot afternoon.

Anyway, like my friend said, she would definitely visit this place again to satisfy her craving for authentic Chinese hand-pulled noodles dish, so I think this place was a ‘Yay’ 🙂

ALSO THEY DO HAVE VEGETARIAN NOODLE (1 out of the 15 that they offer on the menu)