A Guangzhou rice roll chain that dates back to 1958 has quietly opened its first Burnaby location on Kingsway, near Metrotown.
Yin Ji Chang Fen (银记肠粉) soft opened on September 28 at 4623 Kingsway, in the former Green Basil Thai unit.
The spot was supposed to open in August, but ran into some delays.
It’s the chain’s second outpost in BC, after the original on Alexandra Road in Richmond.
If you’ve been to the Richmond outpost, you’ll feel right at home.
The menu is pretty much identical, with a long list of rice noodle rolls, congee and snacks.
If it is your first time here, the items that have the thumbs up icon on it are the ones to go for.
One section may be unique to Burnaby, as far as we can tell: a small classic stir-fry menu with Yangzhou fried rice, sweet and sour pork and a signature poached chicken.
We went in anonymously and ordered the beef and shrimp with chive rice roll ($10.99) and the shrimp chive rice roll ($9.99).
Both came out rather quickly, made fresh to order and piping hot, with plenty of sweet soy sauce on top.
The sheets are thin enough (but not terrible that it disintegrates) that the shrimp and green chives show through, and the soy sauce pools around the edges of the dish.
The room is simple.
One wall holds 12 framed award plaques, and the other is a mural of the brand’s history and timeline titled “Three Generations, One Passion.”
The timeline starts in 1958 on the streets of Guangzhou and runs through the 1970s and 1990s to today.
According to the chain’s website, it now runs five locations in Ontario.
When we spotted the signs here in March, Hei Hei Rice Roll still hadn’t opened in the Crystal Mall food court, and we said a rice roll battle was coming.
Now Hei Hei is open, there’s another rice roll counter in the same food court, and the new Yang’s Fook Kee across from Crystal Mall has rice rolls on its menu (they weren’t available yet when we visited).
Rice roll fans around Metrotown are spoiled for choice now.
Yin Ji Chang Fen joins other recent Burnaby openings like One Cafe‘s second Crystal Mall stall and Hungry Tiger Grill.
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Address: 4623 Kingsway, Burnaby BC
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