Taste of Guang Xi (downtown)

Snail noodle soup and fermented snake beans. Yum.

Guangxi (广西) is a relatively poor province in China and is known more for its scenery than its food. The cuisine is really peasant food. There are a handful of specialties in the big cities but there are no regional dishes. Perhaps that’s why there are so few Guangxi restaurants, even within China.

Toronto is blessed to have a Guangxi restaurant that offers the representative noodle dishes of the province. Taste of Guang Xi started at First Markham Place and opened a branch in downtown Chinatown a few months ago. I stopped by the downtown branch for this review.

Taste of Guang Xi exterior
Taste of Guang Xi (downtown)

The most popular dish here is luo si fen (螺蛳粉; river snail rice noodle). This noodle soup dish hails from the city of Liuzhou (柳州). It’s rare to find a fresh version outside of Guangxi and most Chinese consume the pre-packaged version. There is no visible snail meat but rest assured that there are snails. Entire snails are simmered in the broth until the meat disintegrates and the shell remains are left in the pot. You can’t really taste the snails anyway with all the spices.

Luo si fen: A simple complex dish

Luo si fen is a riot of ingredients. In terms of flavour, there are multiple components.

  • Spicy. Traditionally, the broth is spicy but you can customize the spice level at this restaurant. The spiciest option is hilariously labelled as “harder than hell”. The Chinese label is 变态辣, which is better translated as fiendishly spicy. Or perverted spicy. The regular spice level had a decent kick of heat but was not unbearable.
  • Sour. From the pickled vegetables.
  • Bitter. From the raw leafy vegetables.
  • Salty. From uh, salt.
  • Earthiness. From the peanuts and scallions.
  • Pungent. This the flavour that most people will immediately notice. It comes from the fermented snake beans (a type of long bean) and bamboo shoots. They smell like pee. I am not a huge fan of these but I did not find the smelliness overpowering. It’s just sitting in the background.

There is a lot going on in the texture department too.

  • Crispy. From the deep-fried tofu sheets.
  • Crunchy. From the peanuts and pickled vegetables.
  • Chewy. From the noodles.
  • Soft. From the wilted, leafy vegetables.
  • Liquid. From the broth.

The food

What you see is pretty much what you get.

Luo si fen from Taste of Guang Xi
Luo si fen, regular spice level. Tofu sheet crisps are piled on top of the soup. The soup spoon has a chunk of pickled vegetable in it.

I ordered the small portion and it was still a hefty size. Every bite brought different tastes and textures. The spicy broth made me sweat a little and was satisfying. As expected, the broth had a multitude of flavours but after a while, the spiciness became the dominant note (by a small margin). Noodles were springy. No complaints about any of the individual components but neither were they exceptional. Just simple, fresh, and well-made. Overall, it was an above-average bowl of noodles.

The dish comes with either lettuce or watercress (another leafy vegetable with an herbaceous taste). If you are looking for a spicier alternative to Japanese ramen and don’t mind the funky fermented vegetables, this could be it.

Taste of Guang Xi menu
Taste of Guang Xi menu

The place

The restaurant has a modern retro design that is trending in big cities in China.

Taste of Guang Xi interior
Taste of Guang Xi interior

The other thing that this restaurant is known for is the quaint menu printed on bamboo scrolls, just like Chinese restaurants did 500 years ago. It’s only in Chinese, so non-Chinese readers have to use the 21st-century menu.

Taste of Guang Xi bamboo scroll menu
Bamboo scroll menu
Chinese menu printed on bamboo scroll. Lying on top of bilingual menu.
Bamboo scroll menu, rolled up. Lying on top of English-Chinese menu.

Verdict

Noodles with a riot of bold flavours. Humble Chinese food done well. 7.5/10.

Practical information

Name
Taste of Guang Xi
Rating
7.5/10
Recommended dishes
Luo si fen
Prices
Luo si fen (small): $12.42 ($10.99 excluding tax)
Address
388 Spadina Avenue
Original branch at First Markham Place, 3235 Highway 7 East, Unit 28, Markham
Hours
Sunday to Thursday 1130h – 2200h
Friday to Saturday 1130h – 2300h
Date of visit
January 2020