Yunnan Cross Bridge Rice Noodle

Sadly, inauthentic. My family are Yunnan natives and we came here hoping to try a taste of home here in Canada and were utterly disappointed. We ordered the 云南过桥米线 (Yunnan Cross Bridge Noodles) and the 云南炒耳快 (Yunnan Fried Rice Cake). The flavours were totally bland, the rice noodles (米线) were overcooked, and the soup was lukewarm. Even worse, the noodle soup had run-​of-​the-​mill store-​bought meats and ham in it! It was no different than some cheap homemade Hong Kong instant noodles with processed ham and lettuce.
Authentic 过桥米线 is made with piping hot soup, often spicy and very flavourful, which cooks through the fresh thinly sliced meats and vegetables put in it. This is similar to Japanese ramen or Vietnamese phở in some ways. We had to dump tablespoons of hot sauce into our meal to make it palatable.
The supposed Yunnan style fried rice cake was not made authentically at all — they used Shanghai style rice cake (年糕 instead of 耳快）and the seasoning, again, was bland and far from authentic. Real Yunnan fried rice cake is much spicier, and uses spicy smoked sausage. This was a thorough disappointment!
Real Yunnan people and Yunnan food lovers, beware!

The food is authentic and amazing. It tastes like a home cooked meal! Must tries are the cold pork belly (it sounds weird but it is THE BEST dish), the pancake and the Yunnan Crossbridge Noodle. The soup is so tasty but clear and simple all at once! Be sure to read the story behind the Crossbridge Noodle. The owner is really friendly as well!

I have eaten here many times. I love the story behind their «Cross Bridge Soup» — it’s posted on the wall of the restaurant. The soup is amazing — tastes great + a great experience.
This is NOT the place you go for the ambiance — just great food and friendly service!

its been a while since we came here
but as usual, we ordered the Cross Bridge Rice Noodle & corn pancakes to share
the Cross Bridge Rice Noodle comes w/​a plate of raw meat (ham, roast beef, chicken, quail egg) & a plate of veggies
everything then goes into a broth
tastes okay; like light chicken soup
the corn pancakes were nice, but could use less oil. I have yet to find another place that makes this dish

This place is nostalgia for me, coming here since I was at the tender age of 6. However I’ve only tried maybe 6 items on the menu! Albeit their menu is small. Overall the portions do seem to have gone down significantly since I was younger but considering more dishes are 5 – 7 doars with the signature at 5.50… What do you expect!
Their signature is the cross bridge noodles. I’ve read the story maybe 70 times, and its nice. Dish itself is solid, their noodles are really good. Soup is amazing but some chilli oil is even better. Vegetables are fresh, however, meat choices are odd. It comes with «normal» meats such as cha siu, chicken and pork but also ham and roast beef?!
Spicy eggplant is the best eggplant dish I’ve ever had, period. It’s only 5.99 and for the price of a drink at some places you get a plate of crisp yet soft eggplant in a bomb chilli sauce.
Their stewed pork with preserved veg is amazingly not heavy at all considering the use of belly and flavors are always good. Also huge portion for 6.99 price.
Corn pancake is 2.99 and I usually order two because they cannot be beat!
The staff is extremely kind to everyone, its a small family run business! We’ve been coming in for maybe 10 years so we’re friends! Owner’s little girl is often there and she is super well behaved!

If I’m feeling boring (which I do feel quite often), I drag boyfriend here to go eat.
The story goes something like a woman couldn’t keep the noodles hot for her husband so she thought genius idea separate the stuff from the soup and it’ll stay hot.
So, we order the crossbridge noodle and they bring out a plate of veggies and a plate of meat. I always ask for my veggies (minus the parsley) to be added in boyfriend’s bowl. Then they bring out the boiling soup and add in all the stuff. Ta da!
We also order the pork slices with special sauce. Not too spicy (if it was really that spicy I wouldn’t eat it) and very yummy.
Go try it!
**pretty sure it’s cash only but don’t quote me!

Seems to be the only place in Toronto to get «Cross the Bridge Rice Noodles».
«Crossing the Bridge noodles» stems from the Yunnan province and has appeared across China in various other provinces. My mother always told me it was «brain food» and good for your studies. My Chinese gf has had it all over the Mainland and when she heard you can get such a dish in Toronto, she «coerced» me into taking her. They close everyday at 10pm. We came around 9pm and it seemed like the place was just starting to fill up as people continued to pack the tiny restaurant.
The place itself is rather small and is located inside of a small shopping strip (next to Régime Restaurant) and is hidden from the outside world in it’s small little cocoon. The menu itself isn’t very large, but offers a variety of Chinese plates like Pork Belly with pickled vegetables and spicy chicken. While the girlfriend eagerly awaited her bowl of Cross Bridge Noodles, I opted for the Fried Eel dish with a bowl of rice.
Coming first are two plates of the main ingredients involved in the Crossing Bridge Noodles. First, a plate of sliced meats (ham, beef, and a chicken leg), and a quail egg. Underneath is a plate of veggies and then comes the boiling hot bowl of broth and a small bowl of noodles. There is a step by step process where the server inserts the quail egg first, then the sliced meats. Afterwards, the veggies and the noodles are «crossed over» into the broth. The combination lends itself to a very hearty and tasty meal similiar to that of the Vietnamese Phở. The broth is what makes this dish the popular dish it has become. Very tasty and very much different than other noodle soups you’ll have at a Chinese restaurant. The meats and the veggies were actually not that great. The noodles and the broth are what really make the dish and I could eat two bowls of it. ($ 5.99)
The Fried Eel was a bit underwhelming. The eel pieces were cooked til they shriveled into tiny pieces. The meat, though tasty, was overly salty and the bones were a bit of a nuisance. Not much meat on the eel pieces. The dish does come with some chunks of pork, though mainly the fatty (but tasty) parts.
Come here if you’d like to give this Yunnan dish a shot. It may be your only option in Toronto. The soup really is good, but I can’t be too sure about the other dishes. The service here is good, plenty of parking out front, and despite it’s hidden location, it seems to be filling up just fine.

Very authentic cross bridge noodle, simple yet hearty. Delicious yet spicy cold seaweed app, salt and pepper fried pork filets, finish the meal w/​the corn pancake.

Yunnan Cross Bridge Rice Noodle is a fun place to eat especially when your friend trying to share a folklore with you while you go yay yay yay with noodles and corn pancakes stuck full in your mouth.
The soup based is really light chicken broth, just have a hint of favour. I restained myself from adding any hot chilli oil in order to taste the dish the way it is. The meat that comes with it does not make me feel too excited though… I can just skip that.
The corn pancake ($ 1.99) is nice for dessert. I just like corn and pancakes so a winning combination for me. and of course for $ 1.99 I am happy!
Cash Only!

What’s Yunnan Cross Bridge Rice Noodle? Why don’t I let the experts tell you instead of me making this into a 30 page essay assignment? If you like some HISTORY or CULTURE behind your food then take a look.
On to the restaurant, it is situated inside a small plaza that had it’s time in the hay-​days but NO longer in it’s prime. This restaurant had guest coming in and out filling nearly half the space but don’t come expecting fabulous décor or service (Mandarin-​speaking mostly).
The patrons that did fill this place ordered ONE thing and one thing only which was the Cross Bridge Rice Noodle, out of a menu of approximately 50 items. There were Cold Appetizers, NOODLES, Mains, Soups & Rice, Desserts.
The Cross Bridge Rice Noodle came out in UNDER one minute and has a very well-​balanced Chicken Broth with the additions of Quail Egg, Ham Slice, Roast Beef Slice, Sprouts, Chicken Slice, etc…
The noodle is a Rice Noodle that resembles Spaghetti in shape and size but White in color and SLIPPERY in texture. This type of Rice Noodle are one of my all time favourites growing up in Hong Kong and still continues to be UNIQUE for me.
Aside from the History & Culture of this dish, the combination itself is nothing FANCY but that won’t stop you from ENJOYING it like how most people love PHO. The same that makes PHO popular can be said the same for the Cross Bridge Noodle, the BROTH is star.
There are not MANY places in Toronto with the same dish available unfortunately, so not having been to Yunnan myself I would say this restaurant with THIS dish is A-​OK.